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My character lives on a medieval world, and is a female knight, she is looking for marriage and is trying to look more attractive for potential candidates without losing too much protection.

I think you need to look at this differently.

Marriage, especially among the knighted classes, in medieval times was not primarily about looks (and not even in the West now is it entirely about looks). Social position and property, inheritance prospects and religion or politics had as much, if not more, to do with it. That's not to say that looks were completely irrelevant, but they did take a back seat to many other considerations.

Nor did knights, male or female, wander abut all day and night in armor. Only an idiot would want to given it adds a lot of weight and has no social purpose that more comfortable and decorative clothing will not do better. You female knight will wear whatever suitable clothing and personal decoration are appropriate to a woman of social standing high enough to be a knight. Her social grace, wit, charm and elegance are something she can display in appropriate social settings (just as the men could).

So there is no reason at all for your female knight to worry about her looks in armor. What she'll worry about is staying alive, with all limbs, still able to bare children and on the winning side. Any armor design that does that is what she wants - mobility and protection and vision are the primary requirements : looks are way down the list.

The ability to bear children is absolutely the key role of most women of noble birth in medieval times and frankly for that reason alone it's extremely unlikely her family would allow her to fight at all, certainly prior to her being married and giving birth. This role is of such importance that it brought about the death of more than one queen when they could not fulfill that role satisfactorily, and I do not mean death in childbirth. Without heirs a line may be finished and that would be unthinkable in medieval times.

Most known accounts of women in medieval era war have them wearing armour designed for men. One exception is Joan of Arc who had a suit of plate mail specially built for her. No known images exist from her lifetime, but one depiction (drawn from written accounts) shows the armour as very similar to armour worn by men, albeit slightly smaller and gathered at the waist. The gathering at the waist was not uncommon for men's armour, but probably more exaggerated for Joan's.

In regards to armour that is specifically designed for women's chests, this is a more recent consideration. Some modern body armours are specifically designed for women and while they do not have great drops for cleavage or molded breasts, they do show an actual rise over the chest.

The armour in the picture above was designed to addresses some complaints of female UK Police Officers, as it apparently holds things in place without applying to much pressure.

So while a female knight probably wouldn't have exposed cleavage or molded breasts, it is likely that the bustier of them would have armour that showed a distinct rise over the chest area.

Armor is for protection, not sex appeal.

A live woman is a far better marriage prospect than a dead woman. The whole sexy armor troupe is about serving the male gaze, not doing anything for the woman who is fighting.

Armor is for actual fighting, not walking around.

It's heavy and doesn't breathe and you can't move very well in it. A realistic knight has a squire who's in charge of packing all that stuff and having it ready for battle. Certainly a knight in wartime would walk or ride with some level of protective clothing, but it wouldn't be full armor.

Most women don't have itsy bitsy bodies with enormous boobs.

The stereotype of women with tiny bodies and boobs that made them tip over is, again, created by men for men and is pretty rare in real life.

Real life actors or models that look like that are 1) chosen for those characteristics and are a small minority of women and 2) usually surgically enhanced. Larger breasts are more likely to show up on women who are more voluptuous and/or muscular overall. Like a shotputter. Even then, there is a mix of body types.

Drawings, anime, and 3D representations (like Barbie) that show tiny women with breasts the size of their heads range from almost to completely unrealistic. Most men and women I know roll their eyes at stuff like that. Real life women with natural breasts that huge suffer from horrible back pain and usually have reduction surgery.

Armor is generally custom fitted.

There is not one size and shape of armor for men, so there wouldn't be for women either. Men are different heights, have different torso to leg proportions, different chest sizes, etc. If you don't think most women would be tall enough for armor, consider that teenage boys (who were not done growing) often went to war.

If you can account for these differences, then it's not hard to also account for differences with female shaped bodies too. Even a very large-breasted woman probably doesn't have a larger chest circumference than many male warriors. A smaller waist to hip proportion should also be easy to deal with.

The stereotypical boob armor is not just stupid, it's dangerous.

It should be obvious to everyone that leaving gaping holes in armor to show off skin is counterproductive.

But even when the woman is covered, shaping it for breasts causes no end of problems.

• It’s Time to Retire “Boob Plate” Armor. Because It Would Kill You


• Fantasy Armor and Lady Bits

Attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder.

Fighting well then looking good when she takes off her armor will catch many an eye. Fighting badly (which includes wearing useless or dangerous armor) is a turnoff in all cases. If a potential husband thinks a women shouldn't be a knight, then fighting badly will just reinforce his opinion and make him less inclined to be interested in her. If female knights are normal in that society, or at least if the potential husband is okay with it, then fighting well is an important part of the attraction.

Knowing how to choose and use your gear is essential to being a good fighter.

Besides, even male knights would have a few gems on the armor, head piece, shield, or sword. They might have coats of arms impressed on the shield. Armor might even be painted. So if you want creative clothing, here's your chance.

Pyramids.

The curved shape of fantasy breast armor would bee tricky to make and would not deflect as well as an angled flat surface. A pointed polygon will tend to alter the course of incoming energy, deflecting it down to the base of the pyramid where reinforcements will dissipate the force. Sharp points would also allow a close quarters death hug attack.

As regards attractiveness that is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps the pyramids could be painted in attractive patterns?

Taking this in a different tact.

During the time your referring, the most sexually desirable women had big hips, and a lot of fat on them. Being fat means your wealthy enough to eat well and your healthy. http://theconversation.com/womens-idealised-bodies-have-changed-dramatically-over-time-but-are-standards-becoming-more-unattainable-64936

Your lady knight is probably more fit than what is desirable for the time, so a man style breast plate is fine, she needs a way to show off her hips instead.

Also, as a knight, she will be battered, bruised, have terrible skin, and frankly look about as unappealing as possible, both back then and now. Few men were interested in women that did the work of men. They wanted fair looking women with child bearing hips to produce lots of heirs.

So when you really drill down in this, almost none of your original concept works. You would have to first change your world to have female warriors as desirable (vikings maybe?).

Simply having sexy armor would just cause potential suitors that are interested in female knights to think she is wrong in the head.

-Edit
I want to clarify, what was considered beauty was different by place and time. Most nobility values large women but not all. There was a time when women had to tie themselves up in corsets and try to look like boys. This knight lady will need to look beautiful for the time and place she is in. That's why I am suggesting the original concept doesn't work, it needs world building around it to explain why a female knight would be considered attractive.

To answer your other question, how to make this armor viable:

This is actually simple, modular armor. The breast molds have clasps that allow the wearer to attach another plate the joins and fills the valley, creating a man style plate again. She would only put this on before a fight. It would actually provide better protection than traditional armor because you have an entire extra layer of metal. Probably enough to even stop early guns.

The main problem arising from having breasts, especially large ones, is that their mass tends to move the center of mass and thus altering the equilibrium. Not being a bearer myself I cannot speak about the discomfort of having such a free swinging mass.

This is particularly visible in female athletes, who never ever worry about showcasing their curves while competing. On the opposite, the breast are better hell firmly in place.

A sound design for a female warrior would then require a linen belt around the breast to hold them as flat and firm as possible, and then a formed toracic region to allow for lodging the extra volume. But no protruding things. They would be an easy target in close quarter combat, with likely lethal consequences.

Moreover, denouncing a fighter as a woman with clearly visible breasts can easily hint the enemy for weak points or ad hoc tactics, and of of the principle of war is to hide as much as possible to the enemy.

Regarding instead a parade armor, where showcasing and exhibition is the main purpose, that is not a matter of optimization but about mode and trends.

Push up armor!

She tightly ties her bossom just like she always did and wears the same armor she always did. She just instructs a blacksmith to reinforce and shape the front in a way to resemble attractive, full breasts.

Considering the general lack of fatty foods for all but the wealthiest and the kind of physical work and training she does, her breasts would probably be rather small anyway. You see the same phenomenon in modern athletes.

To make it available we first need to understand why it is not viable in the first place, the reason is simple, it leaves the sternum unprotected while exposing the breasts. Here's a stupid drawing I just made to show a woman wearing boob armor from above.

But there is a way to remove all those flaws, something that actually existed in medieval times called Gambeson

An arming doublet (also called aketon) worn under armour, particularly plate armour of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe, contains arming points for attaching plates. Fifteenth century examples may include goussets sewn into the elbows and armpits to protect the wearer in locations not covered by plate. German gothic armour arming doublets were generally shorter than Italian white armour doublets, which could extend to the upper thigh. In late fifteenth century Italy this also became a civilian fashion. Men who were not knights wore arming doublets, probably because the garment suggested status and chivalry

Gambeson alone was good armor but most of time was also paired with mail and plate armor to absorb impact. By wearing a THICK layer of gambeson under the boob plate all the design flaws are removed and now your knight has full protection.

Real breastplates have a lot of space between it and body to soften blows and prevent situations, where dented plate causes problems. Most females will have no problems to wear a standard medieval armor fitted to her, slight extra space won't make a big difference.

You can just make armor in a style and engraved to show your gender. Good move is to show off your slim waist, so less cheat-days and do not forget space for padding under armor.

If you want to accentuate your assets or they are impressive. You can make extra bulge around the chest. You would want to make it as small as possible, to preserve acceptable center of gravity and general weight and do not look like a joke. Don't over do your back and shoulder pain.

If you want to make separate "mounds" you would need to make it so there still is a good gap between it and your body. Ridge would be a potential weak spot and you would want to make it extra reinforced, same for base of "mounds". I would advise you from using it in battles on horseback, as that is perfect target for a lance or spear.

Can't afford spare pieces of harness - go with a fitted good old one, as your life is more important.

For note, in everyday life you would use minimal amount of armor and for sure it would be rare to go around in full battle armor.

Inflated and spiked chest plates for female warriors who want to show their attributes.