[Ulzgoroth]

I think there's a couple mistakes here...

One is the statement that a counterpressure suit uses pressure on the skin to prevent air loss. It prevents air loss by having any air-filled compartments being air tight. The purpose of the compression is to keep the wearer's body operating under sufficient compression not to cause too much trouble.

Real versions of these suits are not airtight over most of the body! In GURPS terms they provide Vacuum Support but not Sealed. Unlike most SF depictions of 'slim' spacesuits including the Basic Set and I think Ultratech. They rely on the fact that apparently human skin is quite adequate at directly tolerating hard vacuum, it just isn't sufficiently taut on its own to avoid unfortunate amounts of decompression of soft tissues.

The other is the idea that you can put on a pressurized-interior space suit over whatever bulky clothes you're wearing. The suits may be bulky but I don't think that means having enough space inside to keep your elaborate layered clothes on underneath without significant problems.


One approach would be simply wearing the counterpressure suit as a regular undergarment all the time. Layering dresses or suit jackets or whatever over it won't be any problem for the basic suit function. You probably want versions that have switchable tensioning though so wearers aren't unduly squeezed while in a pressurized environment. Obviously you need to pop on a helmet and maybe some extremity-wear to complete the vacuum protection, but that's a lot less than needing to strip down and suit up even aside from the modesty issues.