Let's talk costuming: Avaunt!
So I think we can all agree that Aziraphale looks his most traditionally angelic in the Job minisode, no? In fact, all of the angels' costuming increases in drama for this particular episode. This is, obviously, a very deliberate choice on the part of wardrobe, so let's discuss.
On a technical level, the biggest thing that stands out to me about this fabulous robe is the draping. Oh, the draping. It feels like a classic angel 'fit because on a very fundamental level, it is. A lot of what we think of as angelic draws on Renaissance artists' depictions, with flowing robes, fluffy wings, and glimmering halos. In art from this era, there is a strong attention to detail on the natural flow of fabrics that makes Renaissance sculpture so breathtaking, such as here: (The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, Bernini, 17th century CE)
It's this ability to make solid marble look like fine silk rippling with movement that leaves such a strong impression in my mind when I look at these kinds of works.
In painting, too, there is a similar effect. Something about the material culture of the Renaissance really lent itself to this style, perhaps fueled by the rise in new textile luxuries that occurred in vaguely the same period. This is seen especially strongly for angels, such as in the sculpture above, and in this painting: (The Annunciation to the Virgin, Botticelli, 15th century CE)
There's a stark contrast between the dress of the two figures. The virgin Mary is no less ornamentally or expensively dressed, but her style is rather minimalistic next to the angel's voluminous robing. It paints a very clear impression of angelic dress, and the designers for Good Omens would have been aware, in at least a small way, of the art history precedence for such a thing.
The poof of the sleeves, the tucks down the front, the little belt with the train tucked in, the gathers, the weight of the fabric, everything about this robe is constructed to carefully recreate the rather fantastical imagery of renaissance art. It's not necessarily an easy texture to nail down, given that the artists themselves had no concerns of gravity, comfort, or the way it would look in actual 3d motion, while our brave costumers were dealing with all three as well as a budget, time constraints, and the constant consideration that white fabric just gets dirty so easy.
Here's some of the other angels as well, so you can see how theirs reflect those same dramatic themes.
And then, of course, when costuming a show you have a second question: What does this mean for our character? Or rather, we know how, but WHY did they make him look so traditionally angelic?
Well, thematically, the Job minisode centers around Aziraphale's struggle with being a good angel and Crowley's struggle with being a good demon. Aziraphale is learning how to be an angel that follows along with heaven as far as we can, and he's so terribly torn up about it. He spends a lot of his time fretting about doing what's expected demanded of him, even if perhaps he doesn't believe it to be the right choice. Natural, then, that he should look the part of the perfect angel whilst sorting out these ethereal woes.
Crowley even draws attention to it himself, giggling a bit at the suggestion that Aziraphale, with his fluffy hair and flowing angelic garb, could possibly become a demon. And it is a rather silly mental image; the garment itself would be comically silly in really ANY other context at all. In the same manner, his performance of angelic archetype borders on excessive:
He's trying so desperately hard here to be the angel he wants to and is supposed to be. He's dressed the part, he's using his big scary angel voice, but deep down he's clinging to an identity that doesn't quite fit.
(You'll notice in this shot the distinct difference between his and Crowley's dress on the level of silhouette as well as color. We see this a lot from the two of them, but with the points I made above it felt worth pointing out in this particular scene)
Here at the end, as he's coming to terms with the cracks in his heaven-given identity, his robe is largely in shadow, blurring out its startling whiteness. We do not see him dressed this way again. (He continues to wear white, obviously, but from here on out his style of dress mimics the human trends of the time rather than that classical angelic imagery)
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What Is Vegan Leather Made Of? Many Plant Leathers Are Being Used (greenmatters.com)
Yes, plant leather is a great idea (not better than animal leather, in my personal opinion, but that's down to each individual's thoughts on the matter). But unfortunately much of it just can't replicate many of real leather's beneficial properties- and a lot of plant leathers heavily involve plastic in their production. (source)
Look, ALL clothing production needs to be more sustainable at this point. The chemicals involved in tanning actual leather, unless it's organic leather, aren't good for the environment either. And I will never rag on someone for their choice to avoid real leather- we're all just trying, I hope, to make the best choices according to our values and within the confines of a broken system (as long as we're not hurting anyone else). For me, the massive habitat loss and environmental destruction caused by plastics production and waste is a greater evil than the deaths of individual animals in the production of meat and/or leather. So I choose real leather and try to make each piece last as long as I can, aware that any choice I make will have environmental impacts and is not perfect. Someone else might see it differently, and I really am not in a position to judge their choices.
However.
The term "vegan leather" is blatant greenwashing, and 99% of the time it applies to plastic. If people prefer to wear plastic to avoid real leather, that's fine, but they- and moreover companies -need to be honest about that. Just like synthetic fabrics should be called plastic, so should synthetic leather. Even some of the allegedly "plant-based" stuff, it turns out.
I'm honest that my real leather is animal hide. Time for the faux-green fashion industry to display some honesty of its own.
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Decided to polish some jacket designs!
Emmet originally received a strait from the League after they thought he posed a safety risk to others and mandated him to wear it. Big surprise, they literally just went to a Unovan hospital and asked if they had any of the old jackets lying around. It's ill-fitting and unpleasant, not to mention the hasty edits they made to his uniform to act as a secondary restraint looks awful. As much as he is still operating as usual, having to walk around in the strait is humiliating and dehumanizing, especially because of the stares from other people.
Of course this crime against dignity and fashion had to be corrected, so Elesa called her designers and offered to make the League Council a more appropriate uniform for him. The only rule given was that it must still restrain as well as the original straitjacket, so Elesa ended up modelling the jacket after a vest and the secondary restraint after a double-breasted greatcoat. It's meant to look like clothing, more like everyday wear than something out of an asylum. It also uses hand covers (i.e. socks) instead of a grossly oversized sleeve to keep the hands restrained.
It resolves a lot of the issues Emmet had with the original, namely that it blends in with the crowd rather than making him stick out. It also has an air of professionalism and formality that the original didn't have. He's much more willing to wear it and keep it on, as well as being more comfortable in it.
I'm struggling to describe this in sentences so as for the differences:
League Straitjacket:
actual retired straitjacket from hospital storage
made of old canvas and leather
uses oversized belted sleeves to restrain arms
uses belts and buckles to restrain upper arms and tighten back
can't fit anything thicker than a tank top underneath
Elesa's Modified Straitvest:
bespoke articles custom tailored to Emmet's measurements
made from stiff cotton and fabric staps
uses belted cuffs and hand covers to restrain arms
uses straps and locking slide buckles to restrain upper arms and tighten back
able to fit a collared shirt underneath
Elesa's outfit also has the added bonus of being more breathable, soft, and being able to function as regular clothes.
Anyways bonus sketch comic:
Dignity restored.
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I may not look it but i used to watch ft!!
I've been rewatching some of the episodes and im still wishy washy on whether or not I want to redesign all the characters but here's some recent and old character sketches!! I've been playing around with their designs but trying not to deviate too far so that the characters still look like who they're supposed to be
Idk if anyone would wanna see me redesign/rework every character but I'd post em if there were people who wanted to see that.
Here's the rundown for those who are interested:
My basic ideas for fairy tail are to make every character a fantasy trope/creature/class/myth. Some of the characters will change into a different thing over time as they gain experience. I feel like fairy tail has a lot of potential to write a more modern fairy tale type story because of the whole wizards and magic thing. With dragons and princesses n everything. This is obviously present in the story, but i really want to reinforce that idea. there are some characters who I think really fit this, like Erza (obvi main knight of the story but also has the title of titania queen of the fairies) and natsu (obviously dragon as an mc, sort of a role reversal of the evil dragon. and maybe a fun demonic plot twist haha). But with other characters i may need to make more changes. Lucy is a loose version of the princess (with a fun runaway backstory), but I want her to evolve into a priestess. Grey kinda has nothing going on for him imo, the ice wizard thing keeps throwing me off every time i try to project something onto him. I think i'll go with a hunter -> demon slayer thing. He just happens to use ice magic. i don't wanna go with regular wizard because thats a bit boring lmao. It would also make the elemental thing between natsu and grey funnier bcuz he's a spooky demon and that guys a hunter so you guys REALLY shouldnt get along. They do anyway because the power of friendship lol Anyways that's the basic plan? even if i dont post it on tumblr just know its cooking in the back of my head. thx for reading all this haha
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