#got costume appreciation

[mojogifs]

Viserys Targaryen | GoT Costume Appreciation

[cuddlytogas]

So I accidentally almost got into an argument on Twitter, and now I'm thinking about bad historical costuming tropes. Specifically, Action Hero Leather Pants.

See, I was light-heartedly pointing out the inaccuracies of the costumes in Black Sails, and someone came out of the woodwork to defend the show. The misunderstanding was that they thought I was dismissing the show just for its costumes, which I wasn't - I was simply pointing out that it can't entirely care about material history (meaning specifically physical objects/culture) if it treats its clothes like that.

But this person was slightly offended on behalf of their show - especially, quote, "And from a fan of OFMD, no less!" Which got me thinking - it's true! I can abide a lot more historical costuming inaccuracy from Our Flag than I can Black Sails or Vikings. And I don't think it's just because one has my blorbos in it. But really, when it comes down to it...

What is the difference between this and this?

Here's the thing. Leather pants in period dramas isn't new. You've got your Vikings, Tudors, Outlander, Pirates of the Caribbean, Once Upon a Time, Will, The Musketeers, even Shakespeare in Love - they love to shove people in leather and call it a day. But where does this come from?

Obviously we have the modern connotations. Modern leather clothes developed in a few subcultures: cowboys drew on Native American clothing. (Allegedly. This is a little beyond my purview, I haven't seen any solid evidence, and it sounds like the kind of fact that people repeat a lot but is based on an assumption. I wouldn't know, though.) Leather was used in some WWI and II uniforms.

But the big boom came in the mid-C20th in motorcycle, punk/goth, and gay subcultures, all intertwined with each other and the above. Motorcyclists wear leather as practical protective gear, and it gets picked up by rock and punk artists as a symbol of counterculture, and transferred to movie designs. It gets wrapped up in gay and kink communities, with even more countercultural and taboo meanings. By the late C20th, leather has entered mainstream fashion, but it still carries those references to goths, punks, BDSM, and motorbike gangs, to James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Mick Jagger. This is whence we get our Spikes and Dave Listers in 1980s/90s media, bad boys and working-class punks.

And some of the above "historical" design choices clearly build on these meanings. William Shakespeare is dressed in a black leather doublet to evoke the swaggering bad boy artist heartthrob, probably down on his luck. So is Kit Marlowe.

But the associations get a little fuzzier after that. Hook, with his eyeliner and jewellery, sure. King Henry, yeah, I see it. It's hideously ahistorical, but sure. But what about Jamie and Will and Ragnar, in their browns and shabby, battle-ready chic? Well, here we get the other strain of Bad Period Drama Leather.

See, designers like to point to history, but it's just not true. Leather armour, especially in the western/European world, is very, very rare, and not just because it decays faster than metal. (Yes, even in ancient Greece/Rome, despite many articles claiming that as the start of the leather armour trend!) It simply wasn't used a lot, because it's frankly useless at defending the body compared to metal. Leather was used as a backing for some splint armour pieces, and for belts, sheathes, and buckles, but it simply wasn't worn like the costumes above. It's heavy, uncomfortable, and hard to repair - it's simply not practical for a garment when you have perfectly comfortable, insulating, and widely available linen, wool, and cotton!

As far as I can see, the real influence on leather in period dramas is fantasy. Fantasy media has proliferated the idea of leather armour as the lightweight choice for rangers, elves, and rogues, a natural, quiet, flexible material, less flashy or restrictive than metal. And it is cheaper for a costume department to make, and easier for an actor to wear on set. It's in Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, Runescape, and World of Warcraft.

And I think this is how we get to characters like Ragnar and Vane. This idea of leather as practical gear and light armour, it's fantasy, but it has this lineage, behind which sits cowboy chaps and bomber/flight jackets. It's usually brown compared to the punk bad boy's black, less shiny, and more often piecemeal or decorated. In fact, there's a great distinction between the two Period Leather Modes within the same piece of media: Robin Hood (2006)! Compare the brooding, fascist-coded villain Guy of Gisborne with the shabby, bow-wielding, forest-dwelling Robin:

So, back to the original question: What's the difference between Charles Vane in Black Sails, and Edward Teach in Our Flag Means Death?

Simply put, it's intention. There is nothing intentional about Vane's leather in Black Sails. It's not the only leather in the show, and it only says what all shabby period leather says, relying on the same tropes as fantasy armour: he's a bad boy and a fighter in workaday leather, poor, flexible, and practical. None of these connotations are based in reality or history, and they've been done countless times before. It's boring design, neither historically accurate nor particularly creative, but much the same as all the other shabby chic fighters on our screens. He has a broad lineage in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean and such, but that's it.

In Our Flag, however, the lineage is much, much more intentional. Ed is a direct homage to Mad Max, the costuming in which is both practical (Max is an ex-cop and road warrior), and draws on punk and kink designs to evoke a counterculture gone mad to the point of social breakdown, exploiting the thrill of the taboo to frighten and titillate the audience.

In particular, Ed is styled after Max in the second movie, having lost his family, been badly injured, and watched the world turn into an apocalypse. He's a broken man, withdrawn, violent, and deliberately cutting himself off from others to avoid getting hurt again. The plot of Mad Max 2 is him learning to open up and help others, making himself vulnerable to more loss, but more human in the process.

This ties directly into the themes of Our Flag - it's a deliberate intertext. Ed's emotional journey is also one from isolation and pain to vulnerability, community, and love. Mad Max (intentionally and unintentionally) explores themes of masculinity, violence, and power, while Max has become simplified in the popular imagination as a stoic, badass action hero rather than the more complex character he is, struggling with loss and humanity. Similarly, Our Flag explores masculinity, both textually (Stede is trying to build a less abusive pirate culture) and metatextually (the show champions complex, banal, and tender masculinities, especially when we're used to only seeing pirates in either gritty action movies or childish comedies).

Our Flag also draws on the specific countercultures of motorcycles, rockers, and gay/BDSM culture in its design and themes. Naturally, in such a queer show, one can't help but make the connection between leather pirates and leather daddies, and the design certainly nods at this, with its vests and studs. I always think about this guy, with his flat cap so reminiscient of gay leather fashions.

More overtly, though, Blackbeard and his crew are styled as both violent gangsters and countercultural rockstars. They rove the seas like a bikie gang, free and violent, and are seen as icons, bad boys and celebrities. Other pirates revere Blackbeard and wish they could be on his crew, while civilians are awed by his reputation, desperate for juicy, gory details.

This isn't all of why I like the costuming in Our Flag Means Death (especially season 1). Stede's outfits are by no means accurate, but they're a lot more accurate than most pirate media, and they're bright and colourful, with accurate and delightful silks, lace, velvets, and brocades, and lovely, puffy skirts on his jackets. Many of the Revenge crew wear recognisable sailor's trousers, and practical but bright, varied gear that easily conveys personality and flair. There is a surprising dedication to little details, like changing Ed's trousers to fall-fronts for a historical feel, Izzy's puffy sleeves, the handmade fringe on Lucius's red jacket, or the increasing absurdity of navy uniform cuffs between Nigel and Chauncey.

A really big one is the fact that they don't shy away from historical footwear! In almost every example above, we see the period drama's obsession with putting men in skinny jeans and bucket-top boots, but not only does Stede wear his little red-heeled shoes with stockings, but most of his crew, and the ordinary people of Barbados, wear low boots or pumps, and even rough, masculine characters like Pete wear knee breeches and bright colours. It's inaccurate, but at least it's a new kind of inaccuracy, that builds much more on actual historical fashions, and eschews the shortcuts of other, grittier period dramas in favour of colour and personality.

But also. At least it fucking says something with its leather.

[anna-scribbles]

h-how do you ever finish any of your work? genuine question because you seem to be productive despite your agreste syndrome and I need to learn your ways. but also how do you ever finish any of your work

unclear. last night i stayed up and finished a report worth 25% of my grade at about 5am, arrived on time for my 9am lecture, and spent about half of it zoned out while thinking about seventeen year old emilie agreste. and i was one of the most active participants in the class discussion

[rings-of-power-realm]

Time for another positivity post <3

Reblog or reply with how you felt when you first watched Rings of Power, who your favourite character is and did that change, an aspect you love most about the show, your favourite line of dialogue, your favourite episode, hopes for s2, anything goes as long as its positive! :)

[misspoetree]

[angelic-waffles]

An attempt at drawing Patton!

He’s my favorite so I hope I did him justice :]

[natroze]

Shoutout to the fabric store cashier (masc?-presenting with a masculine name and extremely sharp eyeliner) yesterday who, when they saw me (strange little goth-out-of-uniform trans man) looking for coupons, told me they had one they could use for me and not to worry, then gave me a 30% discount for being trans

[the-brows-of-knowledge]

I'm a sewing/costume novice dressing up as the new Marceline from Fionna and Cake for Halloween and need advice...

I need to make the red bat wing hem on my flared black pants legs... I intentionally got cotton flare pants that are too long so I have at least 4 extra inches of pant I can chop off from each leg... I've got red fabric that's just a tad thinner than the cotton pants...

What do we think the most stable approach would be for the hem?

I'd assume to even pull off a hem with this shape in the first place, I would need to cut multiple slits in the part that gets folded in for the hem to pull off this shape with all of the curves and sharp corners... And then how do I add the red edge? Do I add the fabric on top of the pants hem, or add it as an extension and hem the red part as well? Thoughts?

[bigbuxbolds]

ykno when i looked up the twins game highlight videos i didnt expect to see byron buxton almost get run over by a giant sausage mascot

"Sausage Race: Look out Byron!" indeed

[micamicster]

The bastard son and the devil himself more like road-trips of bisexuality

[lotrmusical]

post about poto italy

quite genuinely the most i've ever enjoyed watching phantom. i've been trying to figure out why and i think it basically boils down to a couple things:

- one of the things i like most about phantom is the metatheatricality, and one of the things i like most about theatre in general is suspension of disbelief. poto italy played into those things (both deliberately and inadvertently). any moments that lacked 'polish' (which there undeniably were, if you compare it to the london production) really worked for me to keep up that sense of immersion. we are in a theatre. this is a work of artifice. being able to see through the gaps in the performance and understand that this is something people are working together to make 'go', while still at the same time buying in to the world that it presents... idk. delicious chaos. if it were any other show, and if the cast hadn't all been singing their hearts out, it might not have worked. but as it was i think it being less polished than the london production actually made me enjoy it more

- on a related note, the other thing i like about phantom is how stupid it is. half the songs are overtly comedic and the other half are the world's schmalziest most over the top secretions of lloyd-webberage and the plot doesn't make any sense. so when i'm watching phantom i'm already psychologically primed to react to things with 'sure!! why not!!'. the sillier it is, the better. and boy did this production deliver on silly

- credit to alw, i think this is because the music is so genuine and compelling that it makes a strong enough tissue to hold the show together and preserve the emotional sincerity despite how objectively silly it all is. it's a rubbery sort of show. you can fit a Lot of silly into it without any risk of tearing the immersion.

- i don't even know what to say about characterisation tbh since i think it's fairly clear i don't watch this musical for the characters. i do not think that character depth is one of phantom's strong suits. nevertheless here are my takes.

christine felt like she had less agency than normal (already not a high bar) but compensated by responding to situations with genuine emotion/stress/fear and delivering a wishing you were somehow here again that made me weep.

i sort of enjoyed the unhinged all i ask of you. it makes christine and raoul more interesting to me if they're both obviously having a terrible time. i like raoul struggling with trying to be the Guy Who Fixes Everything in a situation that he's realising is actually beyond his abilities to fix.

diversity win/loss: this phantom stims. obviously one wishes they hadn't chosen to code the stalker and murderer as autistic/Ambiguously Mentally Unwell. like i think we can all agree we probably wish they had made a different choice there. that said, as someone who does rock back and forth in times of emotional stress, it did sort of work to get me to like him better. ah well.

- favourite things about this production: revolving set, deliberate arson and insurance fraud, the anastasia once upon a december thing they did during the overture, spinning piano, lesbianism, the masquerade staging

[apollo-just-ice]

Omg,,, Spring Njörðr somehow got leaked??

And his level 40 convo too?? 😳😳

[theladyofskeletons]

I need them to meet so badly it’s not even funny anymore

[sluttish-armchair]

NOW I KNOW WHAT THE MINISTRY OF LOVE REMINDS ME OF:

soup.avi

Forever going to picture O’Brien as Ray Ray LOL

[ridofme1993]

[storyweaverofgondor]

It is very hard to find out how people of a different culture (Non-American/European specifically) who did a particular non royal job dressed apparently. I don’t know about enough about this culture to feel safe guessing tbh.

If anyone would be willing to help it would be appreciated!