To critique fashion

[seriousfic]

To summarize a problem in costuming, accurate to the source material as it may be, a simple test: Two pictures behind the cut. One of them is of a porn star who will be having sex on camera. The other is the heroine of a family-friendly superhero show on a primetime television network. Try to guess which is which.







(I actually think Black Cat's cleavage is cut a bit higher than in the comics.)

I've heard some comments on Palicki's costume looking cheap, but being realistic, I'm aware that there are limitations to a TV budget. Dean Cain didn't have a nice super-suit either. It's more that they're not understanding the reasons that character was dressed the way she was back in 1943, and then updating that. I know you can go too far in the realism direction and get boring black leather, but overall, you want your hero to look like this and not like this.

Comments

[telepresence.livejournal.com]

I think even allowing for the TV budget, it was a bad costume. Legend of the Seeker put women into wacky getups all the time, but they still tended to look better (better designed, better tailored) than that, and they couldn't have had a big budget to work with.

[tafkarfanfic.livejournal.com]

Having worked in TV, and having actually directed COSTUMING for TV, I can flat-out and with authority say the WW costume SUCKED. I worked in low-budget documentary TV, and we would never have let something THAT cheap-looking go on camera. (For that matter, the network wouldn't let us get something that skimpy on camera, even when it was accurate - c.f. Ancient Egypt.)

[angel-gidget.livejournal.com]

I'm not a huge fan of Diana's new look in the comics, with the pants and the jacket, but y'know? That would make a pretty decent movie/tv costume. So really, they should switch.

[escapay.livejournal.com]

I thought the show didn't get picked up?

[mondoshawan555.livejournal.com]

I was also under the impression that the WW show didn't get picked up and couldn't be happier about it. That costume on a real person is making me want to scratch my eyes out.