#dw costume design

[silvermarmoset]

Hello! I was looking up Rose outfits trying to find a picture of a specific outfit when I came across this blog and your costume analysis of the companions. Absolutely fascinating!!! I wondered if you would do a Donna or Clara outfit analysis at some point? (Maybe I've just missed the post, sorry if so), as these have been the highlight of my day. You bring up things I've never even thought about before, like Roses transformation between s1 and s2 being significantly viewed through her wardrobe. I also noticed reading through Martha's post that they dropped the hoop earrings for her quite quickly in the series, perhaps it was too closely associated with Rose?

Anyway, it's been so interesting. Thank you for sharing your thoughts 💙

Thanks! I haven't done Donna and only a little one on Clara (that was not very good and didn't cover all of her, which is a shame because her clothes only get truly interesting in Series 8-9). I mean to get back to writing those posts some day—I definitely want to do Bill!—but I'm on a hiatus from writing about costumes for a bit. Thank you though! :D

[dandelionjack]

another really well-designed visual storytelling element of dot and bubble is the decision to have the fifteenth doctor star in it wearing his “doctoriest” costume yet. doctor outfits vary, of course, but a unifying trait is some kind of suit/smart-casual style and long jacket — subverted in many cases, obviously, but even thirteen wears the long hoodie and suspenders, and twelve’s punk fits still follow roughly the same template, nine has his leather jacket doing the job — whereas fifteen has most noticeably stepped outside that mold for the past few episodes, starting with the kilt and open-shouldered vest (!) in TCORR, then the t-shirts and, in general, far less rigidity.

but in Dot and Bubble, you take one look at this man and know: he’s the Doctor. which is why it creates such a powerful feeling of juxtaposition — all this ‘Doctor-aura’ posturing that usually works on side characters straight away completely fails to have any kind of effect in the face of unabashed, impenetrable bigotry. the clothing is a kind of uniform, it provides reassurance that this man *is* the doctor, that he’s come to rescue you, that he’s the same person he’s always been. but not to the residents of finetime.

since time immemorial (the second doctor’s era, but maybe even earlier, i haven’t seen much hartnell so correct me if i’m wrong) the doctor’s been asked — “why am i talking to you, why am i telling you my secrets?” and he’s always replied that he has a “face you can trust”. it’s time lord magnetism. people are naturally drawn to him. he commands a room. people begin to follow his orders because they know on some primal, innate, subconscious level that this entity is going to help them survive and make their existence better.

which is why it’s so jarring when they don’t. the racism, privilege and prejudice that clouds their eyes is genuinely so strong that it almost works like a perception filter, blocking out the doctor’s natural charisma, his bottomless kindness, all of the superhuman qualities that make him irresistible. they don’t see the charming 2000-year-old Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey that is going to “save their lives and everyone else’s”, long jacket fluttering out behind him as he runs, holding his hand outstretched like a beacon of hope. they see a Black man and nothing else, and that puts him beneath them no matter what he says, no matter what he does, how he proves that *he’s the Doctor*. to fascists, race stands above everything. you can be accomplished, talented, wise, clever, brilliant, but to them, the simple fact of the colour of your skin renders you unworthy. and that’s why they’re beyond saving.

[missyblr]

missy costume

analysis!

my personal favourite part of missy's costuming is her boots. described as victorian/edwardian mid-calf black leather boots with a louis heel ~2-3 inches, I think her boots add alot of character to the already amazing outfits, being a basic peice from her chosen period of fashion, while also amplifying the villain vibes when paired with a character so formidable.

(top photos are genuine photos of the boots used in the show, bottom photos are similar pieces I found online)

the boots missy wears were a very common style for women in the late victorian (1837-1901) and edwardian (1901-1910) period. when world war 1 started, alot of women scrapped the frequented heel and opted for a more simple style. missy's heel is a reminder that she is nothing simple, and she is very eccentric. also feminine, and badass, as she fights her battles in lightly inconvenient footwear.

the boots fit perfectly with the rest of her outfit but in my opinion, something about them is very eye catching, though I may just have an eye for shoes as these were a staple choice for women in that time period which missy wears the clothes of often on screen.

(below is an advert for similar styles from the time period, and a genuine pair from the early 1900s.)

idk if anyone has fixated on this as much as me but I used to be very interested in edwardian fashion and I'm obsessed with missy now so this has been at the back of my mind for a while.

if you read all of this thank uuuu ik it's not my normal content 🖤☂️

[just-call-mefr1es]

finney’s thoughts on billy durinng the chariot tours or whatever

[ drawing saves me from overthinking and i was in one of my lil overhtinking moments (that i hate sm) so here tbp x thg au doodle ]

[raspberry-gloaming]

People be like "oh cartoon characters have hardly any outfits" but you know who is really out in the trenches? Characters on the CD covers of 2000s-era audio drama who exist only in their outift from tv show in the 70s with an uber strong colour overlay filter.

[louthelost]

I've been affectionately calling this "the au I'm not writing" for a while now. Then I accidentally wrote 20k words for it. So I guess I can't call it that anymore (I still do though). So here's some concept art for an AU that's been bouncing around my head for a while which I guess we can call the bruce-never-became-batman-and-so-jason-and-babs-end-up-as-gotham's-first-vigilantes-and-slowly-acquire-more-friends AU. Or... we can just call it "You were never alone"

(sketches/linework under the cut)

[themuskrater]

My favorite costume from each Doctor (Part 1)

Every Doctor has some variation in costumes, some small, some full redesigns. Here is my favorite costume worn by each of the Classic Doctors. NuWho Doctors in Part II

William Hartnell's first doctor didn't get a ton of variations. Aside from his Roman garb, his standard costume stays relatively consistent. Occasionally the waistcoat changes or adds a hat, cloak, and scarf. Me personally, I think the standard costume and stripped waistcoat is his best look

Patrick Troughton is another case where the costume stays relatively the same. Again, aside from the occasional hat or fur coat, the only real change is the pants. My favorite version includes the large plaid pants

The 3rd Doctor might just have more outfits than episodes. Jon Pertwee's look took full advantage of the new color television technology, putting him in all sorts of fun colors, coats, patterns, and smoking jackets. Picking a favorite was nearly impossible, but forcing myself to choose, I landed on this black velvet with red piping

Tom Baker was the first Doctor to see a full redesign of his costume with season 18 and the burgundy suit and scarf. But, personally, I prefer the classic scarf. Choosing between iterations wasn't easy, but I landed on this season 17 version. It featured the longest of the classic scarves, bucket boots, and range of fun lapel pins

Peter Davison's on the other hand was by far the easiest choice. He only had two versions of the same costume with only one change. The lining of his collar changed from red to green. But for me, I prefer the red collar

Many of you may not know this, but Collin Baker's 6th Doctor had a surprising number of costumes. Easy to miss because the mismatch of colors and patterns is so distracting, but he had a variety of cravat, waistcoats, and pocket chains as well as 2 full designs that only appear in expanded media. But I've grown to appreciate the television look, and out of all its variations, I chose the blue polka-dot cravat with red check waistcoat

The 7th Doctor had a few minor changes throughout his tenure with different scarves and coats. Sylvester McCoy also wore an entirely new costume for the TV Movie that ditched the question mark vest. To me however that vest is iconic, so the iteration I chose is the season 26 version with the dark brown blazer to contrast the cream colored sweater

Despite only getting 3 live action appearances as The Doctor, Paul McGann has 3 completely unique costumes, my favorite being his 2013 Night of the Doctor look. It gives a swashbuckling vibe that I think fits really well for the 8th Doctor

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

.

[bahoreal]

ncutis 60s outfit. slay.

[youremyonlyhope]

L0ok I get the whole "sharing the clothes because they literally split into two" thing and I get that Ncuti Gatwa is very fit and handsome and is probably the only Doctor actor who would ever be willing to spend every single scene in his first episode in his underwear, but it just felt disrespectful.

No pants for the entire time?! Seriously? They couldn't even have a member of UNIT toss him some uniform pants after the Toymaker was put in the box?

[silvermarmoset]

if you had to pick one outfit from each nuwho doctor's era which ones would you pick? could be from anyone

terrific question!!

Nine

my first thought was the subtlety of any of Nine's jumpers and my second thought was Jabe and her beautiful dress, but I think I'm going to have to cop to my love of character-based costume design and say Rose's insane scarf outfit from Boom Town. if i really wanted to be normal I'd point to her white tank top outfit in Dalek—which does such a stunning job of setting Rose as the moral touchstone in a dark, angry episode—but I have a big weak spot for Rose going full silly and wearing a big loud scarf and a tiny skirt and her hair in those nonsense braids. it's the first time in series 1 we see Rose kind of lean into the I'm-a-glamorous-time-traveler-outside-the-laws-of-normie-fashion, so it's kind of a precursor to her choices in s2 but also such a fun break from her s1 hoodie-and-a-jean uniform. I love the hoodie-and-a-jean uniform, but if we're going to pick fave looks, this is it for me.

runners-up:

the dalek tank top

rose's hot pink loudmouth shirt in 'wwiii'

jabe <3

Ten

Rose's Tooth and Claw look is my definition of perfection. I love all the story elements it covers: Rose's sass and youth and flirtiness, that little bit of messy that always shows up when she's at her best, how it's both jaunty and ready to adventure but also so (SO) much an outfit for a cute date. And then there's the visual pun of the crown right on her chest—my GOD that's a fun touch. RTD once said this is the episode he'll be playing on endless repeat at the old folks home and for the crown T-shirt alone I'd agree with him.

runners-up:

donna's beautiful red shirt we see for 14 seconds in 'turn left'

pretty much everything of martha's but i'd be lying if i said i don't think of her 'family of blood' military jacket nigh-constantly

all of ten's ties but mostly the fruity ones

Eleven

i was going to write a long screed about how unjust forcing me to pick one outfit from the era of amy pond is, and then I remembered River Song's gold dress exists and i have no other opinions. this. this this this. give it to me.

runners-up:

there aren't any

give me the dress

ugh fine amy's wedding dress and her big red sweater can be here too

Twelve

SO SO SO DIFFICULT. bill is here and bill is the icon. I'm going to go with her stripe-shirt-and-overalls gorgeousness from Knock Knock. It really doesn't have any character relevancy or bigger meaning, I just think it's cute as fuck and I want to shake Hayley Nebauer's hand.

runners-up:

clara's 'into the dalek' blue-eyed pun shirt

bill's french fry shirt

river song's gorgeous christmas dresses

Thirteen

i haven't watched thirteen's era entirely so I'm on the wrong foot here, but I'm going with Aisling Bea's wonderfully noxious outfit because she was a delight and I would have liked to see more of her barely contained rage buffeting Thirteen for about twenty more episodes.

(this woman would have been an iconic companion and nothing can convince me otherwise)

runners-up:

i like thirteen's color-reversed coat!

jo martin <3

[dandelionjack]

oh this is gloriously camp. 1984 we-live-in-a-society authoritarian barbies with massive frizzy wigs slay mama pink tradgoth new wave nina hagen contouring microskirts and nerf guns… hot pink tardis and everything. peak eighties

[thetimelordbatgirl]

No one tell Stef Coburn people own DVDs, he might have another hissy fit.

[13thdoctorposts]

The shows costume department was top tier, and Yaz was 🔥 in this outfit. Just another example of the team’s incredible work. 13s era, from history to space and beyond might be one of the best looking shows that’s been on TV. Most shows sit in one genre, and can do it well, but 13s era went from early 20th century, to futuristic aliens, it battle harden refugees, to Ashad and Swarm and Azure to the Masters out fits. Oh and the Fugitive Doctors out fit. I don’t really have enough words to praise how visually stunning the last era of Doctor Who was.

Okay can I nerd out in Costume Historian Geek for a second? This costume?

You guys. This EXACT costume IS IN THE GODDAMN METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.

They made it SO perfectly, down to all the little flaps and buttons on the jacket. Just LOOK at this gorgeousness!!!

Anyway I don’t know who in the Doctor Who costume department I need to thank for my life, but whoever you are, you’re an absolute genius and I love you.

[heylosers06]

Could you draw Stephanie in her Batgirl costume? You can add any modifications to it you want, I love how you did the Batfam designs in your last post

You could consider this a Steph post ig. Sorry anon I’ll do a better one later promise. Sorry this took so long I had some personal issues but I’m back.

Dw the other requests will be answered

[shutupineedtothink]

AAA final thoughts + praise 🙌🏼

Ok now that I’ve had a few days to sit with the finale and let go of my preconceived ideas of what it should be, yeah it really was brilliant. I still don’t Iove ghost Agatha, but I get it. And now I’m really pulling for Wanda to come back so that she can bring Agatha back (this happens in the comics apparently) and we can do a MCU witch movie. Sign Jac Schaeffer IMMEDIATELY, Feige. Lock her down, we all want more of this shit.

As to where the show ranks overall in the MCU, I feel like at this point it has to be #1. Even above WandaVision, and certainly above Loki, as much as I love both of them. This show just does… more. Like I can’t believe how much they packed into these 9 episodes. This is what… a true six hander? Six fully defined characters with fully developed arcs and satisfying journeys? With the possible exception of Agatha and Billy’s journey not being over yet, which doesn’t take away from their arcs and development along the show. (Again, had to let go of my own theories there.) WandaVision at most had 3… Wanda, Vision, and Monica, and I don’t feel like Vision had much of an arc tbh.

And then all the little witchy horror movie references throughout, the incredible seeding of the Billy’s Road reveal, building up and breaking down the coven, Agatha’s incredible complexity as a character and not being able to neatly put her in any category, hero, villain, anti-hero, whatever. You really can’t pin her down and I don’t think I’ve seen that in the MCU ever. I guess the last character like that was sort of Loki, but he had more of a true redemption arc. Agatha just… exists in the gray at all times. You just never know what she’s gonna do. And it’s amazing.

Then there’s the Ballad and truly weaving that throughout the whole show in such a way that it’s instrumental (pun intended) to the plot… who does that? Plus the amazing score that feels just as present throughout. The only comp I can kind of make is Clara’s theme in DW, but the Ballad is way more intentional throughout.

I can’t possibly go into it all but the sheer amount of setup and pay off is incredible. And yet we leave with more mysteries to solve and more questions to ask, which is also incredible!

Not to mention the production design, the practical effects, costumes, makeup — every visual was stunning.

And I’m not even going to get into AgathaRio (and Nicky) and all the tragic complexity there. I get wanting a happy ending but… also what ever made you think this would be as simple as a happy ending? They are a. Capital S. STORY. They’re practically mythological. Who cares about happily ever after when you can have Epic, Fated, Complex Romance that literally transcends this Earth. Like what more do you want?? That is the top echelon of epic romance. Disconnect the “happy ever after” = “good romance” link in your brain, you know? Judge by complexity and emotionality and dynamic range rather than something as simple and boring as do they end up together or not. They’re so wildly interesting and I’m so glad we could get more of them in the future. (Ok I did get into it oops)

And the humor?? I don’t think I even need to say anything. But what comedic excellence from everyone across the board, with Kathryn Hahn leading the charge of course. And to balance that with the drama without undercutting either of them is not easy, but they all did it flawlessly.

I could go on and on but I just hope this show, and Jac, and Kathryn, and everyone involved gets their flowers for this work of art. There’s just so much love and care and intentionality here. It really feels like a standout not just in the MCU but in contemporary TV in general. Easily my top show of 2024, it’s not even a contest. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️