#make cloth mainstream

[jichanxo]

hitting them with the girl beam (+ pre-judgment era beam)

[shopcat]

ok this is stupid i acknowledge that its stupid and im being crazy but. idk if its just me or if its genuinely kinda weird that stddie fans give steve a like. for lack of a better word kinda stereotypically gay music taste in terms of how the fandom decided he loves pop divas and disco and such things (even though in the show he mostly listens to classic rock and post punk/new wave lol) and they solely use it as a punchline and as something eddie (and sometimes the rest of the group) tease him about and even if it's done "lovingly" it's still from a place of implied superiority. and its esp funny when they say "oh its because it's so mainstream and commercialized" as if eddie doesn't listen to some of the most mainstream most famous and most commercialized metal bands in the world lol. idk sorry for this bout of insanity i just feel like this fandom is genuinely really weird and homophobic like at its very roots even if it's not aware of it

HM yeah i can definitely see it being particularly weird with how they do it just to have him be made fun of for it it does feel off..... also as if eddie wouldn't like abba or something. i do totally think steve is a pop diva girlie i just also think eddie could be TOO And yeah the very basis of a typically masculine guy having a less pedestrian more typically "feminine" music taste is that it probably shouldn't be just randomly made fun of 😭

but actually one of my most beloved things is how much rock steve does listen to and i think they do have music in common other than that. ppl tend to fall into the quote unquote anti poser trap probably from the blondie bowie beatles thing with eddie when he was actually literally never shown to hate any other kind of music he just defended that his music is still good music 😭 it also just conforms to what their idea of a metalhead is let alone someone who's like counterculture anticonsumerism when i don't think eddie would literally give a fuck and it feels MEAN to have him Be mean in that way. when he could be mean in so many funnier more truthful ways that don't rely on someone else being the laughing stock!!!! especially someone he actually likes. i think eddie would like that steve likes an unexpected range of music it's honestly weird to ME that people forget liking a lot of those genres wasn't Actually the most popular like what 80s teen boy was actually listening to new wave and fucking . olivia newton john. let alone anything that could be deemed "girly" i think eddie would at the very least be able to recognise steve's particular love for music and i guess his own boldness in that area and it would call to his own even if he did theoretically just absolutely hate it the core value would mirror his own he would probably pass out from being too horny about it!!! like there is a certain kind of statement you give with liking anything sometimes and especially at the time even being like a fan of QUEEN or musical theatre isn't something that was just taken like "Oh you're such a prep!"

[enderspawn]

my desire to dress in fun and alternative fashion styles vs the plus sized learned instinct to never order clothing online o(-(

[draconic-absurdism]

INTRO TO XORRYADDANS

Xorryaddans, or Xors, are a group of 5 sub-species of alien who evolved as apex predators in various niches on their home-planet. In order: diggers (vok'unek), fighters (ro'riku), gliders (vi'ivivek), jumpers (zi'ijikek), and runners (vaveer)*. Also pictured is a cityscape on their current planet, New Xorrya.

Their ocular organ is set inside their skull above their mouths. Their bones and skin function as one-way glass. This allows them to see almost 360 degrees without moving their heads. When bright light hits their head right, you can vaguely see the outline of their skull and "eye" inside their skin.

*The terms are approximate translations; their language is made up of an incredibly complex set of clicks, chirps, teeth clacks, and other sounds that can be made without a tongue. Humans would not be able to properly pronounce words from their language!

Story under the readmore:

Xorryaddan society quickly industrialized and formed into classes, and capitalist societies drove much of the wildlife to extinction within a few hundred years. Ads lined the streets, and corporations plastered their logos over the night sky. Work was hard, and pay was little. They had to quickly evolve to subsist off of ionizing radiation from nuclear waste, rather than consuming solid food. The greed of the wealthy eventually led to the total collapse of the ecosystem, and eventually, the end of the world.

Hundreds of thousands of workers hijacked billionaires' airships, locating a safe new planet with plenty of radiation to feed on: they called it New Xorrya (pictured), a planet so radioactive that the only other thing living on it were various types of radiotrophic fungi.

New Xorrya is the closest planet to the sun in the same solar system as Daeji and Pyrexia. It's a rotation-locked planet, unbearably hot on the sun-facing side and unbearably cold on the other, so Xors settled on the strip of perpetual twilight. New Xorrya provided an unexpected opportunity to restart and create a new, better society.

Xors continued to develop their technology, but this time without a profit motive. Quick and accessible public transportation between walkable cities. The ability to vote on local issues on secure mobile devices, built to be convenient rather than addictive and ad-filled. Massive housing complexes that are both communal and provide ample private spaces. In-depth storytelling and history lessons told through video games, virtual reality, and technically impressive performances with practical effects.

But they still mourn for their lost world. When called upon, they will assist other worlds in overcoming a capitalist ruling class and saving their ecosystems. They spread the message: we were a rare exception, most of you will not get a second chance. You must protect your planet. All power to the people.

[ethereiling]

gamers help a brother out. where tf do you find goth/punk vibes clothing thats actually masc and not fast fashion. i stg everywhere i look for fun clothes that are from small businesses/anything but bland massive brands everything is like cottagecore or femme or both

[matthewkimble]

i don’t go here (pedro pascal media) but i’m feeling genuine annoyance even anger because i keep seeing people being mean about his outfit at the recent premiere or whatever it is and it’s like?? a nice normal outfit? maybe i’m missing something and it’s related to one of his shows because i honestly don’t get what the fuss is it’s literally trousers and a cardigan lol are you guys okay

[mostlikelyshutup]

im going to start problems (emailing clothing companies asking when theyll be adding plus sizes)

[selamat-linting]

the fact that most of the kpop stans who crossed over to pro wrestling on tumblr are usually my most disliked type of people in both fandoms probably says a lot of rather unpleasant things about myself but then i guess its best for me to just play in my own corner and hopefully someone with the same mindset will come along

[youreonyourown-kid]

Tbh I don’t want to lose weight so I can wear tight/skimpy clothing I want to lose weight so I can wear comfy over-sized clothing.

“Just buy bigger clothes”! Yeah but if you’re already plus sized it’s harder to find over sized stuff, and it starts getting more expensive.

[c0rpsedemon]

on one hand gwen steffani's whole deal esp when it comes to japan is. christ. but on the other hand harajuku girls is the realest song in the world. usually i can't relate to pop hits but like. she's so right. vivienne westwood CAN'T go wrong. super kawaii DOES mean super cute in japanese. i DO have expensive tastes and better save up.

[widevibratobitch]

.

[probablyaseamonster]

Things kids get but adults aren’t allowed to have:

1) toothpaste that isn’t pain flavoured

2) backpacks in pretty colours

3) shoes that come in colours of the rainbow

4) funky patterns that aren’t from a past decade

5) GIVE ME MY FUCKING BLUE-AND-ORANGE BACKPACK GODDAMNIT

[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.

[kingsandbastardz]

So for basically my whole life I'd grown up with and was resigned to accept that the chinese concept of formal/nice clothing of my and the previous generation has been western clothes. So at any awards ceremonies or performances, entertainers would show up mostly in western suits/dresses and maaaaaybe you'll spot the occasional cheongsam if they're going for a Wong Fei Hong vibe. Which, you know, kinda sucks if you have any concept of western cultural imperialism in asia.

So when the hanfu revivalist movement started, I was waiting to see when it would enter the mainstream -- my hope was for fashion designers to integrate traditional/dynastic elements into their work and make it common place enough that I can buy this shit online for ME. Because I WANT.

Though some of the designs can be a bit hit or miss, I am LOVING what various stars and entertainers are wearing out and about now.

Anyway - here's a collection of Xiao Shunyao's modern hanfu inspired/hybridized stage outfits from the last couple years. For his MLC performances, his stylists seem to be borrowing inspiration from his Di Feisheng and possibly other character costume silhouettes.

I'd been seeing a few comments about how his outfits play with gender - and some of his outfits do! But I think the interesting thing to discuss is from which standard is he playing with gender? Because from a western perspective, the things he does with his western suit tops, belting on top of the jacket for a tightly cinched waist, and the addition of a trailing skirt = femme. But if you're talking from a hanfu-hybridized pov, that's just a modern take on hanfu and having any of those elements is not inherently femme and would often read masc to me.

So these things aren't necessarily gendered because they exist traditionally in chinese men's clothing or costume designs (ie video games, comics, historical fiction illustrations and film, etc, so therefore in the modern lexicon of masculine/acceptable for men):

presence or lack of a skirt

silky, velvety, gauzy or sparkly material choice, esp in formal or stage clothing

short or long length of skirt

embroidery

flowers/floral/bird designs

folding fans

certain styles of makeup

beading, gold, tassels, jewels

non-chunky jewelry

headbands

widely flowing silhouettes

What XSY's stylists are doing with some western clothing items are interesting. I'm convinced there have been one or two western jacket tops made of thinner material that they're folding over the front, and belting down instead of buttoning (which then matches with his other outfits that are designed specifically to do this). Then they're adding a skirt, cloak or bracer element to it.

The western portions often bring a military minimalist feel which they balance with a more gauzy material in the skirt or cloak portions.

Things I think are playing with gender:

row 1 - image 1: red di feisheng-inspired outfit

The lace-up girdle is there to match the bracers in both material and style. And it's positioned to be similar to the heavy belt that Di Feisheng wears. HOWEVER. That style of girdle/corset-like clothing item can't be divorced from the modern idea of sexy leather corsets. So imo, this waist piece on that outfit was a choice. Especially when paired with his allergic-to-collars-higher-than-his-sternum necklines. And if you take into context how masculine yet female coded his character is in the drama, the whole look evokes that.

row 2, image 1: black western suit with belt on top, hat, cloak, black boots and not-visible but also a black tassel fringe skirt

Hat and cloak moves the intention of the outfit from western toward a more Asian slant, because alone, it looks like a western black suit with western heeled boots, cinched waist with a lady's belt (seated photoshoot) and western style tassel skirt. The suit top consists of a vest and a shrug-like sleeve portion that appears masculine at first glance. But take the shrug and pair it with the tassel skirt (I can't find the red carpet photos but here is a better view of the skirt when seated), and I think you got a look that's both intentionally edging toward the femme in a western sense but also confusing matters by hiding within the parameters of both western and chinese traditional male styling.

row 2 - image 2 : white asymetrical western jacket styled in a front fold-over style, gauze skirt, trailing pearl embellishments

The more traditional leaning version of this is the white outfit in row 3 that he wears to the Hi6 Hello Saturday variety show -- the skirt portion on that outfit is one I'd consider non-gendered. Row 1, images 2 and 3 are examples of masculine/neutral uses of gauze that plays with flow of form but isn't inherently femme. This stage outfit is very western-appearing masculine suiting, until you hit the skirt which is giving me long ballerina tie-on skirt with the additional swan/mermaid pearl strings. Imo, another example of deliberately using traditional masculine styling but switching it up with the combination of material choice and make that is feminine.

row 2, image 3: black space military boots, black suiting, black -silver ombre sequin trailing skirt and white gauzy shawl with black floral design

The over all design is going for a masculine military-feel. (think this outfit for shen langhun) But instead of a thicker military cloak, it's replaced with a woman's gauze shawl and a skirt that trails behind him very much like the back of a woman's formal fish-tail gown when he moves around. If you take into context Wang Herun's outfit is a white-silver sequined dress cut in a way to also give a space-military-queen vibe, imo they both coordinated their outfits to balance out with both femme and masc qualities.

Thoughts? I'm curious what others think about this.

While I wait for the CNY photoshoot for XSY's red and black look, here's him with his stage collaborators with a nice range of skirt lengths, period influences and material choices. The woman in the center is the one with the most military-fighter design out of the bunch. The dudes are all in variations of formal-wear-with-good-kicking-boots (and lots of crotch space).

[starcurtain]

Everyone on Twitter playfully dragging Aventurine for his crop top and track pants fit, and while I agree that this is hilarious and should be meme'd into oblivion, I also can't help but think that the Aventurine fandom as a whole should definitely embrace turning "He's kind of tacky, wouldn't know a subtle outfit unless it was picked by Jade, and wears bizarrely out-of-touch fits on his days off just because he personally thinks they look cool" into an endearing fanon character trait.

Because like, canonically? It makes perfect sense.

As a child, his family didn't have the luxury of giving him a wide variety of clothes in different styles or fabrics. He wore what he could get. Then, we're only ever shown adult Kakavasha wearing rags until joining the IPC.

We know from his character stories that he was kept extremely out of the loop on world news and mainstream media as a slave and literally wouldn't know anything about clothing other than seeing it on other people.

From the time he was a child, wearing whatever his family could pull together, to the time he became an adult prisoner wearing literal scraps, there was never a need or even reasonable opportunity for him to learn about fashion or the social pressures of "dressing to fit in."

The first thing he's told to do as a member of the Stonehearts is "Go pick out new clothes," and the next time we see him, he's wearing the most peacock-esque outfit possible. When Jade told him to pick out his clothes, he literally went in completely blind with no lessons on how to appropriately dress for any adult occasion at all.

While I do think that one of the first things Aventurine would have done as a new Stoneheart is research how to establish a certain "character" for himself and how to dress to give a specific impression, I also think that Aventurine would delight in finally, finally having the power to present himself exactly as he chooses--and that would likely be very strongly informed by an entire child- and young-adulthood growing up without a single social pressure to "dress normal."

Given that he never had someone to teach him how to dress in any modern intergalactic style in his formative years, I think that it makes perfect sense for his "fashion" sense to be extremely unique to him, with little outside influence except for being strongly based on what he knows best: the luxuries the Avgin people could gather from the deserts of Sigonia-IV.

Ratio accuses him of being "flashy," but Aventurine likely loads up all his personally-picked outfits with turquoise jewels, fur trim, and gold metal accents because that's what he grew up perceiving as status symbols and signs of prosperity. Of course he's flashy! Why would he not want to wear furs and jewels now that he has them?! What do you mean wearing six gold bangles is overkill with a t-shirt? No such thing as overkill, come on!

Topaz dropping the Star Rail equivalent of "You look like what would happen if Fashion Week was themed on the yakuza and the Roaring 20s at the exact same time" every other month.

"Well, I think it looks great!"

tl;dr: Aventurine can definitely do his research and blend his outfits into any scenario if needed, but when left to his own devices, he absolutely wears the most over-the-top and/or bizarrely unmodern and "I couldn't care less what is currently trending" fits because no one ever taught him fashion sense when he was growing up, he's finally got the autonomy to dress himself in whatever he thinks looks best, and he's still a little bit drunk on the opportunity to bath in the natural luxuries he longed for but could never have as a child.

Just sayin'.

[cloverandcrossbones]

I knew Namari felt kind of different when she appeared in the anime but I didn't really notice the changes until I saw the two depictions side by side

The anime adaption of Namari is...idk if I'd say "sexualized" or "feminized" but they made her more in line with mainstream beauty standards?

Look at how her waist tucks in and how the undercurve of her breast are defined! It doesn't look like she's wearing sturdy and protective gear anymore it looks like a fabric shirt and a corset belt.

I don't mind her arms looking more muscular, but it seems pretty obvious why they chose that over the soft chub she has to her arms in the manga. Those muscles were already there they just had padding that felt a bit more natural. But we can't have a female character with chubby arms of a thick waist :/

I think they made her legs smaller too, it could just be the clothing was baggier in the manga, but either way it makes her character less heavy. It doesn't feel like she will have the same weight behind her moves, her center of gravity doesn't feel as low. She feels less dwarvish. (I just noticed they made her feet and stance narrower too so if she did still have the rest of her weight she'd look kinda top heavy instead of grounded)

They're not HUGE changes by any means, they haven't ruined Namari for me, but it is a bit disappointing and certainly shows our society's aversion to chubby women.

One of the things I really enjoy about Dungeon Meshi/Ryoko Kui's character designs is the variety of body types/character designs, and the result of that is that the female characters don't all have the same curvy, busty, figure.