On the intersection of Comics and Fashion

[Watson]

I thought this may be of some interest, as it seems that comics and comics culture are making thier way further into mainstream culture. As some of you may know, this year the Met's (NY Metropolitian Museum of Art) annual costume gala's theme is comics. So we can expect many comic inspired high fashion pieces. As a preview, Vogue US has done a spread with Coca Rocha with high fashion re-interpretation's of various superheroes and villians. Check it out:

Poison Ivy

Catwoman:

Silver Surfer

Bats

There are more that can be found here: http://fashionista.com/2008/04/post_1013.php#more

I'm of the camp that see's fashion as an important art form, so I am very fascinated by this. I also wonder what the trickle down effect will be for fashion. With a lot of big comic movie releases and fashion taking interest this year, can we expect lots of trickle down to the street?

 

[Spike_x1]

Nightmarish.

Seriously though, I've never been the kind of person who understands even a shred of those fashion shows and I won't pretend to grasp the art form, but I do hope that I don't see outfits like those becoming popular.

 

[Watson]

Well usually the trickle down is far less extreme then the high fashion concept. For example, insane platform heels have become a staple on the runways, but the wearable interpretation is much more tame and easy to walk in. This interpretation would be far more interesting. Maybe we will see street punks inspired by the new Joker (minus the chelsea grin I hope), and in general a more rock inspired style that takes cues from various heroes.

I really do find the shoot has a nightmarish quality, especially the poision ivy one. Of all of them, that is one that could almost be translated to a comic or a movie

 

[Spike_x1]

I suppose you're right. Still, they give me the heebie-jeebies.

"Anyone else find it cold in here?"

I also wasn't aware that Marvel had a Little Mermaid whose first mission was to help Aquaman.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I like the Silver Surfer one. It screams pulpy sci fi and Americana, which are both wholly appropriate given the inspiration. Some of them are a little bit too on-the-nose, though.

 

[Watson]

I just wanted to add the cover of the vogue that the shoot came from. Iron Man on the cover of a fashion mag, who'd have thought it?

 

[fifthfiend]

I like the Silver Surfer one. It screams pulpy sci fi and Americana, which are both wholly appropriate given the inspiration. Some of them are a little bit too on-the-nose, though.

Yeah, Poison Ivy and Catwoman are just, like, Poison Ivy and Catwoman. That's not fashion, it's costuming.

 

[Watson]

I actually like the Ivy one the best if just for how gorgeous the dress is. But I do see that it is more literal interpretation then the Silver Surfer one (which is probably my second favourite).

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I don't really know what the hell they were going for with the Batman one. Why are there pictures of Supergirl and Superman behind her?

 

[Watson]

I think they just choose comics that looked good for the background The comics in the background of two of the others (ivy and aurora) also don't match the characters as far as I can tell.

 

[Anubis]

Weird.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Oh, I didn't even notice that Poison Ivy is standing on a Wonder Woman comic. Yeah, I guess they did just choose random comic pages as set dressings.

 

[fifthfiend]

Oh, I didn't even notice that Poison Ivy is standing on a Wonder Woman comic. Yeah, I guess they did just choose random comic pages as set dressings.

That Bat-thing would have looked a lot better with some Bob Kane panels behind it. I mean it would still look awful, but a much better, non-clashing awful.

Really the mix-n-match backdrops thing altogether is just sloppy. Between this and that Lebron James thing from last month man I have to say, Vogue's kind of slipping.

 

[Watson]

I actually picked up this issue of Vogue today, and there is actually a very interesting article on comics and fashion, as well as what can be expected at the Met's new exhibit on comics. I tried scanning it but it wasn't coming out very nicely. Here are some higlights

-The Met exhibit will be on from May 1st to September 1st, and will be curated by David Crowley, the production designer for TDK and Batman Begins, among others.
-There will be a mix of fashion inspired pieces and actual costumes, including costumes from TDK
-A lot of designers are revealed to be comics nerds LOL

Also in the mag is a lois lane inspired shoot featuring Tom Welling as eye candy, and Gwyneth Paltrow shot on the Iron Man set (you can see a lot of the Iron Man concept designs in the background). Overall it was pretty cool. I've always considered Vogue US one of the weakest of the Vogue family, but the shoot and all the other stuff impressed me.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I suddenly feel weird for never having read Vogue. Does everybody but me read it or something?

 

[Spike_x1]

I don't read it. We can ride the short bus together.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

:heart:

 

[Keyser Soze]

Maybe we will see street punks inspired by the new Joker (minus the chelsea grin I hope), and in general a more rock inspired style that takes cues from various heroes.

I do know, that in Glasgow in the 1970s, there was a movement of young people who dressed up like the droogs (is that the word?) from "A Clockwork Orange".

Maybe we'll see something similar for The Joker...

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think the term was actually "droogies," but it's a small distinction.

I doubt we'd see something similar with the Joker, though. The dudes from A Clockwork Orange stood for rebellion against an oppressive set of rules imposed by society. The Joker just stands for utter, unrelenting insanity.

 

[Spike_x1]

I always thought it would be hilarious to see a gang inspired by the Wheelers from "Return to Oz."

 

[fifthfiend]

I suddenly feel weird for never having read Vogue. Does everybody but me read it or something?

Stop talking crazy. Nobody reads Vogue magazine.

 

[Manic]

Well usually the trickle down is far less extreme then the high fashion concept. For example, insane platform heels have become a staple on the runways, but the wearable interpretation is much more tame and easy to walk in. This interpretation would be far more interesting. Maybe we will see street punks inspired by the new Joker (minus the chelsea grin I hope), and in general a more rock inspired style that takes cues from various heroes.

I remember the scene explaining that kinda thing in The Devil Wears Prada. The main character scoffed at the fashion industry. Her boss then broke it down, and explained that the plain light-blue sweater she was wearing was trickle-down fashion from some high fashion yadda yadda yadda. Basically, when this pretentious crap hits the runways, it influences what regular people wear in the long run.

So here's to everyday people dressed in toned-down superhero outfits.
*raises glass*

 

[fifthfiend]

I'd actually like to see a men's suit inspired by Power Girl's costume.

I mean, minus the titty-hole.

 

[Watson]

I think the term was actually "droogies," but it's a small distinction.

I doubt we'd see something similar with the Joker, though. The dudes from A Clockwork Orange stood for rebellion against an oppressive set of rules imposed by society. The Joker just stands for utter, unrelenting insanity.

Some people would equate pure anarchy to rebellion though, which I think is what we are getting with the TDK Joker. Plus, from what I've seen of the Joker costume design as well as what many people over on the TDK boards have created for thier own Joker ensembles, lots of his pieces are wearable individually and could be incorporated into everyday ensembles. I, for one, definitely want a pair of his socks .

But you are right in that I doubt we would see roving gangs of Jokers.

I always thought it would be hilarious to see a gang inspired by the Wheelers from "Return to Oz."

...now there's an idea!

 

[Watson]

http://fashionista.com/2008/04/post_1033.php A video about the Met exhibit and the costume gala, as well as some behind the scenes of the Vogue photoshoot. It's mostly somewhat uniteresting fashion chatter, however they show some of the concept designs for the costume institute ball. I would really like that fountain of DC superheroes they have going on