terry78 said:
^Any one of those items left intact would still be campy looking, or at the least very homoerotic, so they may as well go all out and leave most of it in.
Campy? Homoerotic? Why does every comic book Superhero costume in the movies end up being labeled homoerotic? We need to stop throwing labels around like little Republican/McCarthy Nazi's. For shame!
Enough of that. Sorry.
If you look at the costume worn by Tom Tyler in the original movie serial, you'll see everything that's in the comic, with two small differences.
1) The costume looks more like a military uniform, yet still fits snug.
Tylers leg muscles are very defined, as well as his biceps, yet the costume looks like a well-tailored uniform, taking any emphasis off his butt or crotch or nipples.
2) This is where the 'vest button' first shows up. It isn't in the original comic drawings. Captain Marvel's costume is just like Superman's. It looks like a Unitard. This western-shirt vest design was incorporated to give the shirt more of a 'uniform' look and to hide the nehru collar that Tyler needed to keep the cape rope from wearing a groove into his neck. The whole design works without looking campy. (And I'm sure he would have kicked your @## if you had said it looked homoerotic. I wish they had never put those damned nipples on the Batsuit. That ruined it for me.)
As to the 'other items'- the arm bands are based on the British Navy's rank insignia from that time period- the lower sleeves of officers uniforms were encircled with gold bands. A 'Captain's Rank' was 5 gold bands from the wrist up to the elbow. The top gold band had a small gold circle attached, which is why Captain Marvel's armbands look the way they do. The gold waist sash is also from an old officer's dress uniform.
Whether intentionally designed that way or not, the Captain is wearing the rank. The boots are swashbuckler boots, worn by 'men of adventure' in days past. There is a story behind the cape and the 4 florets that are designed along the one edge that I'm sure is related to the Three Musketeers-men who came to the aid of the oppressed and protected the true King of France. (I don't know this for sure.)
Put this same uniform on a muscular guy with the attitude of a police officer and I doubt it would look all that campy, or otherwise.
So I guess our friend from CSI would look pretty awesome in a Captain Marvel 'uniform'.
Do it right, take it seriously, it will work.
