Time And Ridiculous Design In Space

Carnival Of Monsters: These Wildly Disparate Things Totally Go Together, Right? (and i’m not just talking about color schemes)

Sarah and I watched Three and Jo in “Carnival of Monsters” Friday night, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Not just from a costuming standpoint— although there were some doozies— but because it hit the perfect balance of silliness and actually engaging story, so I was laughing my head off at some things (like the monster effects) while still caring about what happened to the characters.

But you’re here for the costumes. So let’s get started! We open with these guys, who kind of remind me of the people from Planet Neutral on Futurama, only they talk about politics a lot more.

Everyone on their planet suffers from male pattern baldness, sadly. Also from Peeling Wig Cap Syndrome. Their silver armor is kind of cool, though. They are apparently the guys in charge on their planet, with unskilled labor being provided by these guys:

Apparently their planet is big on matching your outfit to your skin tone. Also they like contrast piping a lot, which I can’t argue with.

Next on the scene are a couple of humans, or at least human lookalikes, in tan spacesuits with tin foil trim.

The lady on the right’s halo of pink and green bobbles is only a hint at the gloriousness that is to come. Because when she takes off her spacesuit, this is what she’s wearing underneath:

Yup, you’re looking at a shiny acid green leotard, sky blue tights, bright green boots, and hot pink gloves. All covered with more pink and green bobbles. It’s so late 60s/early 70s it kind of burns a little. Obviously, she’s a carnival barker’s assistant. As for the carnival barker himself, well:

There’s… kind of a lot going on here. From the plastic bowler, to the coat covered in giant hole-punch protectors, to the chevron-striped pink and green waistcoat, down to the orange polka-dot pants and lilac boots. It kind of looks like someone went into the BBC costume closet in the dark, pulled the first six things that came to hand in the Psychedelia section, and called it a day. I feel a little like I’m on an acid trip just looking at him; I can’t imagine what viewers of the original airing, many of whom may well have actually been on acid, must have felt like.

So, what does all of this have to do with the Doctor? Well, let’s look in on him and Jo, and find out.

They seem to have fetched up in the hold of a 1920s steamship! How odd. The Doctor is working a brown cape quite impressively, and Jo actually is wearing clothes that would pass largely unremarked today, if you overlook the fact that her collar points are so long that they extend a good five inches past her collarbone.

As for the passengers on the ship, the production team has raided the BBC costume closet for a perfectly lovely mint green flapper dress and matching shoes. It’s a really cute, period-appropriate outfit, actually, and I quite like it.

Oh, remember when I said Jo’s outfit would be unremarkable today? Well, I forgot about the bottom half of it.

Cuffed denim knickers would probably draw some comment, I’m pretty sure. Although those are great boots.

Let me leave you with a close-up of the carnival barker’s assistant, and her totally amazing makeup:

Her eyebrows are make of green dots, she’s wearing sky-blue eyeshadow from lid to brow, and there’s glitter EVERYWHERE. I want to cosplay her. Also please note what is passing for a bow tie in the future, good lord.

presented without comment

I CANNOT be the only one who’s noticed this.

Okay, either I am going crazy here, or Adric’s outfit bears an eerie resemblance to Toph Bei Fong’s. Is it just me? It’s just me, isn’t it. Seriously, though, LOOK AT THEM.

Uncanny, no?

Nyssa of Traken: The Sparkliest Space Princess of Them All

Praxisrange asked for Nyssa, and I am nothing if not obliging. So let’s do a roundup of her outfits, starting with her very first look, in The Keeper of Traken.

Nothing says ‘space princess’ like tulle and a tiara, amirite? But Nyssa’s not your typical princess, with her background in the hard sciences, and her costume reflects this, with its richer, darker palette. The shape’s a little weird and not terribly flattering— the leg-of-mutton sleeves on the velvet jacket don’t quite work with the full, piecey tulle skirt, and her shoes appear to be high-heeled loafers of some kind? Which is odd. But I really like the pachwork velvet on her jacket, and it works really well once she changes into some pants.

Now she’s Action Nyssa! Much less bulk around the hips, and much better for running, jumping, climbing trees, falling into brooks, carrying man-sized Styrofoam iPods through the English countryside, and so on.

In Black Orchid, she wear this dress on the far left to the costume party:

Not the most authentic 1920s silhouette ever (where’s the drop waist?) but it’s awfully pretty. Also, please note that Adric has pinned his badge for mathematical excellence to his pirate costume. Oh, Adric. Never change.

After that, there’s her Snakedance costume. Which… um.

Nyssa, you’re supposed to turn the lights on in the wardrobe room before you pick your clothes out. Good lord. If everything were in colors and prints that actually went together, the silhouette would be fine— I can even see an argument for the shorts under the skirt, due to the aforementioned running, jumping, climbing trees— though I would have probably gone with bike shorts. But those are two entirely different and clashing stripes with red shorts and what appear to be burgundy patent pumps, and all I can say to that is no. Just, no.

I like the collar on the blouse, though.

Nyssa’s next— and last— outfit is much easier on the eyes.

Those boots have definitely come back into style. And I like the gray leather skirt a lot. The jacket that goes over it is good, too.

It’s got a great shape and great details— the off-center zip, the subtle quilting on the shoulders, the butter-yellow lining. All in all, a good showing for Nyssa.

And then she strips down to her undies for no reason that is ever explained. Cute undies, though. Actually, little tiered lace minidresses like those are totally in right now— I bet I could find one on Modcloth or F21 in like a minute. I would totally wear that as outside clothes if I wore skirts that short. (In case you’re wondering about my personal style, think ‘college student in 1949.’ Lots of cardigans and full just-past-the-knee skirts are involved.)

So that’s Nyssa. If we overlook her brief and regrettable experimental period, she is consistently pretty darn well-dressed, in clothes that makes sense for her personality and flatter her figure. Good work, Nyssa of Traken!

so many companions, so little time

So I’m obviously going to work my way through Romana’s outfits, because she is fabulous. But what other companions would you guys like to see profiled here? Who has, in your opinion, a totally fantastic (or totally awful) fashion sense that deserves attention? Is there any really stellar (or, of course, completely atrocious) costume design I’m missing? Let’s give some attention to the best- and worst-dressed companions.

Romana II: Destiny of the Daleks

Let’s start Romana II off with her first, and possibly best outfit: the pink coat. She looks really, really cute in the pink coat.

The pink coat, with its mauve trim and full skirt, is kind of fantastic. Her white woven scarf is a really pretty accessory, and the whole outfit is a lovely, feminine version of Tom Baker’s. Also her mauve pirate boots are pretty badass. But what’s she wearing underneath it?

Apparently, the Most High-Waisted Pants In The World. Seriously, they start about an inch under her open collar. They are empire-waisted pants. With embroidered suspenders, as though pants that come up that high need any assistance in staying up. Romana, you might be better off keeping that coat buttoned up.

Robots of Death: Seriously, These People Are Miners. MINERS.

So Friday night Sarah and I watched Robots of Death, which had been recommended to me on the basis of totally fantastic Art-Deco-in-space costumes, and BOY DID IT DELIVER. However, the context remains baffling. Basically, the plot is that a bunch of people are crewing a sand-mining vehicle on a desert planet; the vehicle is mostly staffed by robots, so the humans never have to get their hands dirty, I guess. But that does not entirely explain their lounging-around clothes.

Looks like glitter and bling are in for miners this season. As is slicked-back hair and drawing all over your face with eye pencil.

She is wearing gold stretch satin with a ton of giant jewels stuck to it; he has on about a million yards of pleated sparkly purple crinkle fabric and some sort of silver-edged space cravat. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE.

When they’re not getting soothing robot massages, these people wear silver belted tunics over bright teal undersleeves. And, of course, the aformentioned slicked-back hair and eye makeup. Did I mention they were miners?

Of course, these outfits are not a patch on what these people wear to their jobs. When the crew goes up to the bridge to do some mining, what do they put on? Well, obviously, this is a job that calls for a sparkly pope hat.

Not to mention a heavy, padded satiny overtunic with gold trim and a giant gold lamé collar. Just another day in the sand mines, amirite? The rest of the crew does not look any less bonkers, especially the ladies.

I know when I’m about to do a hard day’s work of mining, I put on my favorite gold high-collared cape and metal fin hat. Unless I’m feeling more like silver is my color, of course.

You don’t really feel like a professional miner without sequins, do you? I know I don’t. Seriously, WHAT IS ON HER HEAD. Also note her giant bracelet and impressive eye makeup, which is also nose makeup if you look closely.

So I guess the idea they’re trying to convery is that the humans have become so dependent on robot labor that they lounge around most of the time and never lower themselves to do menial labor or get their hands dirty, but mostly I just find it really confusing that miners on an isolated mining vehicle at the ass-end of space would even bother to put on clean pants, much less step it up to this:

Like, sparkly gold-and-white overtunics with giant brooches and lots of gold braid are apparently the future equivalent of the boiler suit? THIS CONFUSES ME.

God, even the robots are blinged out.

And these are the totally ubiquitous robots that do all the work for humans. Even they get green quilted outfits with silver trim, and the head robot gets head-to-toe silver lamé. This is a fancy society, is what I’m saying.

Romana I: Studies in Fabulousness

Okay, so the Romanas are going to be something of an ongoing project, because she wears so many outfits and they are all pretty fantastic. I haven’t actually seen all the associated serials yet— the only Romana I I’ve actually seen is The Pirate Planet, and there’s a bunch of Romana II I have yet to watch. So I’m evaluating most of these outfits strictly on the aesthetics. When I get a chance to watch and screencap the serials, I’ll cover everyone else’s outfits, and see what else I have to say about Romana’s.

Let’s start from the very beginning: with Romana I, and The Ribos Operation, and a whole hell of a lot of white jersey and feathers.

So this is our first introduction to Romana. It’s a bit Princess Leia, isn’t it? Only more glam. Well, this did come out the year after A New Hope, white jersey was in for girls in space. But Romana’s look isn’t quite the same as Leia’s, what with the deep V neck, trailing sleeves, diagonal gathers from shoulders to waist, and the pleats cascading down from that brooch thing. And of course there’s her faboo feather cloak, and is that a hint of silver shoe I see? Overall, our girl is off to a pretty good start.

Ooh, and a misstep out of the gate with The Pirate Planet. The pink and white and the loose shirt over tight pants are weirdly 80s, though the 80s have yet to start, and I am never really a fan of shiny silk satin in casual wear. The white sleeves look like they belong to an entirely different outfit, too. Her hair looks fantastic, but overall not my favorite look for Romana.

Ah, now it’s the 70s. As much as I like her boots, I cannot get past the fact that she is wearing three different shades of pink in this outfit from The Stones of Blood, and none of them match. The proportions are really unflattering, too, and that top is just plain dumpy. However, it seems that no matter what she wears, Romana I’s hair is always incredibly shiny.

Oh my lord. Is there some in-episode reason in The Androids of Tara for Romana to have raided Willy Wonka’s closet? Because this is not a good look. You started off so well, Romana! Why are you letting me down? Shiny satin = BAD NEWS, especially when employed as vest fronts and pants! The purple velvet coat could almost work if the accesories and trim weren’t so bad, but as it is… no. Just no.

I couldn’t get a decent full-body color shot for The Power of Kroll, but what little I’m seeing here is not great. At least her hair still looks fantastic.

Okay, clearly the solution for all Romana I-related costuming problems is to break out the white jersey, and the costume department realized this before it was quite too late. Here, in The Armageddon Factor, Romana once again looks both badass and kind of like a pretty pretty space princess, this time with with about a million yards of ruffly handkerchief hem and amazing boots. And, of course, perfect hair. Good work on this one, costume department!

So that’s Romana I. Romana II is going to take a a little longer to write up, as she has a lot more outfits and many of them are a lot more memorable. In the meantime, if anyone knows how they got her hair so shiny and perfect, I would love to be a party to those secrets.

pedanther asked: I can't tell if you're being rhetorical, and anyway I expect loads of people have told you already, but Ray was actually under serious consideration to take Mel's place in Team TARDIS. In the end, the producers chose the other candidate, Ace, instead. No accounting for taste, right?

I did not realize that! Well, I love Ace, but Ray would have been a really great companion too. And I adore non-contemporaneous companions, so that would have been exciting. And oh man, the stuff she would have WORN. Alas, alas, what might have been.