I was watching an old fave TV show on DVD (I have all 6 series) the past few days and was struck, as I always am, by the outfits they were wearing. In fact I spent one evening trying (not for the first time) to track down a cowboy print T-shirt or an animal print shirt without success. It made me muse over other shows with great style- I could only think of a few but I thought I'd share them. I think part of good TV show or film is the costume as it's part of the characters and their personalities, but so often it's not considered or it's very fickle. I would loved to have included some Buffy but they changed their looks at the end of each series like clockwork discarding their mini skirts and over sized sunglasses, and coming back to school in the next series with fringes and twin sets.
So the show that started it all:
Third Rock From The Sun!
Dick, Sally, Harry, and Tommy are aliens that land and pretend to be humans to study human life. Their outfits reflect that their not from 'around here', that they're a lower middle class family living in an attic in Rutherford Ohio (with not enough bedrooms and no sofa!), and their individual personalities. In America 'vintage' hasn't really taken off in the over priced boutique way it has done here and you get super cheap thrift stores where you can snag a real bargain- I suspect a extremely lucky/stressed costume lady went scouring local thrift stores for quirky/scruffy outfits.
Dick- the egotistical patriarch is the only member of the family with a steady job (physics professor at the local mediocre university) and usually wears a miss-matching suit and clashing tie. He is dressing smartly for work but in a way that suggests he knows what to do but not exactly how to do- really a common theme in his personality and life. I couldn't really find very exciting photos for Dick, so pulled a few stills.
Sally- the beautiful, tall, blonde weapons expert is exploring life as a woman, as her character switches dramatically from tough and scary to demure and flirtatious so does her wardrobe. The key is that she's so tall meaning when she's wearing her casual clothes it looks as though she's borrowed a pair of men's trousers but they're still too short, when she's dressed up her dresses look sooooo short! In later series she begins wearing little flowery cardigans with her trousers and boots which offers a nice transition between her two looks.
Harry- the quirkiest of the bunch, with no real purpose in the mission or on earth (apart from transmitting message back to the home planet) he hangs around at home occasionally finding things to get involved in. His clothes are similar to Tommy's (see below) but he layers waistcoats and sweaters over shirts with clashing colours and patterns.
Tommy- the teenage information officer who is actually the oldest member of the team. Occasionally, his age becomes an issue but usually he dresses and acts like a teenager- quite casual but often with retro style shirts. His appearance goes through the most changes as he grows from 14-20 ish and he cuts his long hair in series 3 which has a big effect but his outfits stay pretty much the same.
Phew this was a longer post than anticipated, think I'll leave the other shows for tomorrow. :)
So the show that started it all:
Third Rock From The Sun!
Dick, Sally, Harry, and Tommy are aliens that land and pretend to be humans to study human life. Their outfits reflect that their not from 'around here', that they're a lower middle class family living in an attic in Rutherford Ohio (with not enough bedrooms and no sofa!), and their individual personalities. In America 'vintage' hasn't really taken off in the over priced boutique way it has done here and you get super cheap thrift stores where you can snag a real bargain- I suspect a extremely lucky/stressed costume lady went scouring local thrift stores for quirky/scruffy outfits.Dick- the egotistical patriarch is the only member of the family with a steady job (physics professor at the local mediocre university) and usually wears a miss-matching suit and clashing tie. He is dressing smartly for work but in a way that suggests he knows what to do but not exactly how to do- really a common theme in his personality and life. I couldn't really find very exciting photos for Dick, so pulled a few stills.
Sally- the beautiful, tall, blonde weapons expert is exploring life as a woman, as her character switches dramatically from tough and scary to demure and flirtatious so does her wardrobe. The key is that she's so tall meaning when she's wearing her casual clothes it looks as though she's borrowed a pair of men's trousers but they're still too short, when she's dressed up her dresses look sooooo short! In later series she begins wearing little flowery cardigans with her trousers and boots which offers a nice transition between her two looks.
Harry- the quirkiest of the bunch, with no real purpose in the mission or on earth (apart from transmitting message back to the home planet) he hangs around at home occasionally finding things to get involved in. His clothes are similar to Tommy's (see below) but he layers waistcoats and sweaters over shirts with clashing colours and patterns.
Tommy- the teenage information officer who is actually the oldest member of the team. Occasionally, his age becomes an issue but usually he dresses and acts like a teenager- quite casual but often with retro style shirts. His appearance goes through the most changes as he grows from 14-20 ish and he cuts his long hair in series 3 which has a big effect but his outfits stay pretty much the same.
Phew this was a longer post than anticipated, think I'll leave the other shows for tomorrow. :)
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