What the designers saw: or, Armitage resartus, part 2

Picking up from the previous post, then, I think there are two situations in which the costumers looked at Mr. Armitage’s body carefully and really “got” it. One of these episodes may have been largely circumstantial, the other is so obvious as to appear blatantly intentional. This post is data mainly to substantiate the point that Armitage benefits visually when designers take his shoulder and waist construction seriously.

Who(m) do we love, baby? For many of us, the answer will be: Mr. Thornton. North & South was really effectively costumed, as is usually the case in BBC period drama, so it may not have been intentional on the part of the costumers, just a function of achieving historical accuracy in the production. (Though they were willing to sacrifice it occasionally, as in the case of Margaret Hale’s straw hat, which really doesn’t belong in the 1850s, as the show itself implies, because she’s the only one wearing that hat. All the other women characters have the classic bonnet of the decade). Whether it was the efforts of the designers, or just that his body was especially well suited to the male fashions of the 1850s, Mr. Armitage really benefited hugely from the N&S costumes, as they either accommodate or effectively set off some of his most noticeable corporeal features effortlessly. The clothes fit him so well despite their bourgeois sobriety that one tends to forget that the stylish men’s clothes of the day were more in line with what Henry Lennox wore. Armitage himself praised the costumes as not feeling like costumes but like the real clothes of the character, which facilitated his task greatly (at 2:38). To wit:

Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) fends off Mr. Bell’s (Brian Protheroe) well-meaning attempt to set things right between Thornton and Margaret in North and South, ep. 4. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. You can see the long waist here, which can’t be entirely covered, even with pants and vest combined, but enlarge the picture and note how well the high rise pants held up by suspenders address both shorten the long waist, visually assigning the length of his body to the legs, and shrink the generous posterior.

Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) rises from his desk during the conversation with Mr. Bell (Brian Protheroe) in North & South, episode 4. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. Wearing a shirt with a dropped seam on the shoulders means never having to worry that your shirt is straining to accommodate your chest. The white fabric is also like a flashing light over those delicious, powerful shoulders and upper back. And this is a historic men’s clothing style I just happen to love, though I feel sorry for the women who had to starch these outfits so laboriously. Though one can’t help but ask: Was Mr. Thornton so well dressed because his mother was, well, motherly? She did straighten his tie and collar out:

Mrs. Thornton (Sinead Cusack) straights out her son’s tie and collar before he goes out to work for the day, warning him to beware of the daughter of a renegade parson, in North & South, episode 1. Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) seems to enjoy it a great deal. One of my students called him a “mama’s boy” in western civ discussion this Spring. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. Otherwise nothing to note here. Move on, folks!

Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) surveys the silent weaving shed near the end of North & South, episode 4. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. Note how well the sloping shoulder style of the period conforms to the sloping Armitage shoulders. No strain across the shoulder span due to the triangular construction of the top back of the coat, which makes it easier to get a flat seam for the coat’s shoulder, and the collar conforms perfectly to his neck shape. I like how this style displays Armitage’s shoulders — it’s not aggrandizing, but still when you see the whole body from the rear you note their power without being distracted by them. 

Mr. Thornton at his mother’s annual dinner party in North & South, episode 4. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. The relatively open collar of the period (which was closed by a tie rather than a button) means no invasive rubbing of the collar across the front of one’s pillar-like neck. Its height nonetheless demands good posture and aids in characterization, as Armitage noted in the interview linked above. Also catch the front view of the jacket over the sloping shoulders; again no issues with the collar of the jacket or the front line of the shoulders.

At Mrs. Thornton’s party, Henderson (Shaun Hennessey) and Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) gaze at Margaret, while Mr. Bell (Brian Protheroe) and Mr. Latimer (Will Tacey) chat in the background in North and South, episode 2. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. A nice shot because it shows how the formal wear of the period looks on different bodies. Mr. Thornton’s dress vest has the lapel gaping issue caused by Armitage’s chest musculature, but the costumer has made an attempt to address it with the lowest V that the style permits –a decision that amplifies his shirt front. If you expand the picture you can see that the gorges are also at a normal height, which again has the effect of visually assigning parts of his length to his legs as opposed to his upper body. Nice work.

Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) sarcastically challenges the workers to attack him after a stone thrower has wounded Margaret in North & South, episode 2. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. The high rise in the trousers emphasizes the long legs. Also, the costumers got the length of the shirt sleeve under the jacket correct, so that we can see a good solid inch or inch-and-half, even, of cuff, a nice touch that in turn gives the viewer an index of Armitage’s inspiring wingspan.

Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) looking in annoyance to the Hales’s doorway as Margaret says goodbye to Nicholas Higgins in North & South, episode 3. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. A nice shot of the entire ensemble: jacket, shirt front, collar, gorges, and tie all working together with no difficulties.

And finally, just because I can never stop nitpicking, the one sour note in all of this highly successful, indeed beautiful, costuming: Thornton walking away from the Hales’s doorway after seeing Higgins leaving there in North & South, episode 3. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. The one sartorial difficult in pants with a really high rise: if the rise is not held tight to the body with suspenders or via an extremely flat front, the front of the pant runs the risk of looking diaper-like. I think that happens here, but since we almost never see Thornton’s pants from this perspective, why worry?

So we can see that Mr. Thornton’s costumes did indeed fit Armitage like real clothes. Impressive, and attractive as heck. Of course — or sadly — Mr. Armitage can’t wear that sort of thing to a red carpet appearance.

Who else do we love? If we were going to pick a second audience favorite in terms of sheer visual attractiveness, I’d be tempted to pick Guy, and I think those who agree with me would narrow that down slightly to series 3 Guy. The costume designer of the first two series, Francis Tempest, when asked whether she designed the costumes specifically for the bodies of the actors, responded in the negative, but given the way that Gisborne’s outfits compliment Mr. Armitage’s body, it’s hard to believe that certain details weren’t gauged specifically to his physique after he was cast and the designers measured him, even in the first two seasons. And certainly in season 3, the new designer must have considered Armitage’s body in the mix of design influences. He’s also been said repeatedly by others, like Tempest, to have enjoyed wearing Guy’s costumes, though I don’t know if he said it himself. Considering the shoulders / upper chest and the slightly elongated torso, look again at the following moments in Guy’s wardrobe.

Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) yells at the peasants of his estate to try to get them to reveal who committed a theft in Robin Hood 1.1. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. The shoulders of the duster, which Francis Tempest described as a combination of a regency cape, “How the West was Won” and “Sherlock Holmes,” push the silhouette of Mr. Armitage’s shoulders and chest out even more dramatically. Otherwhere I also mused that the shoulders are an important characterization mechanism given the early season 1 Guy’s tendency to use his shoulders to indicate his emotions and especially his status deficit. (They might thus have played a role similar to Mr. Thornton’s cravat for Armitage, I suppose.)

Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) in a publicity photo for series 1 of Robin Hood. Source: Richard Armitage Net Screencap Gallery. Where is that waist? We can’t really tell, even in these pants and with the accidental gaping of the top on the right side of the photo. A low rise pant would end at about the point where we see his laces disappear into the buckler at the hem of his top; one would guess his natural waist would be at the top of the pant; but there’s a 1.5″ belt above that as well before this costume really lets his upper body start — which also doesn’t look shortened in the least. The effect is enhanced here by the pose of the left shoulder, which creates a smooth line from knee to armpit. Yum. When Guy wears this costume throughout series 1 and 2, the costumer can break the upper body up almost at will with different belts and such to shorten or lengthen the visually elusive torso. Thus that costume was really more versatile — even if a bit more sober — than the luxurious surcoat of season 3.

It’s really a pity that we see so little of the detail of Guy’s wedding dress, but here the designers were at their most mannerist, creating an almost sylphlike profile for the soon-to-be-spurned spouse.

Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) observes pensively the villagers’ preparations for his wedding in Robin Hood 13.1. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. The only visual indication here of where his waist might possibly be is the position of his hands behind his back. The effect is dreamy, elegant, and swept with long visual lines.

Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) during the preparations for his wedding in Robin Hood 1.13. Source: Richard Armitage Central Gallery. Here the designer gave him a drop waist that seems to ironically cite the long bodices of the sixteenth century and which would be particularly beautiful on a woman’s gown, where it would probably be used to lengthen the appearance of the waist of a woman with a fuller figure. Here, on a slim build, it makes the already slender hips melt away into nothing, creating the effect of the previous photo when you look at the entire garment. Really skillful. To get a wedding gown like this it would almost be worth having to have it made of leather. The fit of the garment thus emphasizes in someway the intangible, non-real qualities of the wedding, tinged with melancholy for both Marian and Guy, and so shockingly brought to an end.

And, of course, the signature moment of Guy’s appearance in series 1 and 2: the jacket. Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisborne in a publicity photo for Robin Hood, series 1. Source: Richard Armitage Net Screencap Gallery. Strong shoulders and upper body? Let’s put some piping on them some everyone notices. Pulling of fabric due to strong upper body and lots of action? Let’s create a garment that pulls in every possible direction, thus constantly creating lines of draping, and let’s accentuate the length of the chest visually by using an asymmetrical closing (drawing lots of attention to it with those wild clasps) that will draw the eye up and down the wearer’s chest. An absolutely brilliant creation in general and for Mr. Armitage’s body specifically.

Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) with his sister, Isabella (Lara Pulver), in a publicity photo for Robin Hood, season 3. Source: Richard Armitage Net Screencap Gallery.I might want to say more about the sexiness of this costume later, so I’ll just generally point out that the season 3 designer followed Tempest’s visual idea of sartorially highlighting many of the notable features of Armitage’s body. I feel the pit dropping out of my stomach when I look at these pictures, even now.  Here the shoulders and chest musculature are made even more pronounced with the leather extensions and studs that point to their margins, for example. Also, note how the surcoat extends the line of Armitage’s body all the way from his shoulders to his knees by lining up the margin of the front half of Guy’s coat directly with the lines on his breeches. I’ve already considered how the bottom of the coat opens up just at the point of Guy’s laces, as if to point a visual arrow at his (cough) package.

Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisborne in a publicity shot for Robin Hood, series 3. Source: Richard Armitage Net Screencap Gallery. I haven’t really discussed the trousers / jeans issue in this series, but of course I have something to about that, too. Another time. Here I’ll just note the continued motif of marking up the prominent features of Armitage’s body. Powerful thighs? Let’s put a leather of a different color on them so everyone notices! Extended width of the chest? Let’s enhance that moving down the chest by placing a series of horizontal bars on it! These costumes were a festival of visual excess, a sort of fireworking of Armitage’s body.

He also can’t wear this to a red carpet event. So I swear, I really am going to get to that stuff, which is the reason I was writing all this stuff down. (You see now one of my serious problems as an academic writer. I feel like I have to trace for my audience my absolute entire train of thought before I make my actual point.)

OK, so tomorrow: Richard Armitage’s body in a tuxedo, and his sartorially stunning BAFTA 2010 appearance. I promise. Unless I get overrun by my nieces. Then the next day.

~ by Servetus on June 11, 2010.