Guardian clothing nerdgasm
Mar. 30th, 2021 09:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marycrawfordwenella_subs posted some images from Guardian that I've never seen before - early costume options for Shen Wei, mostly. And they're so fascinatingly wrong. Those thick-framed glasses!Shen Wei is also fascinatingly wrong - he doesn't look like himself, yet. His smile is somewhere halfway between Shen Wei and Ye Zun. If I wanted to be Watsonian about this photo, I would say that it was Shen Wei trying for a full 'nerdy academic' look. Just to be safe, because they were taking his photograph for his University ID, and he had no idea if the image was going to leak dark energy around the edges or anything.
And then this wrong!Shen Wei wore this cardigan and I have to laugh. It's too drapey and doesn't fit him right, the color is blah, and just as Lao Xie imagined in my story for
sakana17, it is all kinds of wrong on him. It's not quite maroon, but it's so close!“Hmmm,” said Lao Xie. He was walking around Shen Wei now, slowly and carefully, tottering artistically now and then before going back to his murder stalk. “What color? What fabric?” His hand shot out, to pinch at a fold of Shen Wei’s suit jacket. Shen Wei had carefully chosen his most conservative three-piece suit for this appointment, in an attempt to pacify his tailor for not coming to see him in several months. An attempt that had backfired as soon as he uttered the dreadful word ‘leisurewear.’The cardigans Shen Wei actually wore on the show look infinitely better on him, like this one. (Image is from
“Navy,” Shen Wei reported. “With a white bar on the arm. And—cashmere.” He admitted, “I bought it in heather grey, as well.” The cardigans were soft and silky to the touch. Not like armor. Much more inviting. More—approachable.
Lao Xie paused for a long moment, then sniffed. “At least you have not lost your reason entirely. I was expecting you to say maroon, or salmon pink, or something even more offensive, like acrylics. What else did you buy?”
(from Tailor-made)
sakana17 's Guardian costume gallery, a fabulous resource.)And also this one, in heather grey, perfect for flirting sweetly with your boyfriend:
(It's not actually a cardigan, it's a sweater or a pullover, but I like imagining Shen Wei's confusion about those terms, not least because US clothing terms are often a mystery to me as well.)
And just in case you like digging into this silly stuff as much as I do - in our world, these pullovers are by Thom Browne, a US brand recognizable by the four bar pattern on the arm, and they cost ridiculous money. Here's the 4-bar cashmere pullover for only $1590 (choke).
So I have to wonder - did these brands sponsor this show? Because Shen Wei does wear a lot of Thom Browne. Or is the rumor that the actors wore some of their own clothing on the show to save money true?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-30 07:46 pm (UTC)YES, that's exactly it! I was trying to figure out why he looked so un-Shen Wei and you nailed it.
The price of those Thom Browne sweaters is blowing my mind. They look nice, sure, and cashmere isn't cheap, but...I was expecting $300 or something...maybe they really are from Zhu Yilong's closet.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-30 07:56 pm (UTC)Same here! I would maybe respect that price if the money went directly to organic sheepfarmers or something, but I reaaaally doubt that. It all blows my mind. And that North Face X Supreme jacket that Zhao Yunlan wraps around Shen Wei's shoulders (aka the Boyfriend Jacket) is a limited edition 'drop' that probably went for quite a sum, as well...
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-30 08:20 pm (UTC)Right? It's amazing. How much can a still image tell? A LOT, when it's Zhu Yilong!
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-31 07:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-31 12:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-30 11:47 pm (UTC)I wasn't sure what this was going to mean until I clicked on the links, but oh my lord, those are... indeed fascinatingly wrong. They're like in this uncanny-valley space where the wrongness is almost disturbing. It really is a lot like watching Ye Zun try to play-act Shen Wei. He looks like Shen Wei but he is just so not Shen Wei.
Thanks for sharing these!
Here's the 4-bar cashmere pullover for only $1590
... WHAT.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-31 07:58 am (UTC)Yes, the uncanny valley space, that feels right! And I agree that it looks quite a bit like this is Ye Zun playing Shen Wei (and wearing some terrible clothes for it, but then he would).
... WHAT.
I knooowww. I can't imagine what it's like to wear something that looks so casual and yet costs as much as someone's rent for the month. At least it would be nice and soft to the touch, though...
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-31 12:52 am (UTC)Seeing this reminds me of how I feel every time I watch that one scene in episode nine, when they're preparing to go up to the mountains and Shen Wei is looking at a map... I tend to think that must have been an early-ish scene they filmed, because Shen Wei is just so very different in appearance to how we see him pretty steadily through the rest of the show.
Those bangs!!! 💙 💙 💙 💙
(I mean, I know they were going for an after-hours-alone-at-home look, but, just... hmmmmmmmmm)
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-31 08:04 am (UTC)Zhu Yilong's whole presentation as Shen Wei is so meticulously crafted and consistently conveyed
Yes! I think that's what these early pics make clear, just how much control and craft goes into presenting a character that feels so seamless that it looks natural.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-31 04:31 am (UTC)The only reason I'm not shocked by the price of the sweater is that I've been told how much some of the sweatshirts and jeans of Kpop idols cost, and it's terrifying. Just how?!?! I know luxury brands are a thing but how does anyone pay that much for a sweater!? Does not compute!
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-31 08:09 am (UTC)He would! He does! And that's just endlessly fascinating to me. He constructed Shen Wei and then decided that he wouldn't smile the way he does in these pictures, and that Ye Zun very well might. Amazing.
Just how?!?! I know luxury brands are a thing but how does anyone pay that much for a sweater!? Does not compute!
Yeah, I feel the same way - I know they're a thing but it's so far out of my lived experience that I just can't deal. But I can imagine Kpop idols dressing in the same kind of rich people clothes, for sure. They probably need to be immaculate for everything always, oof, what a life...
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-31 08:23 am (UTC)...So I did what I always do and went to take a closer look and now I'm thinking that maybe some of these are knock offs? :D This sweater, for example, if I compare Shen Wei's and the one you linked, the neck is different (Shen Wei's has a wider stitch between the collar and the body) and the shoulders too (Shen Wei's sleeves are more triangular at the top, while the photo on the Tom Browne site shows them as flat (I mean the connection between the sleeve and the body)). Also, Shen Wei's white stripes seem wider (and the distance between them is narrower) than on the "real" photo.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-31 11:21 am (UTC)Oh, huh, maybe? Of course the menswear could also have changed its details in the interim - I was surprised that I was able to find a match as close as this! It feels weird to me to dress actors for what was planned as a blockbuster show (before the budget fell through!) in knockoffs, but I have no idea what the Chinese POV on that is.