Evaluate this waist suppression of TheAvengers (pic)

[Soph]

 

[skalogre]

I like it. But I am weird that way

 

[Connemara]

Looks silly and effeminate. The waist is disproportionate with the other portions of the jacket.

 

[marc237]

I like it a lot. Also, I was so devastated when Diana Rigg came out.

 

[odoreater]

I think it looks bad. It makes him look like he's wearing a corset.

 

[jml90]

Originally Posted by odoreater

I think it looks bad. It makes him look like he's wearing a corset.
Haha that's wjat I said on the other fora.

 

[minimal]

Originally Posted by marc237

[snip...] Also, I was so devastated when Diana Rigg came out.

WHAT!!!!!?!??!?

 

[DocHolliday]

I love this look. Not the least bit effeminate. Steed's a true 20th century style icon.

 

[marc237]

Originally Posted by minimal

WHAT!!!!!?!??!?

JK. Playing off her leather-clad status as a lesbian icon in the role of Emma Peel. For those of us of a certain age, she was so damn hot.

 

[Huntsman]

Please forget 'of a certain age.' There's a jacket there somewhere I'm supposed to be evaluating?

 

[King Francis]

I think the proportions are off, not merely within the economy of the jacket itself, but in the jacket's relation to the pants. And why has he buttoned the bottom button?

 

[DocHolliday]

Let's compare and contrast:

High style:

Ghastly abomination:

 

[jeansandtshirt]

I only see Diana Rigg...who else do you see in the pic?

I wish BBC America would play them again in the rotation...especially the B&W Emma Peel season.

 

[Jovan]

Interesting. It looks like his middle button is undone, which is exactly opposite of how it should be.

 

[Full Canvas]

At the time that publicity photo was taken, Steed's wardrobe was being credited to both Pierre Cardin and Hardy Aimes. So, thought I would do some quick Christmas Eve research while things are in the oven. The Internet is truly a goldmine. It's not all Fool's Gold. Below Soph's photo is a brief excerpt from the first item that popped-up in my search. Maybe we don't want to know this much!!

Originally Posted by Soph

"Reading between Designs,
by Piers D. Britton and Simon J. Barker

The fact that such luminaries of the fashion world as Hardy Amies and Pierre Cardin designed outfits for Steed has been discussed elsewhere; our concern is much more with Macnee's role in devising and developing his character's wardrobe. No one has hitherto dealt fully with the vicissitudes of the Steed image or with its subtleties. Far less has attention been given to the impact that Steed's appearance had on the character of The Avengers as a whole. As we will show, the ramifications of Steed's idiosyncratic style were complex, and its effect upon the overall character of the series cumulative: Steed's dress and manners set the tone for the pointed class values of the program and, even more crucially, provided a nice foil to the radically novel clothing of his female accomplices."

The entire piece is available here: http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exbrirea.html

I won't speak to Soph's question other than to say that in 1967, I would gladly have worn a suit or odd jacket with that waist suppression.

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