Science Fiction Clothing

[JLibourel]

Some lighthearted musings I'd be interested in soliciting fellow forumites' comments on:

Have you ever noticed that in the overwhelming majority of science fiction movies and TV shows, buttons and shoelaces have evidently become obsolete? Happily, these useful little items show no sign of disappearing in the real world. This curious convention goes at least as far back as the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon comic strips of the 1930s, when riding boots were evidently deemed the perfect footwear for space travel.

Another mildly annoying convention is that in post-apocalypse movies (e.g., the Mad Max series), good people commonly wear the most hideous, shapeless outfits made of gunnysack-like homespuns, while bad guys have stereotypical motorcycle regalia of black leather studded with metal. The implications of this are interesting. It would imply that the bad guys have smelters and tanneries. In other words, they are exhibiting a much higher level of social cooperation and doing a much better job of putting things in general back together than the dingy-looking good guys.

 

[j]

As regards the 'no fasteners/adjusters' issue, I think the implication is that life will be simpler, and/or that industrial production will be so efficient that everything will fit perfectly and we won't have to waste time doing things like tying shoes. Much like one no longer will have to boil water, pour it, add a tea bag, wait, squeeze out, etc., but simply will be able to order one from the machine in one's quarters.

I don't know if the bad guys in Mad Max were supposed to have made their new leathers, or had just kept wearing them from before the apocalypse.

 

[bch]

If every woman I saw dressed as well as Wilma Deering (Erin Grey) from Buck Rogers, I'd have no complaints.

 

[Manton]

As regards the 'no fasteners/adjusters' issue, I think the implication is that life will be simpler, and/or that industrial production will be so efficient that everything will fit perfectly and we won't have to waste time doing things like tying shoes.

Either that, or it's easier for costume designers to draw up garments without any details, and it's easier for their sweatshops to make them.

 

[Bradford]

If every woman I saw dressed as well as Wilma Deering (Erin Grey) from Buck Rogers, I'd have no complaints.

OK - I was home sick Monday and Tuesday and watched some of those old Buck Rogers episodes on SciFi Channel - granted Erin Grey was hot - but boy were those plots dumb.. Regarding clothing, my favorites were the cool jackets on the original Battlestar Galactica as modeled here by Apollo -- and how about that cape on Starbuck.

I don't know that we ever saw them fastened, but they sure looked neat. Bradford

 

[Kai]

You gotta love cheesy sci fi costumes. Â Here are some of my favorites: Buck Rogers: Â (Who doesn't Princess Ardala, ruler of the Draconians? Â TV's most "benevolent" dictator, and Sci-fi's answer to Daisy Duke)

Battlestar Galactica:

Logan's Run: Â Michael York as the sandman (and Farrah too.)

Star Trek.. Â Kirk, Spock, Picard, and space babes.

The Borg Look:

And finally, the 1960s cult classic, UFO. Â Some of thw coolest costumes ever.

 

[AAA]

I have it on good authority that in the future we will all be wearing this....

 

[Manton]

Please (please?) tell us that's not you ... or do I really want to know?

 

[AAA]

Nope not me. Â Check out the guy's homepage: Â http://www.tronguy.net//

 

[Brian SD]

hahaha yea I remember seeing that in Maxim last year. Funny stuff

 

[faustian bargain]

my eyes. here's a couple from the best series you never saw, Firefly (from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) :

 

[globetrotter]

ok, please gentlemen, I really have to ask you to stop this. I can't bear the thought that I am part of an internet board where science fiction is discussed.

 

[faustian bargain]

nominated for ironic post of the year...

 

[bch]

I think Wonder woman qualifies as sci fi. I seem to remember an episode with a UFO in it.

 

[JLibourel]

In the pix from the "Firefly" series, I note the chap is wearing suspenders ("braces," if you prefer) and toting a revolver, both of which seem about as un-sci-fi-ish as you can get. AND, I see shoelaces. What was the premise of this series? It looks kind of "retro" in a way.