Wonder Woman is now the highest-grossing DC universe film in U.S. box offices, but it has tallied up so much more in the win column than pure profit. It’s been praised for everything from its inspirational message to its casting to its tear-jerking battle scenes, and now a professional costume designer wants to give it its due there too.
Romance author Amanda Weaver designs costumes for her “day job,” and her analysis of the costuming in Wonder Woman calls out designer Lindy Hemming’s ability to temper Hollywood’s expectations for female warriors with an astute attention to historical detail.
She starts way back with Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman:
Take a look at Linda Carter's WW: pic.twitter.com/tywm76nTYZ
— Amanda Weaver (@AWeaverWrites) June 25, 2017
Wonder Woman, and all the Amazons, were warriors. This is not what a warrior wears into battle.
— Amanda Weaver (@AWeaverWrites) June 25, 2017
But from there, she makes it clear that Hemming was sourcing inspiration from actual Roman armor instead of from the Playboy Bunny aesthetic that the male gaze has come to expect on the big screen:
Lindy Hemming didn't use fetish lingerie as her starting point. She started with armor. Actual armor.
— Amanda Weaver (@AWeaverWrites) June 25, 2017
Yes, Diana has been stylized and made attractive, but that costume is first and foremost armor. It's functional. pic.twitter.com/qXgIYGc9o3
— Amanda Weaver (@AWeaverWrites) June 25, 2017
Those aren't sexy thigh-high boots. They're Roman greaves. They're protective and buckle on. Again, ARMOR. pic.twitter.com/hFCFyxSBgI
— Amanda Weaver (@AWeaverWrites) June 25, 2017
It’s not just Diana’s costume that got the authentic treatment, though. The rest of the women on Themyscira were also in very considered garb:
This is a piece of preserved leather Roman armor made out of a crocodile hide. pic.twitter.com/9Wpghyt7Q1
— Amanda Weaver (@AWeaverWrites) June 25, 2017
This is one of Hippolyta's costumes. I almost squealed outloud in the theater when I saw it. pic.twitter.com/hKuaJKyja8
— Amanda Weaver (@AWeaverWrites) June 25, 2017
Bottom line, Weaver stresses, it all comes back to intent:
That design showed respect. The intent was to portray these women as warriors first and foremost.
— Amanda Weaver (@AWeaverWrites) June 25, 2017
If you’d like to read Weaver’s full stream of consciousness on the costuming, check out the blog post version on We So Nerdy.
H/T Fashionably Geek