A few suggestions for Ms Frost...

I'd meant to post this last night but instead fell into an intense discussion with a couple members of my fashion team, Nicole and Gary about Emma's clothes. To be honest I'd not been very happy with what I'd come up with initially, which I'll discuss with you in a couple of moments and together we refined our thoughts and settled on a couple of what I think are really good looks that still acknowledge her complicated and confusing origin. Also Gary reported mutant and X-Man member Hank McCoy AKA Beast to the D.S.D.C.C. (Department of Superheroes' Dress Code & Critique) and we are dispatching Sentinels to locate him immediately. You can contact the D.S.D.C.C. at ghirdietus@gmail.com to report suspected violators of D.S.D.C.C. policies. Now, back to Emma Frost, teacher, CEO, millionaire and one of the well known faces of mutant kind, why do you even wear a costume? Oh yes, because you're a superhero--and at first that limited me too. My first take on her was to return her to a bob hairstyle (long hair is impractical in battle, even if I prefer it in theory) restored her to a stylized 18th century leather corset and the riding boots she wore with her original Hellfire Club outfit. I added a jacket with rounded lapels and of course suede pants and a white choker. I only gave Emma a single X logo on her belt buckle because I find it hard to believe she'd want to promote the team over herself. In my second take on her we still have the corset and pants, though I've extended the length of the corset to cover her midriff and changed her boots to clunky platform thigh high heels. I've added a white trench coat for a longer look to compliment the length of her hair and kept gloves (best to leave no fingerprints even if people know your face). This time the X logo is smaller and appears on her choker. I'd like to take a moment to address the issue of corsets, and how placement of lacing is incredibly important. Historically when women wore corsets, it denoted either lower class or prostitution to wear a corset that laced up the front. The wealthy had servants so their corsets laced up the back, and as such I've placed Emma's lacing to the back where it belongs. Besides when Wolverine is on your team, do you really want to give him access to your corset strings so with a simple snickty snak you're now topless and at the very least inconvenienced if not furious? I like the look of both these outfits but in many ways they're just pastiches of her other costumes and left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied. After talking with my fellow fashionistas I came up with some ideas that please me a whole lot more. We thought about Emma's origins in the Hellfire Club, who dressed in "oldey-timey" clothes and then discussed Marie Antoinette and Elizabeth as well as other famous and influential historical women who chose to adopt men's clothing styles to a certain degree and decided to give Emma a look that pays homage to her origins, her apparent and unexplained need to show off her curves and the power she possesses both as a mutant and a business woman. Here she wears a white satin frock coat, white gloves, a white silk brocade vest, matching satin breeches and white knee high boots. Her long hair is swept up and pulled back in a loose bun and she wears little to no jewelery. In keeping with historical tradition Emma has left the last couple of buttons on her vest open to show she is a "gentleman". I think women dressed in men's period clothing are extremely sexy and powerful looking and would have loved to see Emma dispensing justice to Sebastian Shaw in the Uncanny X-men Annual #2 (the Black King of the Hellfire Club) in an outfit more like this than the one she wore in the issue. We still weren't happy though and it's for this simple reason: Emma, everyone knows who you are--why spend extra money on costumes that have a habit of frequently being destroyed and are undoubtedly expensive? Here's our revolutionary suggestion for Ms Frost...sweetie just wear last seasons' clothes into battle. There's no point to the theatrics of a costume when a power suit can be just as commanding and is in many ways a uniform/costume itself. This is a woman who knows her clothing, designers, labels and what makes an impression and her clothing needs to reflect it, so straight from the board room to the battle field we give you Emma in a business suit with shoes by Christian Louboutin (the holy grail of the shoe world). This time we've also added jewelry, dangling diamond earrings and a diamond necklace if for no other reason than to compliment her in both her human and diamond forms. The business suit itself consists of a fitted short waisted linen jacket, and complimentary mini skirt which is a blend of 70% linen and 30% unstable molecules (a special fabric found only on Earth 616) which allows her freedom of movement in diamond form. Underneath the jacket she wears a silvery white lacy camisole and white matte satin gloves complete the outfit. Since the shoes are Louboutin this brings up a perfect opportunity to address the heel. Due to Emma's change in weight, strength and density when she changes to her diamond form regular heels just wouldn't do. She'd be leaving fights constantly to purchase new shoes. We suggest she have custom adamantium reinforcements in her heels which will not only insure they won't break easily as adamantium (also available only on Earth 616) is largely unbreakable, but make them weapons grade heels if she feels the need to make a point. At the end of the day I just don't see why she'd wear a costume at all, her fabulousness should be costume enough. Nicole said if she could draw and was working for the industry it would be her favorite part of the job researching current fashions and finding just the right look for each character and I agree heartily. Some artists, like George Perez, Phil Jimenez and the Dodsons to name a few are very fashion conscious but then there are artists who don't really seem to think about what the characters wear at all except for how their costume looks and rarely think about whether or not the character in question would wear such an outfit. There are costumes heroes wear that are given to them by family members or friends but when the artist actually draws the outfit it seems like no one informed him/her of that very relevant fact, but we'll talk about that in my next post...TARGET ACQUIRED Name: Kara Zor-El, Kara Zor-L, Linda Danvers, Matrix and Cir-El A.K.A. Supergirl.Emma Frost, the White Queen, the Black Queen, Sebastion Shaw, the Black King, the Hellfire Club, the X-Men and all related symbols, insignia, costumes etc, are all © Trademarks of Marvel Comics and the images reproduced here are used only as examples of my ideas for her costume and the promotion of Marvel Comics

Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, Kara Zor-L, Linda Danvers, Matrix, Cir-El and all related symbols, insignia, costumes etc, are all © Trademarks of DC Comics and the image reproduced here (penciled by Ed Benes) is used only as an illustration for the purpose of costume critique and the promotion of DC Comics

Emma Frost, looking back...

Emma Frost was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne and as you can see here in this picture by Jim Lee there wasn't a lot to her costume. Emma has already violated both rules #1 and #2 with her thong, and at this point in her career she's very vulnerable to bullets, knives, punches, and other physical violence, provided you could get close to her. It doesn't make a lot of sense considering the male members of the Hellfire Club wore period clothing that looked 18th century while the female members wore 19th century corsets and modern day thongs with riding boots and fur trimmed capes. Maybe all comic book artists should be required to wear thongs if they draw women in them so they can understand, at the least, how distracting or uncomfortable they can be. Nevertheless this look has proved incredibly popular despite it's many inherent flaws and continues to be portrayed in other media. She wore this outfit in the 1990s X-Men cartoon and has been seen in it again as recently as Whedon and Cassaday's run on Astonishing X-Men. There was a comiquette (designed by Adam Hughes) that features her in this outfit. She is of course dropping her cape to reveal her thong, and as if the naked flesh wasn't enough they've used a glossy paint on her skin tone so it looks like she's been oiled. While she may have spent some time as a stripper whilst infiltrating the Hellfire Club she was Chairman of the Board and CEO of Frost International which helped to fund the Hellfire Clubs' activities and you expect me to believe she would dress like this? There must have been some deep seated need for attention she was gratifying in order to justify wearing this that being the CEO of an International Corporation and one of the most powerful telepaths on the planet couldn't provide. What that was, you'll have to ask Claremont and Byrne, because I have no clue. To put it in perspective she is also running a school for "gifted students" (aka mutants) and this is her battle gear? I don't think so. Emma's school was destroyed and the X-Men found her in a coma and through a series of events chronicled in the X-Men TPB "The Phalanx Covenant" she winds up becoming a teacher again, this time with the help of Charles Xavier and X-Man Banshee. Being a good guy caused her to have a costume change which resulted in what is probably my favorite White Queen costume. It consisted of a white corset, white pants, white thigh high boots, white jacket and for teaching purposes a white riding crop to use as a pointer. Finally it seemed she had come to her senses, but after some familial conflicts that led to her murdering one of her pesky sisters and Banshee's uncontrollable drunkenness the school closed down and she moved to Genosha to teach. Unfortunately Genosha was completely destroyed shortly thereafter and Emma was presumed dead, but she had developed a secondary mutation. Now able to transform her body into a diamond hard substance she joins the X-Men in part to replace fallen X-Man Colossus. As an aside using Emma in the X-Men was suggested to writer Grant Morrison on his website and he developed this secondary mutation to give her a place on the team. Of course joining the team meant a new costume and artist Frank Quietly was only to happy to comply. The costume he created brings us to Warrior Woman Rule #3 "Just say no to camel toe" which not even artist Greg Horn could render without still leaving me cringing. There was really no logic to it and I constantly wonder how her breast cups are supposed to stay on. Are they adhered somehow? And if so what happens to the adherent when she changes to diamond form? I just can't imagine fighting would be remotely comfortable in that outfit, and would question any member of my super hero team if they showed up for work dressed like that, ex-stripper or no. Thankfully it didn't last long and she was given pants and a trench coat to at least cover part of her shame, but did nothing to insure her top stayed on. It seems like no matter what Emma wears there must always be a level of erotica but please lets try and avoid the sleaze. It wasn't long before she was a leading X-Man and had successfully stole Jean Grey's husband (?) and someone must have pointed out the impracticality of breast cups or perhaps some sort of divine inspiration and she decided it was time for yet another outfit change. Don't kid yourself and think she's constantly changing outfits because of a limited colour palette, it just seems some superheroes change costumes more than others. While I might question the combo of corset and cape if for no other reason than sheer weight, the look is a definite improvement, seen here in a drawing by Michael Turner. She has pants, which I'm a big fan of and the cape can drape around her giving her slightly intimidating look. On the other hand she is wearing an off the shoulder top and midriff baring corset/cape ensemble and while she can read your mind and turn into a diamond she can't do both at the same time and all it takes is one lucky shot. Throughout most of this period she wears white lipstick, as seen here in a still shot from "Wolverine and the X-Men". White lipstick troubles me. On the one hand it certainly gives her a unique look as one of the few if not only women in comics to make that lipstick choice, and yes she is the White Queen, but white lipstick always calls to my mind images of 1970s hookers. This costume has been tweaked and appears with slight variations in several X-titles as well as the animated television series Wolverine and the X-Men (which is pretty awesome). However as of X-Men #513 all of this is changing as Emma Frost becomes leader of the all new, all deadly Dark X-Men. While the issues have yet to be released I've seen the cover and a sketch by Terry Dodson and I think the outfit looks good. This time she's changed her nom de guerre to the Black Queen and accordingly she's wearing all black. It seems Emma likes to work with a monotone colour palette. Once more we have a cape/top combo only she's added an inverted triangle midriff peekaboo and black shiny pants and seemingly a pair of boots/shoes. It will be interesting to see how this fashion choice affects her as former Black Queens Selene and Emma Steed are both still wandering around Earth 616 and might take issue with it. On the other hand, her Black Queen outfit is better than either of theirs, at least in my humble opinion. Choosing to become the Black Queen will also likely cause all sorts of problems for Emma in her relationship with Scott Summers, but I suspect that's the point. At least this new outfit commands some respect and if she's going to add Leader of the Mutants to her long list of titles she needs to make sure she doesn't look like trash because she has to appeal to more than just the western world. It definitely looks like it'll be a very interesting read, as most of the Dark Reign stuff has been so far. Marvel is doing some really interesting things and I look forward to seeing what will come not only of Emma's fashion choices but her other choices as well. In my next post I'll reveal a couple of my own designs for possible Emma costumes--but I'm still in love with the White Queen. In the meantime, here's a couple more pictures of Emma through the ages...


















(Image credits going clockwise from left to right: Frank Quietly, Phil Jimenez and Terry & Rachel Dodson for the last two--I apologize to inkers and colourists whose names I don't know)

Emma Frost, the White Queen, the Black Queen, the X-Men and all related symbols, insignia, costumes etc, are all © Trademarks of Marvel Comics and the images reproduced here are used only as illustrations for the purpose of costume critique and the promotion of Marvel Comics

A thought for Diana...

(For a Wonder Woman retrospective, check out yesterday's post.)
So this is a quick sketch I put together (ink and pencil crayons) which I think would look fabulous on the Amazon Princess. Again I'm a little hooked on the armour, but she is a warrior princess after all. If Diana must continue wearing the shorts, I recommend a full bottomed short with a slightly higher cut in the front to allow for ease of leg movement. I'm especially fond of the reinvent logo drawn and inked by Terry and Rachel Dodson, so I used that logo design in my own. Here's another ink/pencil crayon version I've drawn illustrating the high cut, full bottomed shorts that the Dodsons returned us to. I cannot stress enough how there is no place in the world of superheroics for a thong. There are many difficulties superheroes face and it's important for artists to recognize that and reign in the urge to turn their costumes into thinly veiled excuses for drawing soft core pornography. There is a certain amount of sensuality inherent in comics because they are wearing skin tight costumes and have a funny habit of being beautiful or strikingly handsome. I suppose my last thought on Diana's costume is this, provided she avoids thongs like the plague, her armoured bodice and bracelets combined with her strength and reflexes should provide her with enough protection in combat to make wearing that outfit practical in most situations, though still I'd encourage her to revisit the idea of pants. Both her sister, Donna Troy and protege Wonder Girl have found great success in pants or bodysuits and maybe Diana should give it a try. On the other hand, her customary costume does flatter her and allows for the opportunity to flirt with eligible bachelors, and lets face it, how does one get the Batman's mind off crime? I drew this image first in pencils, inked it and did colours, blending, finishing, etc. with Photoshop. Please note the full bottomed shorts Diana wears. I call this image "Stolen Moments". Ever since the Justice League episode "Maid of Honor" I've always been a huge fan of the Diana and Bruce relationship and hope she teams up with Red Robin to track that man down. Though I suppose teaming with Booster Gold might help her find him more easily, all things considered. But I suppose that's enough for Diana. It's highly unlikely DC will ever seriously consider modifying her outfit because of its iconic status, thanks in large part to Ms Lynda Carter (who incidentally is singing these days and released a CD you can check out at http://www.lyndacartersings.com/home.html). I still remember her singing on the Muppet Show and Miss Piggy's antics as Wonder Pig. One can never be safe when there are giant chickens wandering around. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and hope you join me next time. So not to seem to DC focused I'm going to take a look at one of Marvel's X-men whose costume choices over the years have ranged from insanely impractical to something a little more stylish and then something a little, er... at any rate TARGET ACQUIRED Name: Emma Frost A.K.A. the White Queen. This Emma Frost drawing not by me, I've been having trouble identifying the artist, any thoughts would be appreciated.

Wonder Woman and all related symbols, insignia, costumes etc, are all © Trademarks of DC Comics and the images reproduced here are used only as examples of my ideas for her costume and the promotion of DC Comics

Emma Frost, the White Queen, the Black Queen, the X-Men and all related symbols, insignia, costumes etc, are all © Trademarks of Marvel Comics and the images reproduced here are used only as illustrations for the purpose of costume critique and the promotion of Marvel Comics