Starting to reblog the same Newmann stuff I have before cause I want more i just want more is that a problem? A little bit of a problem. OK I HAVE A PROBLEM
hahahaha guess who’s going to see pacific rim tomorrow
ahaha oops
I would say you have a problem but I’ve seen it twice now and I kind of want to see it again ITS BLOODY ADDICTIVE
Let’s talk about Newt’s costume today and what it communicates about his character. (For fellow cosplayers, I’m searching for better pics of his bracelets and ring, and will be recreating his tatts for printing on temp tattoo paper. Stay tuned…)
Newt is pretty solidly within the “rockstar nerd" trope and doesn’t much deviate from it in the little quirky ways that Hermann, for example, deviates from the classic Tweed Professor. This is probably because the Nerd Rockstar is quirky enough as it is and has loads of interesting character prompts going for it.
So, some random observations:
(Quick bit of headcanon: Like Hermann, Newt has a fashion sense that solidified in high school/college and didn’t evolve much beyond that. While Hermann dresses to look older, Newt dresses to look young. Both characters are roughly 36.)
Newt’s skinny pants have a thin pinstripe to them. I can’t quite tell if they are black or just very dark denim, damn you set lighting. No belt. Badge clipped to his jeans pocket, like a kid who really would prefer not to have to wear a badge, but fine, if you must I’ll do the absolute bare minimum and clip it to my pants are you happy now, I’m wearing my badge. His pants are rolled up neatly with large cuffs, a fun contrast to Hermann’s pants, which are too short.
As far as I can tell, Newt wears black Doc Martin boots or similar, which is a punk rock staple.
His shirt is rumpled and on the verge of being untucked. Plain white, lacking in the subtle textures/patterns most other characters’ clothing have. This offsets his tattoos well, and later, his accumulated bloodstains and grime. Tie is absurdly thin, it’s practically a ribbon (I like to think it was knotted once and never altered; the knot is so tight now, it probably couldn’t be easily undone).
The jacket is a black leather motorcycle-style jacket, more racing style than tough-guy cruiser, even if Newt looks a little greaser-like when his hair is slicked back from the rain.
Adornment-wise, Newt wears 3 bracelets (probably leather) and a silver skull pinky ring on his left hand. His glasses are chunky “wayfarer" style, a shorthand for “geek" for decades. Contrast again to Hermann, who I don’t even think wears a watch and wears glasses (horribly school-marmish ones at that) only when he absolutely has to.
It would have been easy to make Newt a completely disheveled, stereo-typically “mad" scientist. But there’s little clues that indicate at least some of his fashion choices (seriously, dude, those pants) are deliberate and communicate a character that is less scattered-brained and more desperately trying to prove himself.
Newt’s tattoos are his most striking costuming feature. What’s most interesting to me is not that they are colorful, large, and ornate, but rather that they are a cohesive whole. If you look at the art book, Newt’s tattoos follow an integrated and carefully planned theme. If Newt got a new tatt every time there was a major new Kaiju… or if he even just waited to do them all at once, it’s still hours and HOURS of work across many sessions. I know lots of people with tatts and that kind of consistency is rare.
Newt doesn’t strike me so much an ink junkie as he is… well, a Kaiju groupie. This speaks to a character who, while eccentric and impulsive, follows his impulses to a systematic, and often over-the-top conclusion. Which makes perfect sense given his actions in the film.
I think his pants might be corduroy
sabellart
