It all started with a TV show… a really, REALLY BAD TV show.
As you have probably noticed by now, I am a big Wonder Woman fan. So when I heard that David E. Kelley was bringing her to the small screen in 2011, I was both excited and doubtful. How on earth were they going to pull off Diana with a small budget? I actually got my hopes up when they announced that Adrianne Palicki would be Diana. The woman is 5’11”! Maybe they were going to make a true Amazon Princess after all..
Then they released this image and I died a little inside.
This… shiny latex abomination killed all my hopes for the show. How could any self-respecting costume designer let this be photographed? Did they just grab whatever they could from a Halloween store and say “Fuck it”? Ms. Palicki is a beautiful woman, but she looks like a cheap hooker here. I hope that someone was fired for the horrible production quality of this photograph.
I eventually got a copy of the Wonder Woman pilot and OH MY GOD IS IT BAD. It is seriously the worst writing I have ever seen on any show, and I used to watch Xena and Hercules! Unfortunately, the costume (with a few changes) actually was one of the better parts of the show… THAT’S HOW BAD IT WAS! In the aftermath of the pilot never being picked up (because it was an abomination) many people on the interwebz were using it as proof that a Wonder Woman movie could never be made. They cited the impossible-to-please fans and the logistics of making the costume realistic as evidence of it’s impossibility.
I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to make a Wonder Woman costume that made sense for a Greek Amazon and was made out of practical materials (ie. leather and steel) so it was more than just a bathing suit. And thus, I was born into the world of cosplay.
My reaction to the costume was the same as yours….WTF?! The one thing I lament (and I’m sure DC are feeling the same given his success) is that they never let Joss Whedon make his Wonder Woman movie. If ever there was someone who could do justice to the superpowered goddess of the DCverse, it was Whedon. But no. Too much interference from “the powers that be” and the project was dropped. He went to Marvel and made Avengers. meanwhile DC are stuck in their rut of trying to make a decent movie from their catalogue, outside of Supes and Bats.
I hated the look of this costume, too, but I wonder how much of the blame for the end result should rest with the costume designer? Yes, it’s his/her name on the final product, but who else was involved? None of us knows what was happening in the meetings – perhaps this was a look specifically ‘requested’ by someone else involved with the production, whether that be the director, the producer, or even perhaps the actress may have had a hand in the costume process. What kind of costuming staff were available to create this, and what was their specialty? What kind of lead time was there for the design and construction process – was there enough time for the designer to actually research, simmer some thoughts, and then have the outfit made, or did this costume have to appear within a two day (or less) timeframe? Do we know what the budget was for this costume? Was there enough budget set aside to do justice to this iconic costume, or did it have to come into existence in 24 hours for $500 or less? As I said before, I agree that this costume was an epic fail, but there were several people involved in the process that could have (and should have) offered negative feedback to the CD so that the situation could have been addressed before it reached the general public. 🙂
FWIW, at least one positive effect has resulted from the TV outfit – it inspired you to make your own fabulous version of the costume!
Very true! And you are totally right about the process of creating the costume. 🙂 Some producer or time constraint could be to blame!