An analysis of DIO’s fashion choices.
We all know that we like to laugh at DIO’s obscene fashion choices, but for a while now I really wanted to delve into a more in-depth analysis of them, because they actually present a really good reflection of DIO’s position in life and his state of mind. Note that this will only cover canon outfits that appear within the story itself, not the ones on the covers or other external artwork.
In Phantom Blood, after being taken in by the Joestars, DIO immediately started dressing extremely properly for his new rank and the time period - interestingly, even more so than Jonathan, who was born into this life. An example of this, a brief scene of DIO and Jonathan studying, was actually changed in the anime, making DIO dressed more like a commoner. In the manga, it was Jonathan who looked less appropriate, while DIO wore a tie and a neat white shirt - befitting of a man of Joestar family.
It gives an impression that DIO got the hang of the proper high society life with surprising ease like the social chameleon that he is, and that he’s enjoying it.
However, I think his later actions show that this wasn’t what he liked to wear.
The first sign of this is when he had a minor breakdown and got drunk after Jojo caught him with the poison. DIO getting angry and drunk shows that he dropped the mask that he’s been holding up for all these years, and showed a glimpse of his true feelings.
To reflect that, he immediately dressed much more like a dandy, wearing a feather-collared coat and a top hat. It’s by no means as obscene as his later attires, but it already subtly implies his preference for tackier outfits.
Of course, the big and obvious change occurs next, as he rejects his humanity.
The moment he was free of societal chains and norms by becoming a vampire and not needing to care about fitting into the masquerade anymore, he IMMEDIATELY started dressing exceedingly flamboyant, putting on whatever he pleased, even when it was beyond unconventional.
He’s shown wearing gaudy outfits that look very outdated for the time, with elements such as puff sleeves and baggy pants - both of which were popular during the Rennaisance - several centuries ago.
I am also pretty convinced that his ‘main’ outfit for the Phantom Blood finale includes some kind of a corset, and I don’t think I have to point out that wearing something like that is definitely not expected from a man, let alone as an outer layer, seeing as corsets are undergarments.
This is what DIO felt comfortable wearing. Also worth noting is that he doesn’t do his hair anymore, letting it be wild and messy, unlike before when it was kept neat and short.
Before I go on to DIO in the 80s, I want to make a slight detour to Jonathan and his choice of clothing as well.
The significance of DIO’s weird outfits could be brushed off by saying that Jonathan dressed weird as well and this was just Araki creating fashion disasters for the hell of it, but I don’t think that’s quite right.
Fashion crimes were definitely committed, but not without a purpose.
Let’s take a look at Jonathan’s most bizarre outfit in Phantom Blood;
From the looks of it he’s wearing about four shirts and a vest, as well as gloves. Many a joke has been made about this outfit, but here is my proposition:
This is a makeshift armour.
Phantom Blood happens during the late 19th century, and getting a proper armour wouldn’t be an easy task. This was an urgent mission and Jonathan had to act fast and smart - and he did.
He wore multiple layers of clothing in an attempt to add padding in hopes to shield his body from the upcoming attacks.
Aside from this outfit, the only other strange one he wears is his final battle one, a crop top, which is really just remnants of this one, as it was mostly destroyed in the battle with Tarkus. Aside from this, he wears normal and era-appropriate clothes. (Not counting the various cover outfits that never appear in canon)
Now, on to DIO in Stardust Crusaders.
Of course, we have the famous yellow “neon vampire” outfit he wears in the 80s, and the infamous Shadow DIO one, but there are a few others that appear briefly and many of them have a connecting aesthetic to them, which I really want to address; most of them have a somewhat Middle Eastern vibe to it, or at the very least what we stereotypically view as Middle Eastern.
A statement; I am not familiar with Middle Eastern fashion terminology and can therefore only use very broad layman’s terms. I also think that the outfits in question are pretty vague and are probably not sourced from any specific Middle Eastern culture, but the overall aesthetic in general, as many cultures in the area have very similar aspects to their fashion.
Either way, I don’t know how many people picked up on this, as most tend to just put him in whatever random skimpy thing they can think of, and I very rarely see anyone acknowledge his style preferences when designing outfits for him. I find that kind of boring and uninspired, as it ignores what I think is a very interesting perspective on DIO’s openness to other cultures.
DIO doesn’t just brood in Egypt, he’s not just constantly shut inside his mansion, plotting and scheming. He embraces Egypt. He knows the streets of Cairo, which implies that he goes out often, either to find prey or for leisure. This is not a theory, but a fact, as he mocks Jotaro for thinking all streets look the same, while skillfully navigating the fight to bring him back to Joseph’s corpse - implying that he, DIO, is in fact very familiar with the city.
The next thing I want to bring up is just an assumption based on the patterns I noticed and I don’t know if Araki intended it, but it’s very interesting that DIO saught to imitate Rennaisance first, and then Egypt - a time and place that are both associated with great advances in knowledge, which is something DIO values immensely.
Now to get back to the outfits themselves, let’s start with his most iconic one;
He wears gold ring bracelets, which are common in designs related with the location (Avdol wears similar bracelets, for example), and his very baggy pants might hold inspiration in something like the “harem” or “genie” style pants.
His shoes are also a big clue here, as the shoes with an upturned or twisted tip occur throughout many cultures in the Middle East, and DIO is shown wearing many different pairs of such shoes;
There are two other outfits that appear briefly which might also have roots in these cultures, albeit one more than the other;
The one on the left is very simple and obvious in my opinion, it’s also similar to what Araki draws some background commoners wearing. It’s actually surprising to see DIO in such a casual outfit, and it once again implies that he genuinely enjoys this type of fashion and feels comfortable in it.
The one on the right is honestly just one massive question mark, but it looks to be a (heavily modified) tunic more than anything, which is, again, not an uncommon garment in that area.
Next, there is an outfit that seems to hold more of a British/American vibe;
To me, this seems to be some kind of a padded jacket, maybe one similar to what Joseph is seen wearing during his initial appearance in Battle Tendency;
We know thanks to Stone Ocean flashbacks that DIO has been to modern America several times, so him picking up something like a sick leather jacket over there is not a stretch to assume.
Speaking of Stone Ocean - the outfits he’s drawn in there are just variations of the iconic yellow outfit, so I’m not going into those specifically.
Lastly, I want to talk about Shadow DIO, who’s outfit genuinely makes me wonder whether DIO has a horse somewhere in Egypt, because everything we see of this outfit seems to be inspired by horse rider clothing.
He’s wearing cowboy chaps over his pants, while his shoes are VERY reminiscent to the tall British horse riding boots;
It’s worth mentioning that the pants of his main outfit also resembles chaps due to them being open in the front in a similar way, however, chaps are generally open in a certain other area as well, and thanks to a popular meme we know for sure that that part is covered.
It’s very clear that Araki has taken inspiration from the chaps based on some later pieces he drew of DIO though.
And that’s that for the analysis of DIO’s outfits!
I really love how the way he dresses throughout the series basically shows how free he feels at the moment. Once he obtained the power of vampirism he didn’t have to dress to impress anyone other than himself anymore.
It’s also important to note that he ever cared to begin with, as that shows that he’s more than willing to put his own comfort aside in order to achieve his goals. His current comfort or pride don’t matter if they can be sacrificed for a greater goal in the future. A non-outfit-related example of this are the crocodile tears in Phantom Blood; crying made him look pathetic at that moment, but it was just a tool he used to lower Jonathan’s guard.
But, with his status as the member of the prestigious Joestar family, DIO could’ve worn any gaudy outfit he wanted and be regarded as a rich eccentric, so why didn’t he do that?
Simple; he wanted to be the Perfect Son. The Favourite. The Heir. He had to be a perfect and respectable gentleman, so he moulded himself into one. The moment that the Joestar inheritance and status lost his interest in favour of something much grander, he threw away the acceptable social norms and embraced the flamboyance and style that he always craved but repressed, because his goal was more important.
