On James Norrington's outfit in DMC:
So, I just wanted to share something I noticed just now because I'm an IDIOT, and I can't believe I didn't see this sooner—considering the amount of time already that I spend looking at this wreckage of a man every day.
I was re-watching DMC for writing purposes, and I noticed something about the costume design for James when he's in his scruffy phase.
A part of me kept seeing the coat and assumed he was wearing his uniform just changed the breeches for trousers and the buckled shoes for boots. BUT. I was mistaken.
So this is the whole uniform right, the creme-colored vest with the golden rims. The blue navy coat, the cravat, the white breeches (look at that leg)
Here's a better picture of it, which I always find hilarious:
And in my head, I always assumed that he just got it dirtier, and that's it. Like, he kept the vest, but the months he spent in Tortuga drinking (probably picking fights) just darkened the vest. A dirty vest, that's what I thought.
But that's not it.
He is wearing a flower-patterned vest underneath the navy coat. Also his pants are clearly civilian clothes, no uniform in sight, except for the coat itself. Not even the shirt seems to be navy issue because the ruffles are different, like the neck is not high enough to get that cravat and neck support thing going on. Sorry, I wish I was a fashion historian to explain this better, but basically, he's in full civilian clothes.
We know this, we know this (I didn't fully grasp it until recently), HOWEVER—
This brings me to my point. So we know that after letting Jack go:
he spent a good half of that next year tracking the man across the Seven seas, almost had him a Tripoli and then lost the Dauntless in a hurricane.
That failure drove him to resign his commission (or be forced to resign because it was a whole thing).
And at the beginning of DMC we learn that it's been some months now since he resigned and left Port Royal to go drown himself in rum (and probably to wait for Jack Sparrow to appear and idk, do something)
And he's wearing his navy coat, his WIG and his hat. WHILE wearing civilian clothes underneath.
What I'm trying to say is that THIS MAN, this beautiful, obsessed wreck of a man, resigned his commission and KEPT his uniform, of course, and the first thing he does is leave for Tortuga with his NAVY COAT, his WIG and his NAVY HAT, to go find Jack Sparrow to pick a fight with him.
He's so wrecked here, after everything, that he has to physically hold on to the last remnants of what he thinks he is (the officer, the navy man, the commodore), by holding onto his coat and wig and hat.... I'm emotional now.
This is an amazing detail to include in the films, that I think goes beyond the simply comedic effect. His wig is a mess, it looks like a roadkill, his coat is frayed but the gold still golden like they want us to KNOW its a Navy coat. They couldve just put him in another coat btw, a plain thing, a brown thing like Beckett's. They didnt had to do it like this. But they DID. On purpose. And now I cant stop thinking about this.
Anyway, people... costume design is damn great on these movies. That's all I'm saying.
