#worst look

[chrisevansluv]

What's Chris worst look? If there is one 😅

Or maybe not worst, maybe the one look you were not too fond of? 🤔

Haha worst look... I think his 2000s can be englobed on that one

[newx-menfan]

This week I’m examining the BEST and WORST Looks of Santo Vacarro-Rockslide!

It was kind of surreal realizing Santo has probably had the MOST costume re-designs of pretty much any of the Academy X students…

Santo’s PHYSICAL form also changed heavily throughout the book- when originally introduced, Santo essentially looks like a grey version of ‘The Thing’. After the battle with Nimrod, Santo is rebuilt into the classic (and in my opinion best design) appearance with sharp brow ridge, and sharper plates all throughout his body-making him more jagged and mountain-esque. What I like most about this design is how visually different it is from other ‘rock guys’. You could point out Santo in a lineup of Korg, the Thing, ect… Later in Limbo he did for a short time have a more ‘lava creature’ appearance, which was short lived. In many ways (much like Beast/Hank McCoy) Santo’s design became more and more non-human looking.

Uniforms: While I’m probably not going to list EVERY UNIFORM Santo’s ever had (especially since a lot of them are simply variations of older looks); I will definitely go over the main ones…

1. Santo’s first look was the bright red and white Hellion’s uniform. As I’ve said before this suit FOR THE MOST PART (sorry but it doesn’t work well for Kevin!) looks great on MOST of the team. I do really like the red with the grey rock; it definitely makes him ‘pop’ a little more visually. Overall I would probably say this look, like his physical form in this series; tends to play it pretty safe.

2. In Childhoods End the two uniforms Santo gets is a burnt orange and black sleeveless uniform, and then later a forest green and black uniform in the same cut. Honestly… I’m not a big fan of either one. While I think the forest green DOES look slightly better…neither one really screams ‘iconic’ to me personally. This look just blends in, in my opinion-which is BAD considering your drawing a character MADE OF ROCK. Santo SHOULD BE the character your eye is immediately drawn to when you open the book.

3. Santo’s Xavier School Uniform is…meh. It’s not bad…but it’s not particularly noticeable either. The biggest problem with this look is probably the top half, which just looks awkward on the character; which thankfully later gets a shirtless variation.

4. Which brings us to the BETTER look-Santo going shirtless. Whether the pants are blue and grey, yellow and black, or brown renaissance pants-it just works better. When you have such a unique character design; you want that TO BE the focus of the costume. Beast, for example, is visually interesting usually BECAUSE the blue fur is the focus.

5. Another Santo look I really liked was the black X-Men suit designed by Chris Bachalo. I really like it looking like a play on the Evolution uniforms; with black shorts, short sleeves, and yellow trim. It’s simple enough that it doesn’t take away from the character design, and plays up the uniqueness of Santo’s design.

BEST LOOK: Shirtless with yellow and black pants. This is simply THE CLASSIC Rockslide look. It’s simple and showcases his physical mutation in an interesting way. Plus, Santo kind of more or less strikes me as a guy who WOULD walk around shirtless anyway.

WORST LOOK: The Xavier School Uniform. It just looks awkward and clunky. The top half of the uniform sticks out like a sore thumb. Plus it seems strange there wouldn’t be holes IN the uniform, since Santo’s design at the time was jagged instead of smooth rock.

Honorable Mention: the ‘X-Dudes’ Superhero outfit he designed with Anole, where he basically wore a Jason hockey mask (hopefully it wasn’t one of the collectible ones…).

Civilian Clothing:

Much like Cessily, Santo oftentimes wears clothing to 'feel more human’. Where Mercury is able to dress a little more fashionably, for Santo that’s a hell of a lot harder because of his size.

Santo is often seen wearing extremely baggy clothing, especially after his concept design changed in Childhoods End to have more jagged rock.

Santo is often wearing jeans, A-shirt (a pejorative term for them is often 'wife beaters’), hoodies, jeans, and athletic wear. The HANDS DOWN most distinct Santo look has to be from New Mutants Vol.2, where Santo wore baggy blue jeans, a green sports jersey, and a red visor…

What I Would Like To See:

I think the main thing with Santo is more simplified uniforms, since his character design is ALREADY so visually interesting.

I also really enjoy the accessories with Santo-some of the more fun panels are when Santo’s wearing things like a visor, mask, or drinking 'happy’ juice.

The main thing I would want to see is artists adding fun little accessories with Santo’s character.

The next character for BEST look/Worst Look will be Dust, and I will also examine the Hellion’s school uniform as a whole.

[chrisevansluv]

His worst look did me was when he did that ACE universe chat with his bro and his shirt was clearly way to small for him. He should have been sipping pina coladas in that!!! 🤣🤣🤣// Umm we will NOT disrespect sexy AceVentura Pet Detective. 😏

👆👆🤣

[newx-menfan]

(After getting a question about Hellion and Prodigy’s uniforms; I’ve decided to do a ‘Best Look/Worst Look’ posts for New X-Men characters.)

This week I’m examining the BEST and WORST Looks of David Alleyne- Prodigy!

Uniforms:

1. David’s New Mutants Uniform is… Kind of rough, in my opinion. It has A LOT going on, is seemingly based off of ‘the Matrix’ (as many things were in the early 2000’s), and the color scheme doesn’t work well for David.

While I do like how David’s consistently kept the yellow glasses in all of his uniforms; it just feels a little too generically tying into the ‘Guy Behind the Computer’ trope for me. The sunglasses DO work in the fact that they look like something a teenager would totally pick out thinking it makes them ‘look cool’ however (plus David IS a little bit of a dork, even if he won’t admit it…). It just looks a little silly for David to continue wearing them as he gets older.

2. The Uniform featured on the cover of issue #10 is an improvement to the New Mutants uniform, in my opinion.

While still very busy (and featuring 90’s pouches); the orange and grey look much better than the yellow, and subdues the white to being trim instead of being a primary color and becoming overwhelming like it is in the NM uniform.

3. David’s M-Day Uniform again uses the yellow/orange and white color scheme- which I think looks terrible on him. The collar also looks too cult-ish with the uniform and bell sleeves (which IS kind of the point in that story arc, but still…).

4. The outfit David wears during the Nimrod battle, while boring, does work really well. It utilizes David’s focus on functionality at the forefront (with a bulletproof vest, army boots, and dark colors for tactical or recon missions), instead of visual appeal.

It also suits David’s new status as depowered, by providing more protection.

This outfit is basically a less formal version of FX’s Archer ‘tactleneck’…

5. I have mixed feelings on Xavier’s School Uniforms.

On the one hand, they pretty much look good on everyone, and are easily made personal by adding simple accessories (a perfect example of this is Dani Moonstar in Claremont’s original New Mutants).

On the other hand, they often times are used even after the characters have largely outgrown the 'student’ role (again, a perfect example is Dani Moonstar). Usually it’s laziness from X-Men artists, who don’t want to design a new outfit for the character.

With David, I COULD see him continuing to wear it after graduation; since David has little concern about things like rank and fashion. 'Why waste a perfectly good uniform, if it still fits and is useable’- would probably BE David’s thought process.

That being said, I WOULD like to see David get a more personal uniform; created solely with him in mind.

BEST LOOK- Probably the orange, grey, and white uniform. While the black recon outfit and school uniform both look great on David; this look has the most individuality of David’s uniforms.

WORST LOOK- New Mutants Uniform. With it being too busy, a bad color scheme for David (the yellow looking particularly bad) and too outdated a look- it’s the clear choice for WORST look.

Civilian Wear:

1. David’s fashion sense is based more on functionality and comfort over esthetics and trends. This fits well with his character, who tends to see wealth and vanity as frivolous. Most of David’s civilian clothing was basic jeans, tee shirts, and hoodies in both DeFilippis and Weir/Kyle and Yost.

2. In Kieron Gillen’s YA 2.0, as Daivid gets older; we see David’s clothing style becoming a little more formal, with sweater vests, ties, and button downs. This tends to be as dressy as David usually gets.

This slightly more structured look has been continued in his appearances in the America solo, and recent appearances in Matthew Rosenberg’s New Mutants.

BEST LOOK- The suit David wore in his dream future (because OF COURSE Emma made him fashionable, even in a simulated future 😜…)

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE: I’d like to see David designed a more individualized Uniform; probably using black, grey, and a SMALL amount of orange, yellow or army green trim. The focus of this design should be function, with more of a focus around black ops missions in the design. I’d also prefer David to loose the yellow sunglasses, because while they’ve been a character staple; I think David’s outgrown them…

Next week I’ll examine Noriko Ashida- Surge’s BEST and WORST Looks!

[newx-menfan]

This week I’m examining the BEST and WORST Looks of Joshua Foley-Elixir!

(Full Warning- I will be talking about that one awful time Josh had a goatee in New Mutants Vol. 2…)

Uniforms:

1. Josh’s New Mutants Uniform…isn’t BAD, per say. The color scheme including yellow (sometimes colored as a light orange) takes away heavily from Josh’s gold skin and it’s too similar in shades. It’s not great, but it’s not as bad as some of the other New Mutants designs… (Looking at you Laurie and David…). Overall, the color scheme, in my opinion, was a bad choice for a majority of this group. I get they were somewhat trying to play off the yellow and black color scheme of the original New Mutants…but it just doesn’t look good on most of the team…

2. Josh’s Childhoods End Uniform is a huge improvement, in my opinion. It utilizes the white from his New Mutants uniform; but pairs it with red and brown instead of yellow, so it doesn’t overwhelm his gold (or black) skin tone. It’s nice clean design, and I like the addition of the vest!

3. I really love Josh’s X-Force Uniform. The black and grey design really makes his gold skin pop and be the visual focus! Mike Choi does an excellent job drawing Josh in this series, as well. While Josh’s hair has always been blonde/gold; in this series it colored more as platinum. Again, in my opinion it really makes Josh’s skin more noticeable- which should be the focus of his design! The only drawback to this design, is its not AS SHOWY when Josh is in his black form; which isn’t the worst thing since the team is meant to be a black ops X-Men team, but it’s not as visually interesting for readers…

4. Josh in the Xavier School Uniform actually looks really great. The key here is that his skin and hair is colored in a much lighter shade than the yellow in the uniform (more gold than yellow) and white instead of yellow highlights are used in his skin and hair. It keeps the yellow from being overwhelming. If the inker HAD used more yellow tones in his skin, like the New Mutants uniform and used a similar yellow in the suit to his skin-it would have basically the SAME issues the New Mutants uniform had.

5.Josh’s Bendis Utopians Uniform…is AWFUL! The orange and black clash horribly with his gold skin and it just looks really BLOCKY! The placement of the orange is also really strange to me; it just overwhelms the entire outfit completely! I really hope they won’t reuse this outfit for Josh being back on the Brotherhood: it’s just terrible!

BEST LOOK- While I love the X-Force outfit, I think it works better with the gold skin than the black; so I choose the Childhoods End Uniform. It looks good with both skin tones; and makes it the focal point of his character design. The earthy tones also fit well with Josh’s power set.

WORST LOOK- Unsurprisingly, it’s the Utopia Uniform.The orange color looks horrid with Josh’s coloring and the lines on the uniform make him look boxy; it just has a very harsh look to it that doesn’t suit Josh at all!

Civilian Wear:

1. I tend to avoid to avoid talking about New Mutants Vol.2 outfits in general…because they were all pretty terrible… (Absolutely no one is reading that book for the art…) But Josh and his horrid flesh colored goatee deserve mentioning from issues #5 and #6. In his defense, he was kind of at a weird Anti-Mutant place in his life, so I GUESS having a flesh colored goatee is understandable… But it’s still pretty dang vomit inducing (how Laurie fell for him in that moment: we will never know…) Josh throughout New Mutants has so many outfit changes; you kind of get whiplash… He starts out with the Reaver style of flesh colored goatee, bad tee-shirts, and jeans… Then when he starts hanging out with Julian, he picks up Julian’s fondness for horrible ill-fitting sweaters (Thank god Julian grew out of that stage in his life!) Finally, he kind of lands on a more preppier version of David’s wardrobe; jeans, tee shirts, and cargo pants. Practical, but a little more fashion forward than David and playing up the ‘Golden Boy’ image. Josh especially seems to have a fondness for blue hoodies or tee shirts paired with cargo pants, because that look has appeared multiple times…(I especially like the beanie paired with it!)

2. One of Josh’s more stand out looks in Childhood’s End was this white jogger uniform from ‘Mercury Falling'…which kind of makes Josh look like he’s running a cult in LA, if I’m being honest. The main problem I have with this outfit, is how baggy it looks on him (someone needs to invest in a good tailor!).

3. My favorite look is from Skottie Young, where Josh is having a bit of an existential crisis and is running around in white draw string pants barefoot. I’m kind of shocked Josh HASN’T really gone to more of the hippie fashion route; while it might be a stereotype because of his powers, I do think that style would be suitable for him. Incorporating patchwork cargo pants, scarves, harem pants, and linen button downs would fit with Josh’s desire for attention through adding pops of subtle color, plus I can TOTALLY see him humble bragging to David how his clothing is ALL FAIR TRADE. Also we DO know Josh is a practitioner of Tantra Sexology…

BEST LOOK: I’m going to go with the Skottie Young look. It’s simple, but it works really well of Josh- both visually and emotionally at that moment.

WORST LOOK: The Goatee! It’s just horrid and thank goodness it was dropped immediately after those two issues! It’s best left forgotten from Josh’s history…

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE: Josh developing a bit of his own style. Throughout DeFilippis and Weir we saw him basically mimicking others; even the style he landed on was a preppier version of David’s look. Partially why I want a more bohemian style with Josh, is it would help differentiate him a bit more style wise from Julian and David. While I don’t think Josh should go full hippie (He’s much too vain for that!), I think giving him more loose fitting clothing made of natural fabrics with accessories (hats, scarves, leather cuffs, necklaces, ect…)-would give him a unique style from the other X-kids and make him stand out more (something Josh always secretly wants!).

Next Week I will be completing the living New Mutants with Wind Dancer-Sofia Mantega’s Best/Worst Looks and analyzing the New Mutants Uniforms in general!

[newx-menfan]

This week I’m kicking off the Hellion’s team BEST and WORST Looks with Julian Keller-Hellion!

Uniforms:

1.Julian’s original Hellion’s Uniform is great. A little rough around the edges, but overall a great design concept. It varied a little in the art- while all versions had a jacket paired with it; the color scheme varied from magenta or light purple and red, to white and red. The Worst design was hands down the light purple jacket (the purple clashing a bit with the shade of magenta used.) but the other two variations of this look, in my opinion look great. While the Jacket IS a little dated and playing into the ‘bad boy’ trope; I don’t feel like this is a bad ‘first uniform’ (especially compared to others…).

2. I LOVE Julian’s updated Hellion New X-Men Childhoods End Uniform! It takes elements of the original Hellion’s uniform and perfects it. It is hands down one of the best designed X-Men outfits out there! This is an iconic uniform, in my opinion! I’d compare this Uniform to Nightwing’s trademark blue and black bodysuit from DC, in that it’s simple but esthetically pleasing. Red is Julian’s color and the layout of the black trim really accentuates the red. You can immediately identify it is Julian on page because it’s such a unique uniform and stands out so nicely (Which lets be honest, Julian WANTS). My only nitpick with this suit is that I prefer a back belt to the brown, but otherwise it’s an excellent design. Skottie Young later does do a small variation to this look with more black trim and changing it to leather on the legs and it still looks great in my opinion.

3. I’m going to be honest- I HATE Julian in Xavier’s School Uniforms! You have such a strong design with both of the Red Uniforms…and instead you throw him in something generic?? There is NO plausible explanation to why Julian would willingly wear the school uniform. He is FAR too proud of his code name (that he had to beg Emma to get) and his time as leader to EVER give up that suit. Plus his name is Hellion-you kind of expect red to be utilized in his uniform! Julian’s also very vain; he is not the type of person to ‘blend in’ or choose practicality over ANYTHING- especially his own individualism. Then ON TOP of it, around this time period Julian was livid with the X-Men and didn’t try to hide it. More than likely Julian WOULD wear his Hellion’s Uniform as a way of not so subtle rebellion. While the artists DID add a leather jacket to help differentiate Julian a bit and as a callback to his first Hellion’s Uniform, it just looks awful on him! Yellow is just NOT Julian’s color. Even Skottie Young can’t even make Julian look decent in a school uniform, and that’s kind of saying something… There’s really only one uniform I hate more than Julian in the school uniform and that’s….

4.The Yellow Uniform from ‘Spiderman and the X-Men’! I hate this one SO much! Marvel basically took a really great design but tweaked it by putting Julian in school colors?! It’s kind of like the New 52 Nightwing Uniform for me in the fact that it’s putting a character in a color that just doesn’t work for them… The yellow looks AWFUL on Julian! He looks like a yield sign. It just makes me mad every time I look at it…

5.Julian’s M-Day Uniform…is kind of ‘meh’ for me in that I think it looks fine. It’s not my favorite but overall I’m okay with it. I do find it interesting from a character standpoint that while Julian IS personality wise STILL Julian in this AU, he is more willing to accept uniformity. This ties back to SHEILD being more militarized where at the Xavier school you had more individuality.

6. Julian’s Uniform in David’s dream was either David’s subconscious getting back at him or Emma was mad at him that day, because boy does it look awful! This just screams Julian’s going through a ‘mid-life crisis’; with the gigantic leather coat, army boots, and fingerless gloves. He just looks like that dad that recently bought a Harley and is trying really hard to be cool… It’s just not a good look…

7. Julian’s ‘Age of X’ Uniform, while I know a lot of fans love it-I personally don’t like it. While this does fit with Julian’s more grunge look in the 616 verse at the time it just looks uncompleted to me. Besides creating the problem of variation in his prosthetics with artists (some artists forget Julian only lost his forearms in the 616 verse), I just don’t really like the cargo pants with the weird neck collar and visible chest. I’m okay with some male characters wearing more revealing costumes if it makes since with their characterization and I DO think it DOES make sense with Julian-but I just really don’t care for this design. I think I’d like it better if they had gone for a more ‘Mad Max’-with dystopia fetish gear and gave him leather pants instead OR had given him a brown leather jacket to go with the cargo pants. I just think this is a vary bare bones design that should have been added to instead of being the final product.

8.I actually LOVE Julian’s ‘Bromo Superior’ Uniform/DnD Costume and wish Marvel would do a design for a Uniform similar to this. The leather piece looks great on Julian, as does the asymmetrical sleeves! It’s simple yet a clean and nice design. The only criticism I have with the design is how the prosthetics are drawn, but other than that it’s a very stylish design.

BEST LOOK-Unsurprisingly, Julian’s New X-Men Childhoods End Uniform! This is just designed so perfectly in my opinion. It just works for Julian while also being an identifiable Uniform-even though a lot other characters have a red and black color scheme, the small details in the design are really what makes it stand out. It’s a uniform that I don’t understand why Marvel doesn’t utilize because usually they put Julian in a really generic design in its place.

WORST LOOK- This was a little more difficult; in the fact that Julian has had some not so great costumes as well as some really spectacular ones… The one ultimately I chose is the 'Spiderman and the X-Men’ Uniform. While I get the artist wanting the class to ALL be in yellow and black, this design is just terrible. It’s playing off of a much better design that they SHOULD have used instead! If they really wanted the yellow and black- at least the Skottie Young School Uniform design or the School Uniform with the leather jacket is palatable. It’s disappointing because Julian has some really great facial expressions in the artwork…but the uniform just always subtracts from it.

[newx-menfan]

Civilian Wear: Julian goes through some pretty drastic fashion changes over time.

1. As you probably know, I really dislike Julian’s weird phase of wearing clothing three times too big for his body-especially sweaters, in New Mutants Vol.2 and have repeatedly joked about this. While everyone has questionable fashion choices when they’re fourteen/fifteen years old, this one still makes me laugh every time I see it. I always kind of wonder if Julian WAS subconsciously insecure about his muscle mass or if he really just had this bad a taste in clothes…because it’s bad. As bad as this series is in general for fashion; Julian’s kind of at the top of the list in this book, next to Santos weird hip hop look (I will get to that eventually) and Josh’s horrible flesh colored goatee….

2. Julian’s clothing tends to be very preppy in New X-Men Academy X. His style was obviously based off of ‘American Eagle’, ‘Pac Sun’, and ‘Hollister’- really popular brands at that time. He especially tends to prefer lighter colors and fitted tee-shirts and pants. I’m going to be honest, I kind of wish they had taken the preppy look to 100 with Julian; if you’re going to make Julian the stereotypical ‘rich kid semi-bully’, why not go full out with his outfits. I would have loved to see Julian in more pastels, button downs, Oxford coats, loafers, trousers, sweaters, ect. (Examples I’d use are Toru Oikawa from Haikyuu!, James Spader’s character in ‘Pretty in Pink’, Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter, Chuck Bass in Gossip Girl, ect…) Julian at this time period is A) very vain and B) very money and appearance orientated. While it DOES make sense that he’d buy into the ‘brand’ trend of ‘Hollister’and other stores; more than likely I see him being more about top tier brands such as ‘Ferragamo’ or ‘Tom Ford’. Maybe this is the difference between New York and California wealth, but I feel like Julian would be more about the luxury and see ’American Eagle’ as too common. Julian’s preppy look while not as used, still pops up now and again-an example of this is the swim trunks Clay Mann drew him in in X-Men.

3. Julian’s look slowly changes in Kyle and Yost’s New X-Men; while initially continuing his preppy look it slowly starts to change. While described by Iceman/Bobby Drake as ‘mall goth’ in Phoenix Resurrection, I’d argue Julian’s look is more grunge based. He slowly tends to wear darker colors, mainly black tee shirts and jeans, hoodies, or a leather coat. This change works; as more trauma happens it does make sense that Julian would shed a lighter and brighter fashion to something darker and a reflection of the state his life is currently in. Also grunge really started at thrift stores by teenagers and adults with limited funds; this again makes sense for Julian who has been at this time period cut off from his parents and will eventually be completely abandoned by them. It also makes sense why Julian grows his hair out, because he may not be able to afford regular haircuts. It also makes sense because he slowly starts hanging out with Laura, whose fashion sense may be rubbing off on him a bit as well. This also does play into Julian later losing his hands and possibly representing some insecurities about his own desirability. It’s a lot easier to say ‘I don’t care what people think’, than admit that you’re using a style to hide certain fears about your own body. I do think it’s telling HOW MUCH his style changes from very form fitting to going back to baggy (much like he had in New Mutants Vol.2) especially after losing his hands. It also opens the question to how much of Julian’s ego could be a coping mechanism to hide insecurities… I know a lot of fans HATE Julian with long hair; I’m personally okay with it depending on the artist. I think it does showcase how much Julian had changed as a character and plays into Julian’s ‘bad boy/Rebel’ image. While I do sometimes debate whether Julian would truly be capable of being this level of grunge because of his vanity; I do actually think the character he grew into for the most part does make sense with this look.

BEST LOOK: My all time favorite Julian look is hands down the James Dean-esque jeans, white tee-shirt, and leather jacket drawn by Sana Takeda in the X-23 solo. While simple, it’s nicely fitted and incorporates the grunge style Julian has had in other books but in a more subtle way. Sometimes you just can’t go wrong with jeans and a tee-shirt paired with a really nice leather jacket!

WORST LOOK: the Quentin Quire sweater. While I can envision Julian being attracted to Mutant Propaganda and utilizing it; I have trouble imagining him taking fashion cues from Quire. Quentin and Julian have two VERY different belief systems; Marvel using them interchangeably is very wrong in my opinion.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE: There’s plenty of fashion routes future artists could take with Julian’s look. I do think artists could keep the grunge look Julian currently has; maybe even incorporate elements of punk, fetish, or goth into his look. I would like to see Julian in plaid, leather, denim jackets, band Tee shirts, tank tops, combat boots, tennis shoes, ect… I especially think artists could do some fun things with his hellish codename by incorporating crosses, cuffs, padlocks, and other jewelry. I actually really liked how Julian had some scruff in the animated show ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’, and kind of want to see him either be drawn with a five o'clock shadow or grow a small beard in the comics. I especially think it would be an interesting look with his chin to shoulder length hair, slightly curled. I think Julian with a shaved head could also be an interesting starker, more masculine look or going with a undercut style. I think Julian having tattoos could be interesting depending on what they were. I think artists could also go with a gym rat look for him by putting him more in sweat pants, hoodies, basketball shorts, base ball caps, ect… We’ve also seen Julian wearing sports apparel before and playing different sports. I would enjoy seeing Julian in a more Dandy type style, especially as he gets older. I have always pictured Julian becoming more like Emma as he grew up; a commentary on how we all turn into our parents a bit into adulthood. I also think Julian fully embracing his vanity and more materialistic side could be interesting to see. Using different fabrics like fur, leather, linen, silk, seersucker, ect; with classic pieces such as three piece suits, sweaters, coats, scarfs, oxfords, button downs, riding boots, pocket squares ect… to create a very vibrant yet classy wardrobe. I was always disappointed by how safe artists went with his preppier look Academy X, plus I really enjoy the stark contrast it would have with Laura’s darker goth look; if they ever got back together.

For a new uniform for Julian- I would love a design similar to his DnD ‘Bromo Superior’ design. I also often times see redesigns with Julian showing his bare chest with oversleeves; instead I’d really love to see an artist use lace actually in a design for Julian. I think it would be really unique and a stark difference from other X-Men uniforms. I think it would add regalness and elegance, especially with a cape; while also having a subtle revealingness to it. Another design prospect would be having Julian in a simple black bodysuit with a front zipper accessorized with jewelry and small details to it. OR I’d like to see artists do another design again incorporating a brown, red, or black leather jacket, and simple bodysuit (similar to his original in Academy X).

I think artists can definitely take Julian’s future look in a softer or harder way, depending on character development and motivation.

Next week we’ll be looking at the BEST and WORST Looks of Mercury-Cessily Kincaid!

[newx-menfan]

This week I’m examining the BESTand WORST Looks of Cessily Kincaid-Mercury!

I’m going to be honest…Cessily was a little more difficult to do since MOST of Cessily’s looks are just pretty darn great!

Uniforms:

1. Pretty much MOST of the Hellion’s Uniforms are great (which is kind of funny considering HOW BAD the 80’s version was…). Cessily’s Hellion Uniform looks great! The shade of red is a darker shade that her hair, making it so it does not clash. The small amount of white trim helps highlight the uniform well. The cut of the uniform looks great and really makes Cessily stand out nicely. All in all, this is a really stellar first costume!

2. Cessily Uniform in David’s dream in ‘Too Much Information’, I actually kind of like. The shorts are unique because there isn’t too many outfits like it, but the length of the shorts prevents Cessily from being overly sexualized by artists. The crop top and gloves also help to add a unique look. The kitten heel boots also add a spy element to the costume that I really like, and works really well with Cessily’s power set! Overall, Cessily DEFINITELY got the best costume out of the deal-especially compared to Julian and Kevin’s looks!

3. Cessily’s ‘Childhoods End’ Uniform is kind of blah in my opinion. While it’s definitely NOT bad, it’s not particularly MEMORABLE either. I don’t particularly care for the blue and yellow color scheme, and find it kind of disappointing after subtle ‘pop’ her Hellion’s uniform had. It just looks rather similar to most of the Xavier School Uniforms, that it’s not all that noticeable.

4. Skottie Young’s Yellow and Black Uniform (or possibly just school wear) in ‘Quest for Magik’ I really LOVE. If she is not going to use the Hellion’s Uniform, I’d say this Uniform is the next best thing. It definitely incorporates a cheerleading/sporty aspect that I really like! The all black also looks really great on Cessily and makes her metallic skin and red hair really pop! The little yellow accents are great in this outfit. All in all, it’s a really great design.

5. Cessily in School Uniforms is kind of a mixed bag… For example I’m pretty okay with the one she wore in adjective less ‘X-Men’. Essentially it’s really NOT that much different than her Uniform in 'Childhoods End’… But I hated the one she wore in 'Generation X Vol. 2’. It very much mutes Cessily’s metallic skin and unique appearance. There are some I am okay with…and some I just really dislike. It all kind of depends on the small variations in the design.

BEST LOOK- Cessily’s Hellion’s Uniform.It was a really difficult decision; but I just really LOVE this color on Cessily! This costume really focuses on Cessily’s physical mutation by making it the forefront of the design, while also making it cohesive to all the other Hellions!

WORST LOOK- The Xavier Uniform in 'Generation X-Vol. 2’. I really strongly dislike the turtle neck and long sleeves, as well as how much this look makes Cessily blend in with everyone else despite her physical mutation. I think I would have liked it better if they had gone with black and yellow (Cessily wore a version of this when she was wallpaper in Nightcrawler’s solo series for example…). I think the black being a more neutral color would have helped NOT take away from her skin tone on top of the layers as well. It’s just a really boring and unimaginative design that does Cessily little favors.

Civilian Wear:

Cessily is pretty much one of the best dressed of Academy X, next to pre-Taylor Laura and Skottie Young’s Noriko!

There really isn’t a 'Worst Look’ with Cessily’s civilian clothing…

Cessily tends to have a preppier and very pink wardrobe. She has a lot of sporty wear too-probably from her past as a cheerleader. Her style ranges from jeans, skirts, tank tops, halters, gym shorts, tee shirts, cargo pants, fishnets, hats, ect…-basically, a little bit of everything! Cessily really stands out personality and look wise; so it’s not really all that shocking her fashion sense also really pops

BEST LOOK-Some of my favorite Cessily looks are: the pink wrap blouse and jeans she wore in the Hellion’s Mini Series. I just love the color choices and how nice and polished this outfit looks while still looking casual! It’s simple but still adorable!

The baseball tee, cap, and cargo pants she wore in New X-Men with art by Skottie Young. While very casual; it still fits Cessily’s personality really well! Again, it’s simple but Cessily really stands out in it!

My ALL TIME FAVORITE Cessily look would have to be-the outfit from 'Pixie Strikes Back’! It’s really the accessories that make this look! The hat is just so adorable, as is the hoop earrings and gloves. It’s just really perfect!

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE: Cessily just being a fashion icon.

This is someone who really doesn’t NEED to wear clothes because of her mutation-Cessily CHOOSES to wear them because she wants to feel human and likes fashion. So have fun with it!

Cessily’s wardrobe used to be pretty youthful and fun-now both her uniforms and civilian wear are very bland and boring.

The biggest thing Marvel could do is get her out of the school uniform and design her a new costume. Preferably I’d want them to stay away from blue or yellow-and instead utilize other colors-pink, black, maroon red, ect…

I think you could 100% go cute girly pink uniform with Cessily ala early Psylocke.

I think you could 100% do sporty workout wear or a slightly rocker look ala late 80’s X-Men and it would look great.

I think Marvel could give her more of a spy look and it would look amazing.

Cessily JUST NEEDS SOMETHING-she’s too vibrant a character to be put in the corner style wise.

The big thing is Marvel just needs to step outside the box more with Cessily’s design.

I’m going to take a temporary break from Best Look/Worst Look (Just need to catch up on some stuff…) so in two to three weeks I will do Santo Vacarro-Rockslide!!