Over the next few weeks we are profiling a few of the costumes used throughout the series’. From the way they’re made to why they were designed the way they were. This week is The Guardian’s costume. Click any of the costume pictures for a larger view.
The style of the Guardian becomes fairly obvious over time. He goes insane. His efforts to keep Zoot’s dream alive drove him to obsession and ultimate insanity.
He was a charismatic character however and he loved to praise and worship the spirit of Zoot in a very dramatic way.
He started off wearing an off-white robe with purple trim. His chosen followers were always cloaked in blue.
The Guardian’s costume in this article is certainly his most styly and one of only three that the Guardian has had.
His top is made of stretch flannel. It is cream in colour but has sparkly threads in it also. It is cut in a tight fit and has a round neckline. On the front of the top is sewn purple strips that criss cross each other. They have been zig-zag stitched. On the left of the top up by the neck there is a purple zip that extends down to the armpit.
Each sleeve has a long purple zip which goes right up to the shoulder and right down to the cuff. The cuffs have been cut with the zip reaching to a pixie point on one side of the cuff so that the top of the sleeve reaches down over the hand.
The Guardian’s pants are made of cream satin. They are a slightly tapered fit. The do up with a dome at the waist and a zip at the front.
On the left leg in keeping with the purple zip theme – there is a purple zip that starts at the waist and goes right to the end of the leg. The bottom of the pant legs each have a split on the outer seam and the inside has been lined in purple satin for contrast.
Over his pants and around his waist The Guardian wears a belt and overskirt. It is made of the same material as his jacket which is a silvery cream vinyl. It reflects the light nicely and always has a shine to it. The front of the overskirt is square in shape. At every seam it is piped with purple satin. There are three panels at the front with the middle one containing an upside down triangle of purple satin at the top. At the top there is a width of belt that has vertical lines of domes down each side. In the middle is the Guardian’s emblem. He also has this shape on his forehead makeup. It is almost like two intertwining oval shapes. The piece on the belt is made of perspex plastic and has a thin metal layer on the top to show the pattern. This is actually strung onto the belt rather than glued to it.
Each side of the belt has eyelets and shoelaces strung through it to hold it in place.
The back panel of the overskirt is longer than the front and extends to a point at the bottom. The back of the panel is the silvery cream vinyl on the outside and the purple satin on the inside. On the inside of the bottom hem has been sewn a strip of the cream as a contrast.
This jacket is very long and quite heavy. It has high padded shoulders and a high collar. It is made of the silvery cream vinyl and is fully lined in purple satin including the collar.
On the shoulders very thin strips of the purple satin have been sewn in a semi-circular pattern from the front to the back.
From the waist down is a seperate cut and it is slightly more flared. At the back is is pleated and has two domes holding the pleat in place and has a slit from the waist to the bottom of the jacket.
The jacket does not do up at the front but is supposed to hang open.
Around his neck the guardian wears an extra collar a bit like a priest. Made again in the same material it laces up at the back.
The Guardian isn’t short and these boots just add to his stature. They have a 12cm heel! That’s larger than Amber’s boots!
The colour of them matches perfectly the colour of the rest f his costume and the heel is in silver. They could be quite comfortable but I can imagine that the fight scenes done with Ryan in Tribe 3 would have been a little difficult!