So, I’d like to start this post by saying if you haven’t seen Black Panther – go see Black Panther. As soon as humanly possible.
From a BABD perspective, there’s a couple of really interesting and exciting aspects of the armor of the Dora Milaje (royal guard, aka bald women in red).
Firstly is while they do put an odd amount of emphasis of broadcasting that the wearer has breasts – they still read quite clearly as practical (very decorative, but practical) battle attire. It doesn’t rely on the lore to convey the purpose, and is easily some of the best female attire in a Marvel movie to date (and much, much better than the previously featured comic, seriously).
And they look so amazing when they’re together as a unit:
(Also if you love costume design in general you’ll want to see this movie simply to appreciate the authentically African inspired Wakandan outfits)
The second is that the all female royal guard, in Africa, is not without historical precedent. The Dahomey Minos (referred to as amazons by Europeans because… colonialism) who started as royal guards, became a militia and ultimately fought in wars against colonizers (who spoke highly of their courage and ability)
– wincenworks
astoralexander submitted:
Hi. I hope you don’t mind me sharing my own work. I tried to make these armors as realistic/functional as my minimal knowledge on the subject allowed me to.
Of course we don’t mind! And I love both of these pieces very much.
I’m happy to see Ciri dressed in appropriate armor instead of a shirt that’s unbuttoned right between the boobs (even when they go to a cold place and she wears a fur cloak), and the armor design itself is very nice. [Link to original post with close-ups!] I like that you can see the layering in the gaps. It’s a bit too symmetrical for me, but that’s more of a personal preference than anything.
As for the second piece, that could practically be used as a poster to recruit monster-slayers in a fantasy universe! It’s quite awe-inspiring, and I love your entire line of Classic Arcade Girls.
Thanks for the submission, and keep doing great work!
-Icy
It’s really refreshing to see this kind of headline and have it be about the colour the scheme of the outfit:
This may also be the only case of “not what you expected” where “the story will explain it” is likely to make sense.
So, I suppose your’e all wondering how this superhero movie seems to be achieving such awesomeness while others stumble and fall into pitfalls such as bikini armor and compulsive upskirt shots.
One clue might be found in IMDB:
Yes, it turns out sometimes the secret it is putting women who care about the issues (and have insight due to lived experiences) in positions where they can actually make decisions rather than be used as a figurehead for feminist cookie for men who clearly don’t care.
Who knew?
– wincenworks