Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Betsy Braddock dons Alexander McQueen-inspired Outfit for the Hellfire Gala

EW: Never doubt superheroes' ability to party. It's now been a couple years since the X-Men set up an independent mutant nation-state on the island of Krakoa, and later this year they'll be celebrating with a party way too cool for humans. The Hellfire Gala, which as its name suggests is basically like a Marvel version of the real-life Met Gala, is set to take place this June across multiple books in the X-Men line as well as the special-sized one-shot issue Planet-Sized X-Men. In order to conceive cool new designs for the X-Men's high fashion, Marvel tapped another superstar artist: Russell Dauterman.

"My general thought was that the Gala aesthetic should be high-fashion X-Men costumes (mutant clothes), not high-fashion human clothes," Dauterman said. "So I looked at a lot of fashion reference, but tried to think, 'What would the X-costume version of this be?' The looks reference and take inspiration from couture by Alexander McQueen, Iris van Herpen, Balmain, Moschino, Givenchy, Versace, Gaultier, Gucci, and more.  I also drew from the characters' past costumes."

Captain Britain - Betsy Braddock has been many things over the years. Now she wields the sword of Captain Britain, but hasn't forgotten her past. "I mixed in aspects of Betsy’s classic costumes, bringing that armored princess energy to her Captain Britain look," Dauterman says. "[Excalibur writer] Tini Howard suggested Alexander McQueen as a reference, which was a big influence in the design."

22 comments:

randybear said...

This is awesome! Love the references to the pink Davis design and ofc butterflies 🤩

randybear said...

The more I look at the design the more the suit looks like an ice skaters outfit lol

I really appreciate how purple they got her hair here. If only it could stay that hue of purple and not border on magenta

Psi-Girl said...
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FSaker said...

It looks great!

But I wonder, is the red in her face meant to be a mask, makeup, face paint...? Whatever it is, hopefully it won't be hard to take it off after the gala.

The sleeves, boots and ribbons remind me a lot of that pink outfit Alan Davis designed for her when she first joined the X-Men.

Psi-Girl said...
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Psi-Girl said...
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lucasg_i said...

i LOVE the McQueen silhouette, even if the color scheme in this particular outfit looks a bit sailor moony... Betsy is the mutant magical girl and that's fine with me.
Also, it made a comeback in the last issue of excalibur but... BUTTERFLIES !!!!

Responding to Psi Girl... i'd love Egg to wear something in these lines, but made with his powers:
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/0pofe4lq/production/047d9c1955d71e153783998a64f10a7ca20e1298-858x888.jpg?w=2000&fm=webp
https://www.yatzer.com/sites/default/files/article_images/996/evolution.jpg
https://www.damnmagazine.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/grow_on_you_part_two.jpg

randybear said...

I'm gonna be annoyed if Kwannon's gala look is lavender/pink 😁

JJ said...

Looks like the mask she wore for her outback outfit as well!

Toffnut said...

I have a feeling Kwannon isn't going to be part of this, as she is still largely considered an "outsider" (as with the rest of the Hellions). It would be nice, tho.

This is a fun design, but not my favorite among the ones they've shown so far. I think Emma Frost has the best looks.

randybear said...

Well considering every book will have an issue dedicated to the Gala and Kwannon is the poster girl for that book (nearly every hellions cover has focused mostly on Kwannon) i would not be surprised at all if she was given a gala look especially with how much Cebulski pulls for her

Kiki M. Ishola said...

Look who's got epiphany. Betsy recalls she's a woman. Baroque hair with warpaint and armor and the butterfly returns!

Kiki M. Ishola said...

Ditto.

Kiki M. Ishola said...

Betsy's gala dress is a pastiche of her fashion sense. The butterfly jumpsuit is in the ribbon puffy sleeves and laced boots. The outback armor in the warpaint makeup and armor plate. The ninja years are in the outline of the armor and the bare thighs. The CB colors are in our faces.

Kiki M. Ishola said...

Purple is of wide variety and amateurs fail to make heads or tails. Betsy picked lavender purple to dye her hair not lollipop, neon pink or magenta. Lovely the comeback of butterfly it's Betsy incarnate.

Vigmed said...

Initially I wanted to blame Tini Howard for influencing the design when it should have been up to the artist, but I think Betsy would have ended up with this look anyhow since he did mention, "armored princess energy." And that's how it looks to me, like one of those magical princess characters. Being that, the genre goes hand-in-hand with youth - specifically young teens. I find this look is too young and doesn't speak to the matured character she's become.

Maybe I'm just salty that the other X-Ladies have that high-fashion look I'd hope Betsy to have, being that she was a legitimate model for a time. Betsy's, and Rachel's, design look out of place compared to the others, but maybe not out of place at this Hellfire Club event.

More length on the skirt would have looked better, at least to me.

Vigmed said...

@randybear "The more I look at the design the more the suit looks like an ice skaters outfit lol"

That's it. Right on the head. That's what I was seeing but couldn't place at the moment.

Alexis said...

Honestly, I would have preferred with the outfit with open shoulders. Then it would have been a better throw back to her old costume.

Tobias Chatti said...

Betsy got her butterflies! She is beautiful.

randybear said...

I noticed fan art already getting Betsys gala look wrong. The puffy portions (and her skirt) are a muted pink, not white. The detail in the lower part of her shoes are white there's a clear contrast between the white and hue of pink on the upper fabric but whatever not everyone has an eye for detail like I do its a curse 😵

Eoleo Glebatruss said...

Been ages since I last logged in. And lo and behold! The butterfly is with Betsy. I will return after a decade hoping Betsy to be Psylocke. It's worth the shot.

Jaime Braz said...

I jumped the gun about one half of the iconography. Butterflies swarmed back.