Soft Circuit Workshop

Intergalactic drag-queen battlebot

My overall feelings about the show were quite mixed. I was excited to see some “real life” superhero costumes and as it turned out there actually weren’t that many of them. Then I realized that the “fashion” industry had essentially been enlisted to substantiate the rest of the exhibit for lack of content. As soon as I grasped that fact I began to examine the other costumes with some more attention.

The first thing I noticed was that few of the fashion inspired costumes had really that much to do thematically with the superheroes they were supposed to match. This particular costume, while I have no idea what it’s wearer’s super power might consist of, really struck me as so incredibly out of left field that I felt it demanded commentary.

So, this costume obviously has a smattering of external armor that looks like it came from multiple cultural sources. The boots seems as if they came from a high-end goth boutique, the knee and elbow guards from a storm trooper, and the shoulders look like gaily patterned football equipment. This all combined with the trapezoidal metal plate on the crotch with a gas mask attachment gives an overall impression of an intergalactic, drag-queen, warrior fetish battlebot. I can’t really decide if this character would be heroic or villainous. Not to mention the bright orange boy-shorts overtop striped stockings, it’s certainly evil in its rude combination of elements . Actually the most amazing aesthetic moment in this costume is the head attire, a samurai, foot soldier. half-helmet with bridle and bit. The addition of equestrian tack to the head of this costume suggests that perhaps this character has some sort of owner or rider perhaps? Perhaps there is an entire cavalry regiment of them waiting to aesthetically offend and subjugate entire planets?