Joey Batey is really approximately the same size and shape as Henry Cavill, and there are a number of clever techniques in pretty much all Jaskierâs costumes to hide this fact and make him look about three or four inches narrower than he actually is. The costumers work really really hard to make him look that twinky, often with cleverly cut shoulder decorations that pretend heâs trying to look bigger than he is and have the actual effect of making him look a lot lighter.
On a Doylistic level this makes sense, because itâs hard to make Geralt look Huge and Imposing next to your non-combatant harmless sidekick if said sidekick is a jacked six foot burly man.
On a Watsonian level, however, the notion of Jaskier as this big meaty dude aggressively arguing with all his tailors to ensure that he looks as non threatening and foppish and entertaining as possible while also looking as sexy as he can (for a Jaskier definition of sexy, at least) is generating considerable entertainment for me this fine morning.
âNo! My shoulders must look slender!â
âBut, sir, you could look ripped!â
âAbsolutely not! I must look slim and gentle and unassuming!â
âAs you wish, sir⊠So do you wish it to be cut with much excess fabric, so that you look small and also very wealthy to afford so much?â
[howling] âNo! I must look slender and gentle and also above else very attractive!â
Geralt doesnât notice any of this until they try to share a tiny hostel bed on the road and Jaskier cuddles up to him and abruptly there is no more room in that bed
I need a full picture costume run down of this by someone in the fashion field stat
Ask and ye shall receive! I may not work in the fashion field but I do work in the costume production industry for theatre/film so this is totally my area. Using clothes to change someoneâs appearance is super common, and Tim Aslamâs costume design for The Witcher is actually a really good example of this, so buckle up because this is a long ride!
Creating an illusion like this has two main components: shape (the style lines created by the clothes), and fit (the way the clothes hang on the personâs body), and is the result of close collaboration between the designer and the production team.Â
Weâre going to talk about season one, because thatâs where the difference is the most obvious. Take a look at Geralt:
First, letâs talk about shape. The goal here is to make Geralt look strong and imposing, and the best way to do that is to exaggerate the triangle of his upper torso. See how much broader his shoulders look than his waist in both images? A loose shirt over tight pants is a classic way to establish this, because the shirt blousing at the waist (note that the pants sit high up at the natural waist) makes the hips looks narrower in comparison. Note also that his shirt has an asymmetrical closure - a centered vertical line down the shirt would make him looks slimmer, while the off-center one adds width.
His armor does this by giving him those massive shoulder pieces, which both lengthen and raise his shoulder line. I would estimate that they raise Henry Cavillâs shoulder line by a good two inches just from the bulk of the leather alone. His torso armor also does a really clever thing by having a very subtle V shape to the vertical lines, making his waist look smaller. If you count the number of stripes above and below his belt (again, sitting high at the natural waist), youâll notice that the narrow stripe at the front edge of the armscye disappears, which allows the side stripes to make that V shape.
Now letâs talk about fit. The fit of Geraltâs shirt looks simple but is actually super specific. Itâs very easy for an actor to get lost in a shirt that is too loose - if thereâs too much extra fabric then it will just make the actor look smaller by drawing attention to how baggy it is. This shirt fits just right: the sleeves are full enough to allow for movement but still relatively fitted (and rolling up the sleeves actually also helps add breadth to Geraltâs torso by continuing the horizontal line at his waist). The body of the shirt fits smoothly across the shoulders and chest, and has just enough fullness to drape at the waist without feeling baggy.
Now letâs look at Jaskier.
Weâll start with this look. Shape and fit are very interconnected here so itâs just gonna be a jumble. First thing I notice: the jacket. Unlike your traditional fantasy/historical doublet, all of Jaskierâs jackets end at the waist, rather than continuing into a peplum/skirt like Geraltâs armor does. This cropped jacket is evocative of childhood/immaturity, an association that is generally considered to have its roots in schoolboy uniforms of the 19th and early 20th century (see the image of schoolboys wearing âEton Jacketsâ below)
Jaskier also tends to wear his jackets open. This creates a vertical line down his torso, which is generally slimming, but it also totally obscures the shape of his torso. The brain is going to take the line of his hip, which we can see, and the armscye of his jacket, (which actually looks to be cut ever so slightly artificially narrow but itâs hard to tell) and fill in a line between them, which is likely going to end up being slightly narrower than his actual ribcage. He does have poofs at the top of his sleeves, which can be a technique used to add width, but if theyâre cut and fit carefully you can actually hide some of the breadth of the shoulders inside the poof and make it look like the fullness comes from the poof and not the body.
Note: the âarmscyeâ is the technical name for the armhole, but specifically the torso part. The corresponding sleeve part is the âsleevehead.â
Again, we have another open jacket, this one with strong vertical lines. See how the line of Jaskierâs hip flows up through the edge of the doublet all the way up through the armscye? This makes his torso look narrower despite the jacketâs shoulder tabs. In contrast, this line is always broken on Geraltâs outfits, whether at the waist with his shirt or with the giant shoulder pieces with his armor. Jaskierâs pants also tend to fit more loosely, which de-emphasizes the triangle of his shoulders to waist.
Okay this is my favorite image to illustrate everything we have going on here. Look at Jaskierâs jacket. Whatâs the first thing you notice? The bright yellow inset slashes in his chest. The high contrast in color draws the eye inwards and distracts from the breadth of his shoulders, where we have another cleverly cut poof. His jacket is again cropped, with strong vertical lines, over the baggiest pants he wears in the season.
Now look at Jaskier and Geralt together. Jaskier is all about long vertical lines, while Geraltâs predominate lines are either horizontal or diagonal. Additionally, Jaskierâs hips look even to his shoulders, even if theyâre not, and Geraltâs shoulders are exaggerated. The two characters have a very different presence, even if the actors underneath are similar.
I hope youâve enjoyed this introduction to costume design! Creating the illusory effects like this is one of my favorite things and I am excited to share!!
I⊠I did not expect anyone to respond, let alone respond with a fucking screenshot-worthy answer. I love you. I literally love you. Can I marry you? Wait, can you be my tailor? Do you have an Etsy shop? Iâm gonna be an archaeologist one day, Iâll need OUTFITS PLEASE I WANNA INDEFINITELY HIRE YOU
This is not my ship. This is not my subject. This is really not anything I ever anythinged about. I just have to reblog this because of the utter BALLER response this person gave, which revolutionized my perception of costume design without me even knowing I wanted said perception revolutionized. This comment is everything good about tumblr in one place, and @redhorsedawn, I salute you. Magnificent.
#and jaskier being consistently so much smaller in fic#is proof that all these tricks WORKED#and worked so well that people didnât even notice or question them#just accepted them and quickly incorporated it into their fanon
I even knew something clever was going on to make Joey Bateyâs six feet look small and dainty and yet still the costuming was so impressive that I was genuinely astonished when this happened:
And That’s MISTER Dr.Sexy to YOU. 😤 🚑🚨🚑🚨🏥
💉🩸🧛🧛♂️🩸💉
(He/They)
Oh, and It’s made from Padauk, Purple heart, and live Oak all with a clear coat on top. 👀❤️
Some of the most gorgeous wood work I’ve ever seen in person and I just had to own it just to see it on my wall, despite not ever being one for impact, the rush of power I felt seeing it in my gloved hand made me not want to put it down. For now it’s a wall Hanger. 😇
#MisterDrSexy https://www.instagram.com/p/CVr3JkgLNPA/?utm_medium=tumblr
Iâve seen her perform in person, but something about seeing Laura Jane Graceâs âGender Is Overâ jersey hanging in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame today is feeling really⊠huge.
Anyway, she kicks ass and this shirt is cool.
Happy Pride Month
[image id: a picture of laura jane graceâs âgender is overâ shirt, a black sleeveless jersey shirt with the words âgender is overâ in large white font and all caps. below that, it says âif you want itâ in slightly smaller all caps white font. it is hanging on a display case with a blue background, and the top right of the case has a picture of laura from the shoulders down wearing the shirt. /end id]
