Is ‘Doctor Who’ a style icon?
Who’s style icon
Who’s your style icon? Do you think you even have a style icon? I didn’t think I ever did, but its only as I’ve got into my forties (yes I know it’s hard to believe I’m that old) that I’ve felt comfortable to wear what I feel happy in and express myself through my clothes in the way I’d really like too.
But is a TV character like ‘Doctor Who’ able to be a style icon to generations. There is an ever growing list of actors who have filled that role. All having their own unique style and look. I’m not talking about cosplay here you understand, it’s about taking inspiration from these TV icons and bringing it into your own wardrobe. Dress making and tailoring opens up that world of possibilities. No longer must I trawl the high street or the internet only to choose from clothes the fashion industry says we must wear and enjoy. I want to feel the draw to garments my style icon might wear, ideas from Pinterest or just let my imagination go wild in the aisles. I can make it myself.
My world with a Timelord
My relationship with Doctor Who began before I was born really. My older brother watched avidly in the 70’s. So when I came along in 1977 it was already a house hold staple. My mum thought it was always something I’d grow out of one day but that never happened. I’m a ‘dyed in the wool’ fan now and it’s had a massive influence in my life. The characters philosophy, open mindedness, relationship with authority and devilish style have been an influence on me from an early age. This stuff just kind of creeps into your life through cheaply made but culturally significant Science Fiction.
Just a silly programme?
I used to draw garments and outfits as a kid and wanted to be able to sew and design my own clothes. The means to learn and develop those skills to make them for myself seemed to escape me; until over thirty years had passed. Most superhero’s seemed to wear an all in one figure hugging suit with maybe a cape and their underpants on the outside. My hero would wear things like frock coats, a waistcoat and a study pair of boots. Maybe a long long scarf or a stick of celery or ornamental brooches would complete the look. It was like nothing I’d seen before and I studied those clothes and where they came from with keen interest as a kid. It may have been a ‘silly programme’ to quote my dear old mum but it’s a series that can teach you and educate you in so many things.
Gallifrey designers
In recent years I’ve been able to research the origins of my favourite garments from the Doctors wardrobe. I’ve looked at the reason the designers picked them and why, how they where made and the construction methods used. An Edwardian Town Coat. An Inverness cape. Shirts from Mr Fish. Fabulous and expensive hats and many many different styles of waistcoats (I really do love a waistcoat.)
I love researching patterns and using this as a medium to work on. It offers a seemingly never ending line of unique, stylish and fabulous garments to study and take influence from. It’s only at this point that I realised that Doctor Who really can be a style icon.
Sew it begins
The first big project I undertook was influenced from the legendary fourth doctor himself. I had set my sights on making a Victorian Sleeved Cape Coat (a swing coat if you like) and had found a very simple outline of a pattern in a tailoring book I’d bought. I drafted it, toiled it and made it and still wear it today. It’s my most favourite winter coat to wear and it always seems to turn heads when I wear it. I know where the influence came from and why I made it but most people in the street wouldn’t and only see me and the coat swishing away in the winter sun, unaware of my influences. What matters is that I love it and that it makes me happy. Passers by just see a fabulous billowing coat, a coat they’ve probably never seen before and wonder where it came from. I had a lovely compliment from a lady when waiting for my train home from London after leaving the GBSB. I gave her a twirl to show it off and she was stunned when I told her I’d made it myself. I always love that reaction. Folks don’t seem to expect that clothes can be made at home by hand. They all come from shops, beautifully crafted by the invisible and insignificant from all across the globe.
Where to next time?
Several of my future projects were also influenced from this special little show and a love of using sustainable and upcycled materials. A velvet shawl collar waistcoat is another such project I’ve recently finished. It was partly a test on working in velvet and also trying out a new pattern. It’s a cosplay pattern but looks rather like a lovely velvet waistcoat worn again by the fourth doctor in 1980. A frock coat and high waisted trousers are also on the bench right now with so much more in my head bursting to make their way under the sewing machine. It makes me happy to be able to sew my own wardrobe and even happier to wear those clothes on a regular basis. I love to show them off and telling people where they came from. I also love that it doesn’t matter where the ideas come from or why I decide to make something. I love that I can happily say ‘Doctor Who is my style icon’.
