Irken Fashion and its cultural implications
Feb 11, 2021 0:11:44 GMT
sadlittledib and skoodge like this
Post by Vulture on Feb 11, 2021 0:11:44 GMT
SO! I'm just gonna ramble about patterns I see in Irken uniforms and the possible societal and cultural implications of them.
First up, the gloves. All the Irkens other than the Tallest and Rarl Kove have hands completely covered by gloves. The Navigators, Zim, Tak, the Invaders, and Shloogorgh's employees all have their arms completely covered. Sizz-Lorr has his arms partially uncovered. Maybe the higher rank you are, the more of your hands/arms can be exposed? Rarl Kove's arms are completely covered by his sleeves aside from his hands, whereas the Tallest and Sizz-Lorr have parts of their lower arms uncovered-maybe as an expression of their martial strength and power? Speaking of that, I can't tell from the colored Irken Elite concept art whether the Elites have bare arms or not, but if they did, it would help support my theory that bare arms=martial strength in Irken culture.
Secondly, legs/skirts. One thing I noticed is that in the original series, the Navigators have bare lower legs. (Hot girl summer on the Massive, I guess?) You probably already know of my theory that long or long-ish skirts being a status symbol in Irken culture, but I'd like to propose that tails on Elite uniforms, Tak's uniform, the soldier/guardsman uniforms, and Navigator uniforms also communicate prestige in a similar manner. (Re: Tak's coattails-she was taking her final exam to become an Elite, and already completed the rest of her training, so I headcanon the uniform she wears is an Elite trainee uniform-the cool gadgets and armor are received after graduation. Man, Tak the angry graduate student is a good concept.) The one problem with my theory is that Sizz-Lorr has a very prestigious position as Frylord and wears a short uniform, but that can be explained by the fact his uniform is designed for practicality over prestige.
Thots? Feel free to add your own insights.
First up, the gloves. All the Irkens other than the Tallest and Rarl Kove have hands completely covered by gloves. The Navigators, Zim, Tak, the Invaders, and Shloogorgh's employees all have their arms completely covered. Sizz-Lorr has his arms partially uncovered. Maybe the higher rank you are, the more of your hands/arms can be exposed? Rarl Kove's arms are completely covered by his sleeves aside from his hands, whereas the Tallest and Sizz-Lorr have parts of their lower arms uncovered-maybe as an expression of their martial strength and power? Speaking of that, I can't tell from the colored Irken Elite concept art whether the Elites have bare arms or not, but if they did, it would help support my theory that bare arms=martial strength in Irken culture.
Secondly, legs/skirts. One thing I noticed is that in the original series, the Navigators have bare lower legs. (Hot girl summer on the Massive, I guess?) You probably already know of my theory that long or long-ish skirts being a status symbol in Irken culture, but I'd like to propose that tails on Elite uniforms, Tak's uniform, the soldier/guardsman uniforms, and Navigator uniforms also communicate prestige in a similar manner. (Re: Tak's coattails-she was taking her final exam to become an Elite, and already completed the rest of her training, so I headcanon the uniform she wears is an Elite trainee uniform-the cool gadgets and armor are received after graduation. Man, Tak the angry graduate student is a good concept.) The one problem with my theory is that Sizz-Lorr has a very prestigious position as Frylord and wears a short uniform, but that can be explained by the fact his uniform is designed for practicality over prestige.
Thots? Feel free to add your own insights.
? WHEREE ARE YOU PEOPLE....
