Walter White is not the sort of person you would refer to as stylish. In fact, it is fair to go as far as to say that his clothing is ‘ugly’. Star of AMC’s Breaking Bad and portrayed by Bryan Cranston who you may very well recognise from Malcolm in the Middle as Hal – Malcolm’s Father, Walter White is bringing ugly back. Watch out JT. Even costume designer Kathleen Detoro refers to Breaking Bad as her ‘ugly show’.
Despite the lack of sex appeal and desirability in the costumes – it’s clear that the statements made are just as effective of those that do have it.
I mean, this image of Walter White standing in the middle of a desert in nothing but his underwear and a creased green shirt, whilst holding a gun isn’t going to be forgotten any time soon. This is a prime moment of the television series and what contributes towards that? His tightie-whities of course. Another thing to point out is the fact that he is wearing green – this is to symbolise his main interest at this moment – money.
If you haven’t seen Breaking Bad before you probably have no idea what I am blabbering on about and the above image may disturb you slightly, although it shouldn’t – what’s wrong with you? In light of all this blabber, I feel it only necessary that I give you a brief summary on the award winning television series. Oh and FYI in total, it’s won 16 awards and been nominated for a further 40, impressive hey?
Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico – Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher gets diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series. Your immediate thoughts, may be ‘How has it lasted four series?’ well, you’ll just have to watch and find out. Back to the point – Walter turns to a life that would potentially cost him his family and even his life if anybody found out – he goes into business with ex student, known for his irresponsible lifestyle, Jesse Pinkman. Walter needs money and fast to pay for his cancer treatment and what better way to make it, especially with the relevant knowledge, than to produce and distribute class A drug methamphetamine.
Brief summary over.
Due to a cold shaved head, Bryan Cranston asked costume designer Kathleen Detoro for a hat, and although unsure at first, the hat, glasses and moustache combo is what has made Walter’s alter-ego Heisenberg so recognisable, both on screen and off. The amount of memorabilia floating around the internet, mainly t-shirts, mostly all have this image on them. Stood next to Jesse Pinkman, with a clear familiarity in terms of styling – sunglasses and hats, the pair almost look (comically) dangerous.
This is a great scene. Jesse and Walter are about to do some serious ‘damage’ and yet the styling gives off a comical impression. Maybe slightly underestimated in terms of hiding your identity, but it works somehow. Forget creepy masks and predictable headwear that you’d usually see in a heated television scene, it’s all about the pink and green pom-poms and again, how these two have managed to pull this look off and still look intimidating is beyond me. Good work Kathleen.
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apcinjapan
/ December 7, 2011Thanks for this. I agree, you don’t have to be glamourous to make effective statements with fashion. Good read…
kara rennie
/ December 7, 2011Thank you. Glad you enjoyed reading it.