Misfits is the best show that if you're American, you may not have seen. It's a British series now wrapping its second season about five young people on community service duty who are caught in a storm and given mysterious powers. Not what one would immediately think of as "superpowers," but the powers are arguably linked to character traits of the beholder. It is engaging, brilliantly written and acted, addictive, and has one of the best styling jobs I have ever seen on TV. People ask me what kind of difference costuming makes when dressing "normal people" for TV (as opposed to something clearly vintage, outlandish, stylistic, etc.) and this show is a great example of it.
Liza Bracey is the costume supervisor and she has done an absolutely fantastic job. Each of the characters not only has a distinctive style of dress that absolutely fits their character, there are clues to each of them in how they dress. It's consistent across the series and totally believable. Her first obstacle is that each character has to wear an orange jumpsuit because of their community service.
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| Jumpsuit style |
Showing character individuality under such circumstances is difficult, at best, let alone for five characters. Alisha is a great example of this being done especially well. She cuffs up the legs of her pants, belts the suit, and adds flair with her accessories and jewelry.
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| attitude |
Alisha is street smart, body conscious, and stylish with high attention needs. She finds a way to fit her clothes to her lovely body- even when in the jumpsuit. Alisha's "power" is that anyone who touches her is overcome with desire to have sex with her - likely from her underlying need for acceptance and the inability of many people around her to see past her beauty. She wears graphic prints, stripes, short shorts and skirts when not in uniform.
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| street wear |
Nathan, the often and appropriately called the wanker of the group is the class clown of the young offenders who thumbs his nose at everyone and everything at every given opportunity. Nathan leaves his collar open, jumpsuit haphazard and when off duty, is casual and mismatched. Since his power is not revealed until the end of the first season, so I won't tell you what it is, but rest assured it fits his taste for oblivion.
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| Not a care in the world. |
Curtis, a former runner busted for once trying to buy cocaine, is the least "misfit" of the Misfits. Curtis made one mistake, and is paying for it. His power, while not at his will, is the ability to turn time backwards, arguably due to Curtis wanting to turn just one act around. Much of Curtis' wardrobe is what one would expect from a runner - nice tennis shoes, athletic A frame shirts, etc. Curtis is set apart from the others by tying the arms of his jumpsuit around his waist. This frees up Curtis' body and allows him to run when necessary, and shows off his quite fit, muscular athlete's shape.
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| Time Traveler |
Kelly is the toughest of the Misfits. Pejoratively called a "chav" (a slur for an aggressive young person from a poor background), Kelly has been in many fights and is quick to temper. Her look is severe, sharp, borderline masculine, and in your face. Lots of button down shirts and tennis shoes. Kelly pulls her hair back very harshly from her head and her clothes are fitted closely to her body. Her clothes are not as shapely as Alisha's, but are shaped in case she gets in a scuffle- nothing to grab or retain her.
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| What did you call me? |
And lastly is Simon, the most outcast of the group. Simon is a complete social outcast, given community service because he tried to burn down someone's house. Simon is completely awkward, constantly uncomfortable, and has been given the ability to turn invisible. Simon always keeps his collars buttoned all the way up, which looks very disconcerting, and never wears anything to draw attention to himself (which, of course, makes him stick out like a sore thumb).
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You can't see me
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As an ensemble, the cast's looks fit together perfectly. They are all convincingly young, urban Londonites and their style of dress drives home the fact that they got thrown into their situation by chance. I highly recommend it. Keep an eye on the dress, for sure, but honestly, this is the best show you're not watching.
