Man, it feels like I haven't posted in months. Oh wait...
Anyway, though I have every intention of delving into each of the items individually and in great detail it’s always good to take a look at the whole outfit. Starting from the head the uniform seems to consist of:
Hair (most people wear nothing on their head) or a helmet with a brown stripe.
Something around the neck, a bandana, scarf, that kind of thing. Almost every character has their own variation.
A shirt, I suppose. Brownish? Maybe black? Probably anything dark in color works.
A red vest with gold stripes.
A long garment. This includes either the smock thing worn under the vest, or the trademark brown coat worn both over and under the vest.
Armor on the arms. Some do, some don’t.
The Serenity ‘Verse seems to be a fairly cold place. Everyone is wearing gloves.
Khaki/tan pants, most with brown piping.
Belt
Leg wrappings. Again, it must be cold everywhere they decided to fight.
Boots or shoes.
War gear. There are soldiers with on their belts, cross slung satchels, tactical vests, etc. in addition to their weapons.
This Firefly Wikia sketch gives a fairly decent snapshot.
Hi there! I found you via The Independents Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1395098110772601/) and thought I'd come over and take a look. I'm glad I did! Lots of nuts and bolts of the Verse up for discussion! Yay!
ReplyDeleteAs to the topic of all the cold weather gear the Independents seem to wear, I think it's because most of the places they go to are desertified. Deserts have very little to hold onto the heat of the day and once the sun goes down, it gets cold quickly. They're just dressing for the weather.
Also, on the matter of the scarf, I think that it might be a comfort issue: In "The Message" it looks like Zoe's got chain mail on her arms, possibly an entire shirt of the stuff. The scarf would go a long way to protecting the neck against anything that would chafe.
ReplyDeleteOf course, a neckscarf can be used for other things:
1. Sling, for goods or injured limbs
2. Bandage
3. Signal flag
4. Washcloth
5. Breech cloth--if for some reason you lost your pants. Hey, it could happen!
6. If you've horses, you can use it for blinders or to muffle hoofbeats (you'd need four)
7. Head cloth, desert style, to shade yourself from the sun. Just put it on under your helmet and let it hang or wrap it around your face and neck against sand and sunburn. In the desert conditions the outer planets generaly seem to have, you'd use it a lot. If you wet it down first, it'll cool you off.
8. Sewing supplies. Depending on the weave, it might be possible to pull a single thread out of it and use it to sew minor repairs ... or stitches in a wound ... or rig up a fishing line ... or ... anything you'd need thread for, really.
9. Fuel for firestarter/tinder. Pull a thread or two, lay it on the tiny flame for fuel when starting a fire.
10. Weapon: you can garotte someone with it. Tie a bar of soap or a rock in the corner of it and it's a blackjack/sap.
11. Long shot: if you run out of metal jacketed bullets, you might still be able to use powder, ball, and wadding with the scarf as wadding. But I don't think the rifles of the day would take that kind of punishment well. I'm not an expert though and I'm sure I'm wrong in part or all of this one.
I suppose if I did a little research, I could come up with more ideas for the scarf but I shouldn't hog everyone's time. LOL!
You know, those leg wrappings.... you could do a lot with those. LOL. Anything you'd need string or line or cord or straps for, you could probably use these in a pinch.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the vest is so loose to the body it really reminds me of the surcoats knights wore over their armor in combat and tournements. It served more as a means to identify who was wearing it rather than any practical means as clothing.
ReplyDeleteReading your post elsewhere about the Independent Army and its rank/command structure (and the cultural blocks to making it uber-structured with umpty bazillion ranks), I have to wonder if the Independents only provided the vest upon enlisting/signing up and maybe the duster and helment. Everyone would be expected to provide their own shirt and pants and make them look unified as best they can with everyone else's. The strip on the pants could simply be paint and once that's done, your tan trousers look like that guy's over there and over here and so on. I suppose this is what FF cosplayers have to do today when doing reeneactments and parades. But I thought I'd mention it in relation to the post here.
So, I have no idea why blogspot never sent me an email like it normally does in regards to comments.
ReplyDeleteYes, scarves and leg wrappings have a multitude of uses, which makes them extremely handy things to have around. It would also explain why some people have them and some don't (because they got used up!) In addition to the uses I wonder if they may have been designed to resemble somewhat the puttees that were part of some nation's WWI uniforms.
No worries! I haven't quite got the hang of blogspot either. ;)
ReplyDeleteGlad no feelings were hurt.
ReplyDeleteYup! No hard feelings at all. ;)
ReplyDelete