skygiants | (no subject)

This week,

tenillypo and I followed the recommendations of like the half the people who commented on my post about Goblin and started watching the kdrama Hotel del Luna, about a cursed immortal who runs a glamorous hotel for ghosts!

We have now seen the first three episodes, and I already feel like I owe the heroine's costume designer a debt of personal gratitude (though still not as much as the costume designer of Capital Scandal, forever the truest hero of the revolution, who brought the world's most iconic floral fedora into our eyes and hearts.)

Extremely longtime followers of this journal may remember I used to do kdrama costume polls back in the day; there seems to me to be no better time than the present to spend soothing hours screencapping an incredibly attractive woman in an incredible variety of outfits, and therefore I'm bringing it back!

The rules of the game: for each episode of Hotel del Luna, until I run out of episodes or get bored, I will screencap all of heroine Jang Man-wol's costume changes and present them for your viewing pleasure. At the end of each post, you, the reader, will have the opportunity to vote on your favorite! No knowledge of fashion or kdrama is required to play; all I ask is that you truly follow your heart.

(If someone else pulls out an especially iconic outfit they may get a feature slot, but as of three episodes in I've seen nothing to challenge any of Jang Man-wol's looks. But who knows, someone may surprise us!)

The first episode features no less than NINE Jang Man-wol outfits, so we're off to a strong start.

1.

Backstory outfit! Fairly classic saeguk warrior woman here: hair up, sword down, some nice muted color combinations in leather and linen.

A little better lighting to see the colors.

You can see the braided cords in her hair here - I think they match the vest, which is nice. And of course a sword is always a stylish accessory! Anyway this outfit may not be as glamorous as some of the later options, but it's very practical and she looks great in it, so I feel it's a strong contender.

2.

We move into the present with this relatively muted dressing gown -- it seems fairly elegant but is hard to get a good screencap of so I'm a little biased against it.

She seems comfortable, though? A point in favor!

3.

Okay, now this is what I'm talking about. Look at this full-body glamour shot! Bless you, cinematographer.

On the one hand, not too many accessories. On the other hand: a.) with a dress like this you don't need them b.) can we count the snake? I think we can count the snake. Anyway, what a perfectly on-point outfit for the activity of the evening: threatening hapless intruders. Dress for the job you want.

4.

I mean a thing I love about Jang Man-wol is she really always dresses appropriately for whatever activity she's performing. There's nothing particularly flashy about her business casual outfit here but the glasses are so stylish and really give her an air of professionalism.

Hard to get a view of the skirt, but it looks like it's maybe a red pencil?

Also, the long black nails are a nice touch, especially if you think you might be handling a bullet later.

5.

Okay ... honestly ...... I'm torn on this.

Like, on the one hand, extreme yes to the hat, the silhouette, the amazing tiny sleeve buttons, the giant fuck-off gold ring that matches both the dress and the fuck-off gilded rifle ...

I just don't love the dress fabric? It's SO shiny and purple. But maybe everything else makes up for it?

6.

Very bummed we never get a full view of this look but I'm rating it highly on the basis of hat and haircut alone.

But, like, what is going ON with the rest of this gauze Peter Pan collar nonsense? The people want to know!

7.

Look, some days you just need to pull out that murderous widow look. Possibly all days, if you're Jang Man-wol.

But especially on days when your to-do list includes new employee recruitment. Anyway, note the ring over the gloves and the back-of-hat pleating!

8.

We so rarely get really good shots of her casual home looks but if Diana Wynne Jones has taught me anything, it's that it's important to appreciate a good dressing gown.

9.

Last look for the episode!

White-on-white is not usually my favorite, but I really genuinely love the hairstyling -- it feels like a nod to Caesar or something and I respect it a lot. Professional and imperious!

And now, we vote!

Poll #23721 Hotel Del Luna - Episode 1

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 79

View Respondents

Top outfit of the episode?

View Answers

SWORD
4 (5.1%)

dressing gown A: slinky silk
0 (0.0%)

SNAKE
27 (34.2%)

professional glasses
2 (2.5%)

GUN
20 (25.3%)

chic cloche
2 (2.5%)

murderous widow
13 (16.5%)

dressing gown B: chrestomanci brocade
7 (8.9%)

hail caesar
4 (5.1%)

Thank you all for playing, we will return in two or three days to tally the victor and spam the dwlist with more outfits.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Yay for pictures of IU! I went with murderous widow, but snake was a very close second.

It was hard to choose between GUN and murderous widow (the cloche with the wisp of a veil was also in the running), but in the end I could not resist the gun.

Also, I looked at the post you linked so I could see this floral fedora, and I am extremely taken with the first screenshot of Cha Song Joo all dressed up in a blindfold like a statue of Justice, with her classical draperies falling fetchingly off one shoulder.

I honestly love gun purple in the first caps you took, just not when they turned the lights back on. But that of itself makes it even more of an FATT outfit, and so my loyalty was pledged.

I love the widow look, but had to vote for the SNAKE dress because stepping on an intruder in manolos and responding "then die" when he begs & says he'll die ? ICONIC

I remember the costume designer for this did an interview saying she went all out even on an outfit that was only on screen for like 3 seconds? Really hope she got a big raise.

We so rarely get really good shots of her casual home looks but if Diana Wynne Jones has taught me anything, it's that it's important to appreciate a good dressing gown.

That is totally a Chrestomanci dressing gown. Possibly literally, if I had access to all the books and could compare descriptions.

It's the capelet on the murderous widow outfit that does it for me. She could pull off the full cape, but she doesn't need to.

I was split between snake and hail caesar and had to go back and forth between the screenshots a couple of times before I decided I just don't like the skirt shape/length on hail caesar which tipped me over to snake as my final choice. Chic cloche was also intriguing - I'd have liked to see more of the outfit.

(Hello, long time lurker, first time commenter.)

My journey reading this post was "How could anything beat SWORD? ...OMG SNAKE :D" The others are great too but those two really stole my heart.

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY. I waffled so long before I picked one of those two! The others are all great, but... SWORD and SNAKE!!

I love SNAKE but you have to respect murderous widow for the way it pulls so many pieces together into a perfect whole!

oh, man, I don't know how to express to you how strongly I would recommend Capital Scandal for you, specifically, as an experience.

...I also don't know if it's easily available to watch, like, anywhere. MINOR DETAILS. Forties aesthetics! Star-crossed revolutionary assassins! Stupid rom-com makeover bets!

Ah, yes, her single-shot gun + gun-outfit, beautifully crafted for this purpose, completely useless the minute the scene is over because the planet decided it didn't like it.

I had a close-up of the manolos but I didn't end up posting it and, honestly, now I regret it.

oh man, bless that costume designer and may she work on MANY more shows, she is worth every penny they pay her and more.

She is absolutely ready to irritably solve the problems of another world, despite having just been summoned out of bed and being in no mood to deal with them!

If she had a full cape, you wouldn't be able to fully appreciate the elbow-length gloves!

The fact that we didn't see the rest of the cloche outfit is my greatest regret of this episode. The bits we do see are so intriguing!

(Hello and welcome! :D)

SWORD may have another shot, as I think she wears the same outfit most flashbacks and so far she flashbacks most episodes!

honestly, I think one of my favorite parts of kdramas is all the fabulous, and if not fabulous, wonderfully wacky, clothing and the even more ridiculously fabulous closets. :-)

the shininess of the purple satin bothers me too. but I do love all those tiny fiddly little buttons... And that rifle is a gorgeous fashion accessory. LOL

I feel like the white outfit is supposed to be the innocent counterweight to everything else she wore.

That GUN, with that ring, those buttons, and the silhouette of that dress. That could have been made out of '70s lime green shag carpet, and it would still get my vote. There are the quick and the dead, and then there are the fabulous.

PLANET-CONTROLLED GUN, YOU CAN FIRE IT BUT ONLY ONCE

My GOD, it's an entire post of IU. I voted for the snake but I hated having to choose!

Maybe someday! You never know what might show up on Netflix sooner or later.

Excellent :D

I was torn between 7 and 8, but if that purple had been just a shade darker, that would have been my everything.

SAME. I wish I had time to do these all the time, practically every show I watch has its own unique set of wonders!

Everyone is going to want one of those rifles next season!

Our heroine, fortunately, is all three! :D

(...actually she might not technically be dead, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but if you run a ghost hotel I think you at least fall vaguely into the category.)

The snake is just SO perfectly coordinated!

That same exact silhouette in a nice rich chenille or something? DANG.

they remind me a lot of shows like Dynasty from the 80s. no one actually needs gigantic diamond studded shoulder pads, but boy could Joan Collins work 'em.

EVERYONE is MISTAKING snake outfit POSE for BEST OUTFIT it's gun, extremely close runner up crestomanci b

also holy shit you like. know things about clothes huh

I would argue that BOTH snake and gun live or die by both pose and accessories ... these are outfits that Create a Look. Tell a Story. Chrestomanci B however is off-the-rack spectacular in and of itself.

skldfjI absolutely do NOT know things about clothes, I can ... identify a pleat? Vague guess at an era of inspiration? Actual fashion is far beyond me.

I have started this show and it is incredible and I now fully understand amd appreciate the STUNNING MC so thank you for that.

[I mean a thing I love about Jang Man-wol is she really always dresses appropriately for whatever activity she's performing.] looking forward to this!!

Also I’ve only seen the first six outfits so far and am already torn on my favorite between the snake, the swordswoman, the dressing gown, the nifty hotel manager.....help