smalhans

Soundtrack for the weekend:

1. Rà-àkõ-st by Lindstrøm
2. Simulation by Róisín Murphy
3. This Head I Hold by Electric Guest

cinematic style: FBI agent dana scully in "the x-files"

    Gillian Anderson, who played FBI Agent Dana Scully for 9 years, said that she never felt sexy playing her character. Most of it, she said, was because of her clothes. Putting aside the fact the I do love Scully's wardrobe, I think she was sexy because of her strong, feminist attitude as a woman contrasting against Mulder's male persona. Sure Scully wasn't va-va-voom in the first couple of seasons of the shows; she wore loads of plaid and balloon trousers with pointed toe heels and looked like a little girl ready to start her new job next to a good looking FBI agent. Her "geek chic" glasses with the typical brown/red 90s lipstick matched with her red hair made her look smart and serious in the first three seasons. She also always wore these great big trench coats. A lot of the times Scully and Mulder's investigations would take them to Washington or Oregon (they actually filmed in Canada) and the skies always seemed to over-cast. It called for the hero coat. The hero coat, coined by John Barrowman describing his and David Tennant's iconic coats in Doctor Who, are long trenches that flow behind you as you walk/run thus making you look like a hero in a cape. This was the first time I saw a woman pull it off and I'm convinced that it looks good on anyone (even on Anderson's 5'3'' small frame). By the fourth season, that was then into the 2000s, Scully started to look more polished. She started wearing fitted blazers instead of ones that hit her at mid-thigh, outfits that didn't have two or three prints all bunched together and crisp white blouses that weren't all the way buttoned up, a classic FBI agent look. Dana Scully started to look more grown up. After all, she had to have been getting used to the fact that she was staying as Mulder's wing-woman working to make scientific analysis of his findings.

    One of my favorite Scully wardrobe moments is in episode 13, season 7 that is based around a video game. All of the sudden Scully pops up on screen with this brown leather jacket over a fitted turtle neck and her usual black trousers. I'm not sure what happened but for some reason she looked sexier than usual. It just goes to show that a turtle neck and leather can go a long way. A great suit can also go a long way. I always wonder why Scully never played with color more often. Because that maroon suit with the white Grace Kelly in The Rear Window-esque blouse looked superb on her. It accentuated her waist which was such a good surprise since all she was wearing was menswear trousers and over sized goodness in the past. 

    I can't help but throw a little bid of Mulder in here, after all, those big billowing hero coats really only look good if you're with a partner who's wearing a similar one. I love the fact that Scully and Mulder kept the coats throughout the seasons (these two screen shots are from season four). I'm very into over sized coats and jackets for the autumn and winter because of their comfort and 90s vibe. Scully looks like Mulder's equal when she wears hers and in some episodes, the baddies don't treat her that way. She has a great one here: it makes her look professional and down right cool. 

Images via The X-Files Screen Grab Archive