Grounder fashion at its least impressive. There’s sloppy work on the jacket’s horizontal straps, and the hair styling focuses on odd, unflattering scalp knotting. Even worse, there’s a visible knife peaking out of the lapel, which begs to be stolen by an enemy and instantly used to threaten you. Altogether underwhelming.
A professor of mine once said that the ultimate height of style is the decorative button hole, which exists to make your cuff look nice but serves no function whatsoever. An argument along those lines is no doubt the best, and only, justification for the stylishness of this surgical cap.
This look has both utility and a unity of aesthetic choices, invoking military uniforms and flight gear. But its extremely limited color range (from charcoal to darker charcoal) and its unimaginative repeating shapes leave much to be desired. Nothing about this signals dominance over one’s foes, and it’s not even well-fitted – note, for instance, the bunching at the collarbone. Finally, the decision to place prominent but useless-looking chest guard pockets at an unflattering rib-cage height is unfortunate at best; self-sabotage at worst.
Fine, I suppose, but nothing communicates your openness to being brainwashed by a sexy hologram like a shawl collar.
This flattering but incredibly impractical choice is in direct conversation with the Herve Leger bandage dress idea, not only in its literalization of the bandages concept, but also in its essential figure-revealing impact. The conveniently fitted upper bandage wrap is paired with bracer-style armbands, and the overall effect is a beguiling blend of vulnerability and strength.
This is what nuclear wasteland fashion should be – classic, stunning, thoughtful. The muted palette is practical without being dull, and incorporates a pop of color on that gorgeous weapon belt. The athletic shoulders and breastplate have a vicious, metallic-studded twist. Indra’s also sporting a subtly uneven double knife sheath, and the intense solidity of her upper body armor transitions into a lusciously curling train. Just lovely.
Here, Clarke wears a jacket that combines some of the best of Grounder and Skaikru paradigms, featuring aggressive metal studding on her forearms and gloves and a dominating sense of asymmetry that we most often associate with Grounder sensibilities. There’s no small amount of Grounder, too, in that gorgeous chainmail shoulder piece, and in the stunning, chest-crossing utility band. But the materials, and the stark simplicity of this piece, are pure Skaikru. As an added bonus, dark leather is ideal for dramatic glinting in torches held aloft by your underlings.
Iconic, impressive, masterful, and individual, this look from Lexa is the epitome of post-apocalyptic styling. The stark, assertive lines of her shoulder guard are balanced by a lush warm sweep of brown velvet cloak; oversized studded arm bracers wrap around skinnily fitted sleeves. Buckles and straps abound, but the foremost aesthetic is one of containment, not excess. Her presence in a room was one of instant, unmistakable mastery. Her absence creates a power vacuum, and a fashion abyss.
A+ for the recognition of Indra being one of the show’s fashion icons, F— for reminding me that Lexa’s dead.
They killed off Lexa???
This show is (almost) dead to me. Totally dead would be if they also killed off Lincoln. Wait, have they killed him too? This is what I get for falling behind.
They have not yet killed Lincoln, but the actor has another job, soooooo…….
Oh man, they cast him as Shadow in the American Gods series! That’s…excellent casting, actually.
Well, I guess I can cross this season off my must watch list.
Yeah I agree that he’s a great choice for American Gods, and it’s almost certainly a better career move, considering how quickly The 100 is spiraling downward.
#lexadeservedbetter
I am here for this style, I 100% agree with the above analysis and in fact I might have dedicated a few boards on my Pinterest to examples of what I consider wearable post-apocalyptic fashion (a style I’m slowly adopting as time and energy allow). There’s a lack of armor and such, but my emphasis is (perhaps alas) on wearable. I’ve got about $300 in camouflage-palette thrift store clothes and my serger waiting for the day when I have the energy to start refashioning stuff. Anyone else still on the clothes refashion train?
I thought I was the only one! I checked out your Pinterest and we have some of the same things saved…and you might have inspired me to go public with my Pinterest stuff and share it around (I am also a semi-closeted Ren Faire nerd and general sewing nutcase, but shy about it in social life. Rocking the Apocalypse Daywear would be a big step for me.)
Do it! Fellow Ren Faire nerds need you, and your pins.
Ahhhh! Former Ren Faire performer RIGHT HERE!
ETA: Yes please share your Pinterest!
My style can be summed up as a post-apocalyptic swamp witch, or at least I’d like to think it could be. That’s all I want.
Apologies if you are already aware of her, but I think you might greatly enjoy Zoetica Ebb’s outfits.
I suppose now is when I admit I had a huge crush on her back in the Coilhouse years…
My favorite hobby is rating post-apocalyptic style so I am very glad this article exists 😛
Please oh please send me some source links? Also if you have a blog dedicated to your reviews? Or anything, really? I am all over post-apocalyptic style.
Oh damn. Until now this has basically all been in my HEAD! Apparently I need to start a blog because I have been sleeping on this opportunity! 😛
Definitely let me know if/when you start one. Thank you!
Clarke looks kinda like a payless Daenerys there.
What about the gowns they wore this season?? (Haha I was literally thinking about writing something like this., HOWEVER, it’s pretty unlikely anyone would be wearing that much scavenged clothing 100 years down the line, since so much of modern clothing practically disintegrates after a few years. Looks cool though.)
Heda is stylish AF
GUH
It is only right that Clarke and Lexa hold the top two positions on this list. Lexa definitely wins, however, because Season 3 Clarke doesn’t seem to have figured out how to wash her hair on the ground.
Heda of the Twelve Clans, Heda of Post-Apocalyptic Fashion.
#reshwe heda #oso gonplei nou ste odon
One, very yes, I love all of this. Why is the surgical cap.
Two, this season is so terrible. I binged the first two after finding out the guy that plays Lincoln will be Shadow in American Gods, but, this season is just bad. Bellamy’s characterization makes no sense, the crazy Jaha stuff feels like it’s from an entirely different show, what they did to Lexa was the worst, and Lincoln and Octavia barely get any screen time at all. It’s just bad and I am sad.
Everyone should go read this article about why lgbtq+ fans are so upset with how the 3rd season’s storyline has played out thus far.
nothing communicates your openness to being brainwashed by a sexy hologram like a shawl collar.
I have been telling people this for years.
Gaius Baltar problems
When I started watching this show I nicknamed it “The Hot 100” because of the CW’s tendency to cast actors for attractiveness rather than actual acting ability. Still only in S2 but it seems like a more accurate name tbh.
I honestly thought the last outfit would be Lexa’s bloodstained shirt.
I really liked the costuming at first because it seemed really clear that they’d just be wearing the same clothes for a hundred years and everything had holes in it and was weirdly patched. Not sure where everyone on the ground found all this leather and chain mail though.
I agree with your list except where is Badass Number One, Octavia??
Hell yeah Lexa is the most stylish! I mean, she was Commander kick-ass Lexa ffs!
Post-apocalyptic survival dystopian shows are my JAM, but not even bingeing on the first two seasons that are full of smokin’ hot actors could fully get me on board with The 100.
I just can’t buy that in less than 100 years a society, even a nuclearly destroyed one, could develop a new language, reorganize themselves into a complex tribal system with mystic beliefs, and completely forget their country’s history to the point where they unironically call Washington D.C., “Ton D.C.” without any awareness of its full name. A 1000 years? Maybe. But just 90-something? No freaking way.
BOO HISS for lazy premise writing!
Yeah, the understanding of socialogical/linguistic shift is about on par with the show’s understanding of radiation and the healing time involved in recovering from an infected spear wound. I find yelling at the television about this to be part of the joy of the show, though. Sort of an it’s-so-bad-it’s-good thing.
One thing I do like is, yes, how if you listen to their language carefully it’s just basically simplified version of english words. But I guess the timeline for that is pretty wishful…
oh hells yes, and thank you!
I thought this as well, but was enjoying the show too much to care a lot..however, there appears to be some explanation coming up soon….at least, some things have been explained, and new questions are raised, so that's something.
Agreed, this seriously bugs me so much!
Yeah, the understanding of socialogical/linguistic shift is about on par with the show's understanding of radiation and the healing time involved in recovering from an infected spear wound. I find yelling at the television about this to be part of the joy of the show, though. Sort of an it's-so-bad-it's-good thing.
You're welcome! I worked pretty hard on it.
Fun fact for British Toasties: Ricky Whittle (Lincoln) used to be in Hollyoaks!