Tennant Style: Blue Suit Edition

Back again with the blue suit edition from the 10th Doctor. 

By examining the series the Blue suit first appears in Smith and Jones. I think fan opinion on this suit is mixed with the majority in favor of the brown suit. 

The blue suit appears much less frequently than the brown, 12 variations in all. (I am counting the Wedding of Sarah Jane here) Of that 12, only in three does David go without a tie. That leaves 9 unique styles seen with a tie from Season 3 to the Specials.

Some of these picture were taken with computer flash, other with indoor light, some with no light.

The Magnoli blue tends to fluctuate in color in all of them.

ONE

Before I knew Magnoli was going to make the Ricci tie I went out and searched for one that worked. This look appears less frequently than people think, only 4 times, three times in the actual series and once in the Sarah Jane Adventures.

Steve Ricks notes them here: Smith and Jones, The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith.

Nevertheless it has become a fan favourite and I wanted to fine something like to fill my collection.

Seen here is the Armani tie I found. The blue, is actually woven on, so finely it looks like ink. The ties does not have the floral pattern of the Ricci, and it lacks the mauve also, but it does show just how good burgundy looks with this suit.

TWO

Seen here is a style the first appears in Daleks in Manhatten and Evolution of the Daleks. It then reappears in The Waters of Mars. You won't believe how difficult it has been trying to find an appropriate navy tie with burgundy/maroon on it. 

Practically impossible. 

Whoever is making ties these days, really needs to think outside the box for once. I think we'd all love to have the original tie, it was SO unique and went very well with this combination.

The tie I settled on is actual Armani, surprise, surprise.

Here you can see the pattern better. It is not floral but random geometric. In the right colors as far as I can tell. The shirt, of course is the pale blue from Banana Republic.

I usually wear this Magnoli suit with the the top button undone because the gorge is too high and it covers most of the tie.

THREE

Ok Silence in the Library kids, here it is.

Rather dark, this style of burgundy shirt and navy tie appears in Last of the Time Lords, Time Crash, The Unicorn and the Wasp  and of course Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead. It gets a lot of screen time, although a few of those, Time Crash and Unicorn and the Wasp are more cameos of the the look than the outfit for an episode.

Here I took a picture with no flash and no extra light.

To reveal it properly, here it is again with indoor lighting. The shirt is burgundy.

But honestly, to get that really dark, Silence in the Library look sometimes I pair the dark navy tie with a navy shirt. Ta da! Black? No. Dark? Yes!

Only problem is that the suit is still so light it doesn't make for a very spooky outfit.

I also sometimes bring out a plum colored shirt. As a spin of red and blue I think purple works well with this look, if used correctly.

FOUR

Finally here is my take on the Doctor's Daughter style. It appears once in the entire series, a burgundy tie with navy stripes. Tennant never wore black beyond his Tux. I DID find a maroon with blue stripe in it, but I feel it is somewhat a weak try at this look. This beauty arrived today and I very much approve. It is the reverse of the actual tie, more navy than burgundy, but the colors are correct so I will be wearing this as the choice for this episode.

And that rounds out the Tennant collection, however I do own a few other ties that I wear with the suit and figured I would throw them up here to be examined:

FIVE

This is a Maroon Armani, with navy hexagons. I like it because it is a geometric polka dot sort of thing. I've worn it around, more than the Burgundy Armani. I think it works better with the lighter fabric, we will have to see how it fairs with a darker suit later.

SIX

Finally my black sheep, but I do consistently wear this more than the others because it is so mysterious, is another Armani. I spied it online and thought, wow it looks like the "Circle Square" tie but in a blue/grey color-way. The background is navy and it has grey lozenges in a random pattern. I figure grey is fairly neutral so I don't worry about it clashing, but the best best is that it has little red dots in the grey lozenges. A lot going on, but just enough to be more interesting than a plain old striped tie.

The Armani is thicker than the others, which to me appear to be made of silk and a think sheet of fabric, it's like wrapping tissue paper around your neck. 

This tie here, is more robust, maybe that is why I wear it more often.

Once again, thanks for looking, my blue suit project is still going on and I'll post about that as time progresses. 

Favorite Style? Let me know call it by it's suit and number I gave it, e.g. Brown 6, or Blue 4.

I'd love to hear what people think, What's your favourite Tenth Doctor style?

Notes on 10's Style

I first spotted this online while looking up pictures of the suit. Things we know about how Tennant wore the suit, such as the trousers as low-rise, sitting on the hip style, is one.
To add something new to the discourse I noticed first here, that David's tie is tied with the thin end longer than the wider blade.
Now I wonder why this was done?
1. Was David, being tall, required to tie his tie like this to get the knot the right size?
2. Was this a personal style choice by David or Louise Page?
3. Was it only in some cases that his tie was tied like this, or all the time?

This isn't the only time his tie can be seen worn like this either. Here is another shot, with the infamous navy w/ maroon floral, tied with the short end longer. I think think shot is from Voyage of the Damned, noting the dust on his shoulders.

I remember reading in GQ once about various people's individual styles, one celebrity was known for tying his tie with the thinner end much longer than the wide end.
If you take a normal tie and knot it like this you get a larger knot. I know with some of the Armani ties I have tying them normally results in a tiny knot. For a while I tied my ties with the shorter end longer to get a larger knot.

For the most part mens suit trousers are intended to wear up to the waist, with a tie that reaches this height. If we wear our pants on our hips, to make the tie reach that height we would end up with a smaller knot.

I think that Tennant's ties are tied short to create a recognizable knot, since for the most part the audience does not see the bottom of the ties. It's good to note this, for authentic Tennant style, the tie should be tied a little short.

Tennant Style: Sans Cravate

ANOTHER STLYE POST!
I must admit sometimes I go without a tie. This is its own unique style. In some of the ways Ten wears his shirt is akin to the 70's. I read somewhere that having your collar on your lapel only worked if your collar wings were HUGE. I disagree. It all has to do with personal taste. In some cases Ten wears a spread collar, which is a very short collar outside his suit jacket.

ONE

To start us off here is a definite fan favourite, from Tooth and Claw and Blink I give you the multi-layered look! To start I love this look but it is a bit of a hassle. Its great for cold days, you don't feel a thing! In a heated building it got a little warm. This was actually the look I wore the day my Tennant suit arrived, I wore it to the airport.
The first layer is the slate grey H&M t-shirt. It's very soft and stretchy fabric. The second layer, while not a real River Island pullover is close enough for me. I really hunted this one down. There is a River Island in Vaughn but I didn't bother to go, this shirt has long since left their catalogue. I found this beauty in a Stitches liquidation store in the poorest part of town. It originally had buttons but I removed them. I went to Fabric land for snaps but they did not have the tool for the screen worn snaps. I settled for these. Why? because I bought two shirts, just in case, they cost me a hefty $10! lol
The next shirt was also a difficult shirt to find and I don't think it's the right color, too light but cheap enough to experiment on. From Ebay, it turned out to be a heavy cotton shirt, almost flannel like. I put the pick-stiching in myself. Wooo!

UPDATE: I have decided to replace the brown thermal with a closer match. I know Risu was recommending a shirt from American Apparel.


Baby Thermal Long Sleeve Henley style#T457


 I bought one, it should arrive soon. I want to replace the buttons with the correct studs and then we're all set!


TWO

Here is the one off School Reunion look. Trust me, I am wearing a dark blue H&M shirt, but see how it looks black under the camera? How we were fooled! The grey shirt is from, you guessed it, Banana Republic. It was here in the winter, called "Charcoal Heather" From this view you can't see, but it is a grey heathered cotton.













THREE

Here is my Fear Her look. I don't have too much to say about this one. It is probably the most casual of every combination Tennant wears, beyond pyjamas. I must say this look did not keep me warm even under my Abbyshot coat. I can guess it will work better in spring. The navy shirt should have 4 buttons to be screen accurate but otherwise its pretty close. Oddly it came from H&M.












FOUR

Here is a look I don't have. The maroon shirt from 42 has been hard to find. My mother brought me back a burgundy striped shirt when she was in the US but it had an appalling sheen to it. I will say that the colors : maroon, wine and burgundy are all quite different. I think this shirt is more of a wine color, maroon being more red. As you can see the shirt has a spread collar.













FIVE

Bring on the Blue!
Here is me in MY Magnoli blue suit, unaltered. This look is technically the Planet of the Ood style. Notice how high up the top button is on the suit in comparison to the brown suit I own. You can read my critique of this suit in the Ten 2.0 Style guide on dw_cosplay.













FIVE .2

Here I am wearing the suit as I usually do, top button undone. Actually in this picture, now that I see it the burgundy shirt that I have own has become the infamous "black shirt" that people think the Doctor wears in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. I will be showing that look a little bit later some time next week.
The grey shirt is the H&M slate color as in the Tooth and Claw look. The burgundy shirt was a tough find. I looked everywhere. Lots of them come with a stupid shine to them and not the matte color it should have. I found this shirt at a Moore's. They originally told me they did not have this color so I looked around and found a stash of them in the discount bin. It is a very flimsy shirt, so I don't wear it much which is a real shame. It came with horrendous white buttons which I replaced with burgundy ones.




SIX

Rounding out my collection for this guide is the look from Midnight! I debated wearing the shirt from that I wore with the striped tie as it is a little darker. However I wanted to show this blue one anyway. The real shirt that Tennant wears is more of a Yale Blue than this. It also features a fly front, that is the buttons are covered up by a piece of material. This shirt does not have that, but like the real one it features a spread collar. Once again, trust me I am wearing a dark navy t shirt from H&M. If we have learned anything from my posts it is the camera glaze distorts the colors significantly. The blue shirt is from Le Chateau.









SEVEN

Two looks I did not accomplish was for Ten 0.2, meta crisis ten. I LOVE this look. But I have not found a maroon shirt yet.
















EIGHT

This is the final open collar no tie look. How Ten starts his run in The End of Time Part I. As you can see clearly it is has the fly front, leading me to think that it is the same shirt from Midnight. I would have put a picture of me up, but the H&M brown t-shirt I bought it far too dark.


Thanks for reading guys, more to come later:
Anticipate the Blue Suit!!!

Tennant Style: Brown Suit Edition

Rather than copying my posting of my style guide on dw_cosplay I thought that I would debut some of the variations of the Brown suit. I think these should be better than a screen capture, not screen authentic but very close.

To me, style is important. I wear the suit with pride and love being recognized as the Doctor. I am pretty serious about it and making it look right.

(Note: not included in this collection is the Armani tie, still waiting on Magnoli for that one.)
The majority of these ties came from eBay where I paid as low as $5 USD to max $20 USD. Some are Magnoli and the Duffer was shipped to me by Stephanie in the UK. The shirts are impeccable quality and when I was buying them Banana Republic had a promotion and I save 30% on some of them. The suit is Magnoli, I had to ask for the gorge to be lowered, and you will see when I post the Blue suit combinations that the gorge height is too high. Something to keep in mind.

Also, I assure you that all the shirts, with the exception of the khaki one are blue.
But look how they turn white! Ah Ha!

ONE

While no one has yet to identify the first tie that David wears in the Christmas Invasion, the St. George by Duffer is a good choice. I'm wearing it here with a light blue shirt. I believe the first light blue shirt, the Uni Qlo was a linen shirt. This is a cotton shirt from Banana Republic.














TWO.2

Arriving today (April 19, 2011) is the lastest incarnation of the Hetcher tie. I must say, this time it's really spot on. The previous tie(s) were made more contemporary thickness, this tie harkens back to a thinner, flatter weave, much more quality feel than the previous. It has lost it's sheen from glossy silk and is rather a matte color. It looks excellent.













TWO.1

Seen here is the Magnoli's latest (2nd) incarnation of the Hetcher tie. He recently released an updated pattern. I am waiting for it to arrive.
UPDATE ARRIVED 4.19.2011
I think I might be retiring this one now. As much as I liked it, compared to the new one this is far over shadowed.














THREE

Newly Arrived (Nov 24, 2011) is Magnoli's Giorgio Tie.
Tennant wears this tie with both pale blue and navy shirts.
You can see this combination in: Army of Ghosts, The Shakespeare Code, Gridlock, Turn Left, The Stolen Earth, Journey's End I


























THREE .2

It first appears in Love and Monsters.  This combination is also seen in: The Family of Blood, The Fires of Pompeii, it makes a final appearance in Planet of the Dead















FOUR

While I know that the tie in School Reunion is a brown with subtle polka dot, this chocolate floral is just as interesting. I like that is it brown on brown. The pattern is subtle, like the tie from this episode. I am wearing the pale blue shirt from Banana Republic. The tie is Deng Ying.















FIVE

Here is my "Girl in the Fireplace" look. I only get out the swirly tie for special days. To tie this in the right style I had to really make the larger blade much shorter. The tail end is about two inches longer than the large blade. I am wearing a dark navy shirt from Banana Republic.

UPDATE 09/22/2011: I wanted to add my new blue/green shirt that I picked up at, you guessed it: Banana Republic. It was on clearance in my size! It is an excellent screen match to the actual shirt worn, even though the shirt David wears was a navy blue.









SIX

I just started trying out this style the other day. I know it is not a popular variation. I think the khaki blends in a little too much. But it's interesting. The shirt I am wearing came from the Bay. You can't see but the collars are actually button down and has two breast pockets. It's more a safari shirt than a dress shirt, perhaps that is why it loses some appeal. But it is nice on a hot day.












SEVEN

This is my "Idiot's lantern" close enough. I like very much, it was a chance find and I waffled on it but ended up getting it. It is made by Alfani. If I had one complaint it would be that the light brown is somewhat reddish than an olive.















EIGHT

Finally a chance to debut my "Satan Pit" and "Family of Blood" tie. It is not exact but it is navy with copper/brown (?). I am not wearing the correct shirt here, just repeating the safari shirt from before.
















NINE

I was not too keen to post this tie. It is not the right color. The real Duffer tie is a chocolate brown. I decided to include it so people could get an idea of what it looked like with the brown suit. I don't see people at conventions sporting this one. It's still a nice tie.

UPDATE: I am selling this tie, please message me for details Nov 26, 2011










NINE.2 



TEN

Arriving today is the new version of the Partners in Crime/The Next Doctor tie. Unlike my first attempt at this tie, this one is made by Brooks Brothers. I don't know if you can tell but the stripes are raised. They are navy blue and cornflower blue, the color of the pinstripes in the fabric. The lighter blue are outlined in white, while the background brown is textured and not a smooth silk.
I think this tie is really spot on, I saw it and rather than bid on it did a "But-it-now."










TEN.1.2

Here is my first attempt at the "Partners in Crime" and "Next Doctor" tie. It is not really the right anything. THe blue is a light blue and there are light brown stripes. The background is the right chocolate color. It is made by Geoffrey Beene, bought through Ebay.

 The shirt I am wearing took a lot of debating. I ended up getting it. I don't wear it too often, it's from Le Cheateau.

I did manage to find a good replacement for this one. It has a brown background with navy and cornflower stripes. I will post it when I get it.

UPDATE: I am selling this tie. Please messages me for details. Nov 26, 2011







ELEVEN

Here is an old favourite. It's that Alfani tie that keeps popping up on cosplayers on the net. I like it with a navy shirt. It is similar to the colors of the real Duffer tie from "Utopia" It think it is extra long because the knot is one of the largest of all the ties. I highly recommend it.














TWELVE

Finally rounding it all off is something completely different. Here is the Lacroix tie as it appears in "The End of Time Part II: However, i hope you can tell that I am wearing a different shirt. This is a light blue shirt, but a darker shade than the pale one. I am not quite sure if it pops up else where in the series. I would love to here some speculation. I only bought one of these last season, I wish I had more it's perfect. I got it at Banana Republic, ironically the step above the Gap where the original pants came from. To tie the Magnoli Lacroix tie like this was a real challenge. Looking at photos you can see that the swirls are not visible because of this the larger blade is much longer. It's a bit of an illusion. I think this is a important picture because I have heard on some threads that people believed that they were two different ties. I don't know how I feel about the burgundy in the tie, I don't think it fits.

The Test Begins

Today I ran some tests on the dyed fabric. First I cut it into smaller pieces. One sample went outside in the sun, I will put it out again each day to see how much it fades.
The poly/cotton blend is pretty robust stuff. I took another swatch and decided I would subject it to the toughest test, sandpaper. I rubbed some sand paper on it and as you can see in my poor Mac photos, the colour came off. What does this tell me? Well, the color can be rubbed of, not by hand at least, but by a rough surface, so, don't sit on the pavement in it. I hope no one does!

The next test was the "Hot" cycle, with soap in the laundry machine. I ran it with a white shirt. As you can see, the color did not run, at all. in comparison with the control swatches it is the same color. The white shirt did not absorb any color either.

What did I learn? A good dye job indeed! (?) You should not be putting your suit in the washing machine in the first place. I don't know about dry cleaning, but at least water does not seem to affect it. I think I will let this sample soak in some boiling water over night, see what happens.

The fabric did become a little bit softer. Not too noticeable.

That's all for now.

The Fabric has Landed

If you remember I was working at trying to create my own blue with red pinstripe fabric. The suit I have from Magnoli was a shocking blue, not to mention cut oddly.

Today I got my swatches in the mail:

I will mention that I do not have a proper camera and I used the camera on my Mac to take these. I will take some better ones later. However, oddly enough the fabric changes color based on light. We watched David Tennant's suit through video camera so there is no way of saying what we saw on DW is correct. Here to back me up are some more photos:

Seen here is the medium weight swatch, taken with flash. It appears to be the same color as the pictures that people take of the Tennant suit when on display. hmmm...

Then there is this one, taken without  a flash indoors, it looks truest to how I see, by eye what color the swatches are. Very dark, like a dark denim blue. Like the "too dark" that Steve Ricks made.

And then this is this, which seems to be the right, off screen publicity photos of the blue suit. It's dark but you can still tell it is blue with red stripes.

And finally a comparison:

Here is the swatch I received beside the Magnoli suit I have. I will argue that Magnoli's suit is REALLY the correct fabric, pre-dyed. Absolutely. 100%. It is FAR too bright. Lucky thing that bright colors are in in this years fashion call back to the 70's. (LOL)

For reference sake here is Steve Rick's attempts at dying the original fabric: Fabric dyeing

So what do I think? I might try to do a few more swatches in lighter colors. If they look horrid, I will go back to this one. I may have already found it, but better be super sure.

Almost there!