Suspenders Are Back In Business As Doctor Who Debuts New Look
by Erik Amaya
If there’s one important trendsetter in geek fashions, it’s The Doctor. From scarves to bow ties to frill-fronted shirts, the Doctor has always has a style about her. You only need look at any comic book or fan convention — particular Gallifrey One in Los Angeles — to see how the character can lead the way.
And for Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker, the new look is suspenders. Or at least, that’s what the first photo of Whittaker in her initial Doctor Who costume would suggest:
The colors of the t-shirt and coat stripes are also quite familiar.
Released earlier this morning via the official Doctor Who Twitter account, the photo offers only the first glimpse of the 13th Doctor and how she might differ from her previous regenerations. That said, the costume does echo a few previous Doctor-y fashion choices.
A coat is always a must for any time traveler on the go. But the hood recalls 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi’s adoption of the hoodie as an addition to his look and the splash Whittaker made by removing a hood in her announcement video — a style which inspired plenty of 13th Doctor cosplayers already. The suspenders were a feature of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton’s costume, though perhaps not as prominent a feature of the Whitaker design. The bracers also made a comeback during the era of Matt Smith, though they were de-emphasized when his initial “mad professor” look was overhauled toward a more traditional Doctor style in his third season.
In some ways, Whittaker’s costume is as bold a departure as the paired-down design of Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor. Which makes sense as Whittaker assuming the role is as big a change to the program its 2004 return. At the same time, the conscious echoes of Doctors past declares the character really is the same, no matter what she looks like.
Now, let’s see how quickly cosplayer can make their own copies of the costume.
Doctor Who returns for Christmas with “Twice Upon A Time” before Whittaker debuts as the Doctor full time in 2018.