Damien Darko - Part 2 of 3 - Sins of the Father

With the introduction of Raina, Eric Damen has officially worked my last nerve when it comes to costuming the “villains” on GG.  Juliet had her wardrobe of many beiges, Georgina her grays and her bulky costume jewelry, Damien has Euro-trash.

What does Raina have?

Short.  Tight.  Shiny.  With some hideous costume jewelry.  Observe...

Example #1:  Dressing after a restful evening with Chuck.

The deep raspberry color of the dress is nice but it pulls in places which means it’s a shade too tight for her fantastic body. And did Raina steal those fishnets from one of the Victrola dancers? Wait...is Victrola still open?

Example #2:  Meeting Chuck for an afternooner.

Same dress from this morning, but now we see that she's paired it with ugly costume jewelry—check.

At least she left the fishnets behind. Thank God for small favors.

Example 3:  Shutting Chuck down at the W party.

It’s black.  It’s tight.  It’s shiny.  That necklace looks like something Raina could have borrowed from Vanessa during the worst of her jewelry obsession.

Example 4:  Shutting Chuck down Part 2.

It’s lace and not low-cut, which is a slight improvement. But it’s still not all that different. Is Eric Daman suddenly afraid of anything that isn’t a solid-color cocktail dress? The rigid wardrobing extends above the neck, too. Tika Sumpter is a pretty girl, but these overly-straightened locks, hard-edged makeup, and sculptured brows are so harsh. Can we soften things up a bit?

Chuck does the shocking this episode (and no, it’s not Raina).  He repeats an item of clothing!

Admittedly, it’s the awesome mulberry wool coat from the Thanksgiving episode, so I suppose I can cut him some slack.

What I can’t forgive is that it actually clashes with the rest of his ensemble. In his zeal to catch Raina’s attention like a peacock during mating season, it appears he’s gone rather overboard. I love the purple paisley tie; I wish he’d coordinated with more jewel tones.

For the evening, Chuck changes into the most glorious black tuxedo jacket and matching vest.  Chuck Bass rarely wears a white shirt, but the plaid of the tie goes perfectly with it.  If you’re going to wear plaid (and this is a reminder for you, Humphrey), this is how to pull it off.

Nothing says contrite Chuck like a purple tie and complementing striped shirt.

I bet you he wears purple and a matching humbled expression every single time he goes to apologize.  How else is every woman in a twenty mile radius able to forgive so easily?

Nate reaches some truly pathetic new lows this episode. I think the writers have decided he’s the new Rufus. That explains why he spends literally the entire episode playing pool by himself at the Empire penthouse, wearing this:

No, it’s not blue.  No, it’s also not attractive in the least.  Find some clothes that don’t look like you pulled items at random from the bottom of your hamper!  Any other colors in the plaid shirt, and it would have worked better with the gray zip-up sweater.  Plus, when does Nate Archibald wear zip-up sweaters anyway?  He’s built his reputation on studied nonchalance.  Those are way too aware for him.  Blair must have sent it to him.

This moment, however, is to be savored . . .a moment where Nate does not look thrown together and terrible.  No sweatshirts, no mis-matched blue sweaters with jeans.

That is the perfect range of colors to wear with the brown sweater, and what a sweater it is.  Fits flawlessly and looks amazing on him.  Nate hasn’t looked this good, well . . .ever?

The Captain too has tried to improve his mode of dressing from the last episode, where he barely made it out of his pajamas.  Now he’s moved onto a new job and $2,000 suits.

Not too shabby, but not $2,000 worth of good either.  I do like that tie, though.  If you look closely it’s a medium brown with a blue paisley pattern.  

A youthful and stylish choice that says a lot about where the Captain thinks he’s headed with Russell Thorpe.

*Gasp*  Is that a purple tie?  My earlier hypothesis is proven entirely correct.  I’ve been writing retro recaps for season one, and the pre-jail Captain would never have worn a purple striped tie, and certainly not one as fabulous as this.

The Captain’s new boss, Russell Thorpe is looking awful Chuck Bass-esque in this ensemble.  I’d love to see Chuck in more blues in these range of shades—he’d look fabulous.  Maybe as fabulous as Russell himself.

Beautiful gray suit, love the light blue shirt and the slightly darker tie paired with the plaid pocket square.  A perfectly complementary outfit.