Review of Gender Neutral Fashion in Netflix’s The Sandman and The Umbrella Academy

Queer fashion in media has taken on its own in recent years, especially as societies have become more open to their gender identities. There are many characters in TV and movies these days who can express that with just their clothes. It’s great to see this level of gender expression in popular media because we can finally normalize it.

One great example is Desire from the Netflix comic book The Sandman. In the comic book series of the same name, the character is portrayed with gender fluidity, portrayed by non-binary actor Mason Alexander in his Perk (“The Legend of Vox Machina”). Park gives an incredible performance as a character, but it’s the costumes that set the character apart from the rest. Most of the time, characters spend the show wearing only either full black or full white. This is usually in contrast to The Domain’s all-red aesthetic (literally, a giant statue of yourself). Not only that, they tend to show off their bare chest throughout this first season, especially with V-necks. After all, characters are the personified embodiment of desire, sexuality, and… well, desire.

Another example is the character of Victor Hargreaves from the show The Umbrella Academy. After actor Elliot Page emerged as a transgender man in 2020, his character was rewritten in the third season to also appear as transgender in a loving tribute. His fashion choices are more subdued than the previous example when it comes to expressing himself. Victor has always been a very soft-spoken and relatively shy character throughout The Umbrella Academy, so it’s possible that his fashion choices are just an extension of his personality rather than an expression of his queerness. there is. Regardless, I believe this is an example of fashion for a queer character and shows that a wardrobe doesn’t necessarily have to match queerness.

Some of the more flamboyant examples in “The Umbrella Academy” are the fashion choices of Klaus Hargreaves, a character played by Robert Sheehan. The character’s clothing varies throughout the show, but he’s often very flashy in the way he presents himself. One of his outfits for Season 3 is a kind of Stevie Nicks-inspired black outfit and black hat. Additionally, the character’s long hair adds to their beauty. However, he can also be seen wearing a bright blue suede jacket, sunglasses, and striped pants (no shirt). Klaus as a character is much more energetic than the aforementioned Viktor, which is why his costume designs are more exaggerated. Being there helps amplify his queerness while adding ambiguity to the character’s overall way of expressing gender.

In short, a character’s costume design can add a lot to a character’s personality, sexuality, and gender identity. , they are important. Yes, everyone should be able to live comfortably in their own skin. If anything, these characters and their fashion decisions can teach others that they can do the same, no matter how flashy they choose to be.