“You got the finest architecture. End of the rainbow looking treasure. Such a sight to see.” – Katy Perry on this outfit.
Having seen our lively debate on the costumes departments of the two Lanling dramas, The Princess of Orchid Hills decided to release outfits for the female lead Zhang Hanyun to settle the matter once and for all. Despite some creative freedom, the peacock “hanfu” actually looks really good on her. I also like the the first one and the second to last dresses below the cut. My verdict is that although far from perfect, her wardrobe definitely wins over the Fairy Maiden’s.
What are your thoughts?
These costumes are definitely a big step up from LLW’s costumes. Seriously.
I know! They really should have allocated more of the budget for that one towards more authentic-looking costumes… I mean, I don’t think it was necessary to hire THAT many big names for it… George Hu’s role was a bit limited, I felt, and his time may have been better spent elsewhere. They could have used the money for paying for him towards… well… making some of the sets and clothing look better… :/
Also, getting May Day to write the song… I really think getting the three leads on board was enough to ensure a profit. Hopefully, they learn better money management skills for their next production.
I feel like they probably paid a lot for the designer, it’s just that the designer was unfit … kind of like how they probably paid a lot for FSF and Ariel Lin, both of whom I love but imo physically not the most suitable for their roles. Similarly, Mayday’s great but their musical style did not fit the drama.
Did I just spell Mayday “May Day?” OMG!! I look like such a noob!! XD
You’re probably right on this one. I mean, if you really looked at it closely, some aspects of the costumes had interesting points like the cuts and stuff from LLW. It’s just that some of these ideas weren’t presented in a way that was suitable for the era or a period drama. Therefore, it just didn’t look “right” to some of us. But then again, it was more of an idol drama out to thrill younger audiences as opposed to something with great substance, life lessons, deep meaning, or something along those lines…
But then again, who am I to judge. I ran into this article recently about medieval Japanese Samurai Armor. WTF is going on here?!? XD Kinda makes me wonder what kind of wacky things we had but were lost with time.
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/11/22/samurai-bling-crazy-armor-and-helmets-from-medieval-japan/
I don’t even feel bad for the samurai who probably approved of the design and is wearing this getup anymore. I just feel sorry for the horse!! The “squid” design just looks like a silo to me… -_-;;
btw… lol at the Katy Perry reference. They should sell it to her after filming has finished. ;)
For me, I’m fine with all the costumes EXCEPT the peacock one… That was the only one that really bugged me to that extent… for the following reasons…
1. Mass bird sacrifice in order to create it. (It’s going to be a very lonely year for those male peacocks)
2. It looks too flamboyant. Too much going on. It almost looks like we’re in Las Vegas or Brazil during a parade.
I mean… it’s obvious that not all the props and stuff are completely believable… like some of them obviously being plastic… but I think the costumes here are more tasteful… in my opinion… >.<
I'm fine with peacock feathers functioning as embellishments but not to the point where they are the main highlight of the outfit. It just looks… odd…
Also, I think the peacock feathers outfit is a bit too revealing for the era… This should be around the Northern and Southern Dynasties which is between the Han and Sui/Tang Period. Documenting clothing trends during this era is difficult since the era is considered a "mess" period with China being politically fragmented but clothing during this period should be lighter than during the Han dynasty but not that revealing as of yet…
I give the outfits a pass in terms of "period look." They definitely LOOK more "authentic" than some of the costumes in Lanling Wang did based on their designs (coloring is another thing but given modern tastes and stuff… we have to have some tweaking). It was obvious watching Lanling Wang that the budget was spent on securing the actors. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your take, companies aren't presented with unlimited funding and left to roll. :(
Most peacock feather gathering is done by picking up feathers fallen from the ground, so no animal harm is done (at least according to Yang Liping the queen of peacock dances).
The Gao family is full of nutheads, so nothing is really too crazy for them. One of the emperors liked to streak, and one of the queens preferred being a prostitute to queen…Personally, I think drama depictions of their family is a bit too tame (Female Prime Minister and the two Lanling dramas).
My least favorite thing about these costumes are the collars and the weird bright blue-yellow-pink color scheme.
I love the peacock costume xD It’s bright, but it doesn’t look out of place since it’s supposed to be eye-catching and statement-making…on that note, it’s the male peacocks that produce the gorgeous feathers :P Who’s the guy watching her? He seems handsome.
The other costumes don’t pull off the brightness so well.The pink one looks like it came out of a sticker shop.
Peng Guanying, a Central grad who plays Yuwen Yong. Interestingly enough, both he and Zhang Hanyun went on Happy Camp with the other Prince of Lanling cast. :)
More pics of him from the series:
http://slide.ent.sina.com.cn/tv/slide_4_704_69307.html?img=1150406#p=7
I was referring to a study in my first comment… Apparently, some scientists thought it would be fun to cut the “eye” feathers from male peacocks and see what would happen. It was a very lonely mating season that followed… :( That’s what I meant by “sacrifice.” Sorry about my misleading word usage…
I mean… I’m sure these feathers are synthetic and all but… if it was in history and they “cut” them instead of harvesting them as they fell off, those male peacocks are going to get less chicks… quite literally… DX
*btw, you can edit comments ^^
that sound painfult hough haha
You can?!? *Mind-blown* SHOW ME, OH GREAT MASTER!!! I keep trying but I’m not getting very far… :(
Based on what I know, it doesn’t seem like clipping feathers causes much pain. You just have to make sure you aren’t cutting blood feathers (new and growing feathers with blood in the shaft. The shaft will be pink.). Otherwise, it doesn’t seem much different from getting a haircut… albeit you’re making it harder to fly and keep warm… and stuff… XP
btw… jjss08, which “pink one” were you referring to? I thought the second “pink” outfit was fine but number 9 looks kinda cheap to me… but that may also be partly due to the background and props and stuff which look kinda fake and contribute to the plastic-fake feel… I thought the pink and red outfit in the last picture looked okay.
That is true. The Gao family makes… shall we say… interesting wikipedia reads. ;) Weren’t they supposed to be remarkably good-looking to kinda make up for their lunacy? Always entertained the possibility of Godfrey Gao possibly being related… That would explain a lot about his looks!!
However, I do wonder if some exaggeration has been done either politically motivated or simply for sensationalism’s sake. I’m not denying they were a bit nutty but to that extent?!? That’s quite a stunt to pull but then again, it might explain why they fell.
Does the plot of the original book seem to adhere more closely to historical records?
I tried reading the original book, but it was too fanfic-y for me to get past the first chapter. I feel like the historical accuracy (or general believability) is probably going to be similar to the other version.
Oh dearz… well… when you have YWY and LLW on either side of the “love triangle,” as it seems here, you get an idea of where historical accuracy is headed… >.<
I mean, it is highly unlikely that people from enemy nations and at that level of the hierarchy actually met each other in person in history… unless there was some big formal event and relations between the two regions were looking more positive at that point… They might have known about each other by name and reputation but meeting each other is very unlikely. This is especially true if you are part of the immediate imperial family since you probably aren't riding out to war and if you are, it's to sweep things up after your men have finished off most of the other army as opposed to in the front lines. Either that or you are a politician who spends most of your time planning and doing stuff in the palace and capital which allows little time to… say… sneak off to stalk your love interest…
It’s a bit too colourful lol. But I like the costume in the 2nd pic!
In the first photo I’m more attracted by Yuwen Yong’s hair style than hers peacock’s dress…lol
I think the costumes in this show is okay. Somes are really good, Somes are cheap looking.
lan ling wang spent the budget for the actors…