As much as Marvel’s Netflix Jessica Jones made it clear from the get-go the series wasn’t interested in a traditional costumed superhero approach, Jessica formed a memorable style all her own, with few deviations throughout the 13 episodes. Now, costume designer Stephanie Maslansky explains the process of Jessica Jones’ look, as well if the character actually owned more than one outfit.

Maslansky spoke to Entertainment Weekly of a wide variety of costuming choices for the Netflix series, including Kilgrave’s particular shades of purple, Trish’s high-fashion and Jessica’s few costume changes (sandwich for the win!). And while Jessica rarely deviated from the boots, ripped jeans, tank top and leather jacket look, the designer explained a few specifics behind the idea, bullet holes, dumpster dives and all:

 

She has so much to struggle with on a day-to-day basis that for her, it’s just a matter of survival. She struggles with PTSD and her memories, she closes herself off from relationships with most people, she really has this attitude of ‘Leave me alone, let me get my work done, don’t cross me,’ and the last thing that she really cares about is how she looks. That’s something she doesn’t ever want to have to think about.

For her, the easiest solution would have been, ‘I’m just going to wear the same thing every day.’ And that’s not necessarily the same pair of jeans or same t-shirt and same jacket, but when she went to buy her jeans, she bought four pairs. When she went to buy her tank top, she bought six of them. When she went to buy sweaters, she bought two of them. She probably has one pair of boots that she wears until they’re dead, and she buys another pair just like them. [Jessica] has chosen not to think about that aspect of her life. It just makes things a little bit simpler for her, dealing with the rest of the pain and trauma she has to deal with.

 

Maslansky also pointed to uniformity of fashion choices in comics, which Daredevil similarly reflected with only one or two basic looks for Matt, or Wilson Fisk. As to the infamous sandwich outfit, which more or less took the place of Jessica Jones’ traditional “Jewel” costume during her exceptionally brief tenure of saving people, Maslansky had insight there too:

 

It started when I read the script that she had to be a sandwich, so we went online and ordered a variety of sandwiches you were able to wear. We took this one and we ended up changing it so much it was a mere shadow of its former sandwich self — it really wound up being more of a hoagie than a sandwich. It became sort of a bun with sesame seeds, and we distressed it and made it look dirty and old. It was hard to know how the joke would land, but it really did.

 

Still unanswered remains if we’ll see any of Jessica’s fashion choices in a second season, as time pushes further and further away from the eleven days Netflix took to announce a second Daredevil season, which itself seems to have pulled back the spotlight. In the meantime, Jessica’s iconic look has given plenty a cosplayer an easy, but recognizable do-it-yourself look.

Well, did designers do right by the character with Jessica’s look? How might we look forward to it evolving, even if the character only next pops up in The Defenders?

 

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