# Okay, who dresses cooler, the good guys or the bad guys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572 "2010-02-03T19:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/21 "2010-02-05T01:59:06Z")
The nazis had a good reason for their visual culture. Hitler originally had a great interest in being an artist. Despite his other qualities, he was a decent painter and would have had a thorough grasp of the impact of highly contrasting color combinations. It was important for him to make the party, and it’s culture as powerful and appealing as possible to his target audiences. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/22 "2010-02-05T03:23:13Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/23 "2010-02-05T05:34:31Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > I say the good guys because, well, **Leeloo**. Finding female villains in scanty clothing isn’t real hard. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/24 "2010-02-05T05:53:40Z")
[Demons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_armour) always sweep down and take your life in the Japanese legacy of armor. Armor has always been crafted, stylized, and characterized to be fear instilling and bad ass. I guess what it boils down to… Which “Good or Bad Guy’s Armor” instills the most fear. Armor is from armatus. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/25 "2010-02-05T09:49:44Z")
Well, in the show I really love, the Good Guys dress cooler - _Buffy_, _Firefly_, _Doctor Who_(OK, the NuWho Master is quite the natty dresser), Torchwood. I’m wondering if the first _Matrix_ made it cool for Good Guys to look cool again? Oh, but OP? I’ll see you Leeloo and raise you a [Ruby Rhod](http://www.doubleviking.com/dv_images/fifthelement/rubyrhod.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/26 "2010-02-05T11:07:17Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > [Demons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_armour) always sweep down and take your life in the Japanese legacy of armor. Armor has always been crafted, stylized, and characterized to be fear instilling and bad ass. I guess what it boils down to… Which “Good or Bad Guy’s Armor” instills the most fear. Armor is from armatus. There was European armour of the early 1600s that was designed to look intimidating for psychological effect. I definitely would not want to see fifty guys on horseback wearing [this](http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/811/savoy5.jpg) bearing down on me. Actually I think those armours were more intimidating than the Samurai costumes because that heavy black steel just looks so impenetrable. Even aside from the menacing helmets, the armour itself was just brutal and warlike looking, as in [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Herzog_Christian_von_Braunschweig-L%C3%BCneburg.jpg) portrait - rather than being shiny and showy like armours from the 1500s. It was mostly the Protestant Germans, Dutch and Danes fighting against the Spanish in the Thirty Years’ War who wore this stuff, so for _me_, those were the good guys. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/27 "2010-02-05T14:30:19Z")
Watch _The Untouchables_. Frank Nitti had real style, and looked great in a white suit. Elliot Ness, not so much. Now Billy Drago, who played Nitti, also played against Bruce Campbell in _The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr._ I’d give him the edge for style in that one too, mainly because of the great hat. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/28 "2010-02-05T14:58:33Z")
Good guys can be stylin’ too. Paladin, from _Have Gun, Will Travel_, knew how to look cool. The custom chess-themed gun rig was an exceptionally nice touch. Chris, of _The Magnificent Seven_, had a similar look going on. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/29 "2010-02-05T15:32:15Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Watch _The Untouchables_. Frank Nitti had real style, and looked great in a white suit. Elliot Ness, not so much. > > Now Billy Drago, who played Nitti, also played against Bruce Campbell in _The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr._ And the gunfighter in [Tremors 4](http://www.copertinedvd.net/T/Tremors%204.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/30 "2010-02-05T15:37:58Z")
Adjusting for 70s styles, nobody kept a higher TQ\* against his quarry than Jim Rockford. Tweed with elbow patches? Got it. Blue blazer with gold buttons and the white stitching? Covered. Houndstooth wide-lapel sport coat? _Damn skippy._ - Threads Quotient ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/31 "2010-02-05T18:18:21Z")
Harry Callahan also looked good. He wore a lot of tweed suits. Scorpio was pretty well dressed too, but I think Harry had him beat. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/32 "2010-02-05T19:12:14Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The Nazis, similarly, were really slick. When you have Hugo Boss designing your uniforms, you’re gonna look pretty bitchin’. Of course, in Serenity, you have Captain Tight Pants vs. The Operative. I have to go with Mal on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/33 "2010-02-05T19:18:06Z")
Greek soldiers have a[unique](http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/820/20209278.JPG)sense of style. This look bespeaks a high level of ferocity, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/34 "2010-02-05T19:33:17Z")
The Roman soldiers in Jesus Christ Superstar 2000 are the winners AFAIC. When you combine Roman soldier, LA cop, Nazi stormtrooper, and Darth Vader, you get the kind of badass fit to be a runway model. I wish I could find a picture. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572/35 "2010-02-06T05:16:00Z")
Good guys buy clothes on a policeman/soldier/civil servant’s budget. Bad guys buy clothes on a drug dealer/bank robber/robber baron’s budget. Edge goes to bad guys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-who-dresses-cooler-the-good-guys-or-the-bad-guys/527572.md?page=1)