The Fabulous Fabulocity of Lavi the Fabulous - Updated!
Update: I found a good picture of Lavi's 3rd uniform and updated that section accordingly. I also realized that I missed some of Lavi's more casual clothing and I'll probably update when I find good pictures of them.
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Just as I said I would, I am making an entry documenting Lavi's amazingly fabulous fashion sense. This, more than anything else, give support to the argument that he like boys (as well as girls--dear god does he make eyes at Lenalee). I mean, there are other things that hint that he likes boys (Lavi's personality is a little fabulous too. I mean, he hit on Allen. Okay, only once. But still.), but the clothes are a big giveaway. And any guy that regularly wears a scarf in non-wintery areas/times is probably a little fabulous.
Some of these images are blurry. Sorry about that.
So let's begin with...
Young Lavi
As you can see, Lavi was pretty fabulous from a young age, but it was an adorably innocent fabu: he had his ears pierced by the age of (probably about) 6. I mean, even in modern times a guy having one ear pierced increases his fabu quotient, regardless of orientation (hate to break it to you, Dad)--to be a guy in the late 1800s with both ears pierced? It's like he's holding up a sign. His scarf also hints at fabulousness, although we can chalk it up to just being a little kid. That shawl/cloak/poncho thing (shoacho?) has an adorable design that would make any gay man with a parental side squee.
Actually, I sometimes wonder if gay couples kept begging Bookman to let them take Lavi in. His fabulousness would have flourished under their tutelage.
(Dear Hoshino-sensei: Please give us more young!Lavi. He's just too cute.)
Fabu-rating: Moderate. Lavi has shown early fabulous tendencies with his pierced ears and adorable clothes, but children can be given leniency in these things.
Deke
Deke was Lavi's name before he was Lavi, at age 16. Deke graduated from a shoacho (yes, that's what I'm calling it until I know what it is) to a similar shawl with a more subtle but still cute design and he wore this over a thin blue jacket and these adorable green gloves that I seriously want for myself (only blue, like his jacket. I like blue). Deke has a sort of ragdoll look going for him. He's also wearing tight!pants (more pictures of that later) and a simple black bandanna to keep hair out of his face. The clothes are obviously worn and old, but his powers of fabulousness make it stylish and worldly, perfect for a traveler such as himself. The ensemble is fairly colorful as well, although somewhat subdued, and the fabulousness of the colors probably sent signals to other fabu boys his age. Unfortunately, from what little we know of Deke, he seemed to be very superficially friendly and was actually pretty cold-hearted. His fabulousness was probably suppressed and there was probably only minimal making out behind the bleachers, or whatever the alternate-history 1800s equivalent was.
Fabu-rating: Medium-high. Here we can see that Lavi's fabulous trends in his early years truly were indicative of what he would later grow into. Although his fabulous personality was probably suppressed, it found an outlet in Deke's wardrobe and was able to use the rag-tag look to its fullest potential.
Casual Clothes
I told you we'd see more of those tight!pants. See how fabulous they are? Boys are only allowed to wear them on two occasions: when being emo and when fabulous (or both). And even though Lavi mopes sometimes (like any proper teenager), he's not wearing badly applied eyeliner, so obviously he's fabulous. This outfit is what Lavi wears on days off, although these pictures are actually of Deke wearing them while basically making fun of Lavi. (Yeah, he's got some identity issues. Which doesn't earn him fabu points, but is pretty entertaining.) And see the way Deke/Lavi/whoever is standing in the first image? Super-fabu. Like, seriously. I hope I don't have to explain why it's fabulous because it just is. Okay, moving on to the shirt. While it's a fairly simple green shirt, don't think its simplicity detracts from the fabulousness. First off, look at the cut of the shirt's collar. Totally shows off his very excellent collarbones and neck. The dip in his collar has a super-cute pattern that adds a bit of personality to the otherwise plain shirt and also teases us with just a little more skin. Fabulous? I think so. Finally, we see his hair down and while his bandannas are really adorable, they have nothing on the way his hair naturally lies. Which, like, everyone (including the author) agrees with. She seriously draws him without his bandanna as often as possible.
Fabu-rating: High. Someone truly fabulous doesn't need over-the-top clothing to shine, they know how to make their natural fabulousness do the work for them. Mannerisms are part of being fabulous and this outfit really brings them out, especially the pants. The somewhat revealing shirt also rakes in a ton of fabu-points.
First Uniform
Okay, now we're moving on to the uniforms that Lavi wears. Uniforms are custom-made by the Order so that they fit each person's needs and personality while still giving soldiers a sense of unified purpose. But no one cares about that right now. Here, Lavi is wearing a longish coat, stopping just above his knees. This actually makes him look shorter and younger than he actually is, making him look 16ish instead of 18. The coat's not excessively fabu, but its length give him points. A coat that was a little shorter or a little longer just wouldn't be as fabulous. Lavi's got a new bandanna here too, one that was custom-made with a scaly/dragon-esque pattern, and that's pretty fabu, especially with that really pretty color. Finally, there's the scarf. As I mentioned before, any boy that wears scarves outside of the winter season is fabulous. I see no further need for discussion on this.
Fabu-rating: Medium-high. Not Lavi's most fabulous outfit, but still pretty fabu. He may be trying to tone it down, but not really succeeding.
2nd Uniform
More tight!pants. (He may have a problem. We need a 12-step.) Lavi keeps his bandanna and scarf from his previous uniform (although, for better or worse, they're destroyed in Japan). Although I said last time that Lavi's longish coat added fabulousness points, he actually gets a lot more for this one. Look at how it's cut: above the hips, about mid-way up his waist. Also look at the zipper. It only goes halfway. Fabulous? Yes. Yes, it is. The sleeves also show off a bit of his forearms and he's now sporting super-cute fingerless cloves that don't quite reach his wrist. Let's all be honest here: this is his most fabulous outfit yet.
Fabu-rating: Super-high. There is nothing about this outfit that isn't fabulous. If you disagree, you need your fabu-dar checked.
3rd Uniform
We haven't seen Lavi a whole lot since the uniforms were redesigned, so this was the only decent image I could find. Lavi got a new bandanna and scarf since his old ones were destroyed in Japan. These are a little more subdued and in keeping with the new (stricter?) dress code: black with purple (or red, depending on the mangaka's mood) highlights. Lavi's new headband is nice, though, very cute. Look at those colors! It's pretty fabulous. Actually, Lavi's pretty good at color-coordinating here and if that isn't fabu for a guy, I don't know what is. Lavi's jacket is actually normal length now, ending at his hips for once, but it compensates in fabulousness by swooping out a little at his arms and neck. As part of the new uniforms, the coats button to the side and have these military style braids crossing over the collar. Everyone's fabulous quotient went up with that, of course, not just Lavi's.
Interestingly, Lavi changed his eyepatch, switching from the one-strap that he wore before to a two-strap that Deke wore. I'm not sure if the mangaka just wanted to draw something else, or if she's hinting that maybe Lavi is attempting to be more like a Bookman now and wanted to visually clue us in. I always thought that it was a good way to tell Lavi apart from Deke; the way the eyepatch kind of cuts across Deke's face makes him seem a little more forbidding and unfriendly, while Lavi's one-strap is much more open and inviting. Or maybe Lavi just doesn't want the eyepatch to fall off now that battles have become a little more intense. Am I over-analyzing the number of straps on an eyepatch? Yes. Yes I am.
Fabu-rating: High. At first I thought this uniform was more subdued than his previous ones, but then I saw the colors. So while the styling isn't as fabulous as his previous uniform, the colors definitely are.
--
Just as I said I would, I am making an entry documenting Lavi's amazingly fabulous fashion sense. This, more than anything else, give support to the argument that he like boys (as well as girls--dear god does he make eyes at Lenalee). I mean, there are other things that hint that he likes boys (Lavi's personality is a little fabulous too. I mean, he hit on Allen. Okay, only once. But still.), but the clothes are a big giveaway. And any guy that regularly wears a scarf in non-wintery areas/times is probably a little fabulous.
Some of these images are blurry. Sorry about that.
So let's begin with...
Young Lavi
As you can see, Lavi was pretty fabulous from a young age, but it was an adorably innocent fabu: he had his ears pierced by the age of (probably about) 6. I mean, even in modern times a guy having one ear pierced increases his fabu quotient, regardless of orientation (hate to break it to you, Dad)--to be a guy in the late 1800s with both ears pierced? It's like he's holding up a sign. His scarf also hints at fabulousness, although we can chalk it up to just being a little kid. That shawl/cloak/poncho thing (shoacho?) has an adorable design that would make any gay man with a parental side squee.
Actually, I sometimes wonder if gay couples kept begging Bookman to let them take Lavi in. His fabulousness would have flourished under their tutelage.
(Dear Hoshino-sensei: Please give us more young!Lavi. He's just too cute.)
Fabu-rating: Moderate. Lavi has shown early fabulous tendencies with his pierced ears and adorable clothes, but children can be given leniency in these things.
Deke
Deke was Lavi's name before he was Lavi, at age 16. Deke graduated from a shoacho (yes, that's what I'm calling it until I know what it is) to a similar shawl with a more subtle but still cute design and he wore this over a thin blue jacket and these adorable green gloves that I seriously want for myself (only blue, like his jacket. I like blue). Deke has a sort of ragdoll look going for him. He's also wearing tight!pants (more pictures of that later) and a simple black bandanna to keep hair out of his face. The clothes are obviously worn and old, but his powers of fabulousness make it stylish and worldly, perfect for a traveler such as himself. The ensemble is fairly colorful as well, although somewhat subdued, and the fabulousness of the colors probably sent signals to other fabu boys his age. Unfortunately, from what little we know of Deke, he seemed to be very superficially friendly and was actually pretty cold-hearted. His fabulousness was probably suppressed and there was probably only minimal making out behind the bleachers, or whatever the alternate-history 1800s equivalent was.
Fabu-rating: Medium-high. Here we can see that Lavi's fabulous trends in his early years truly were indicative of what he would later grow into. Although his fabulous personality was probably suppressed, it found an outlet in Deke's wardrobe and was able to use the rag-tag look to its fullest potential.
Casual Clothes
I told you we'd see more of those tight!pants. See how fabulous they are? Boys are only allowed to wear them on two occasions: when being emo and when fabulous (or both). And even though Lavi mopes sometimes (like any proper teenager), he's not wearing badly applied eyeliner, so obviously he's fabulous. This outfit is what Lavi wears on days off, although these pictures are actually of Deke wearing them while basically making fun of Lavi. (Yeah, he's got some identity issues. Which doesn't earn him fabu points, but is pretty entertaining.) And see the way Deke/Lavi/whoever is standing in the first image? Super-fabu. Like, seriously. I hope I don't have to explain why it's fabulous because it just is. Okay, moving on to the shirt. While it's a fairly simple green shirt, don't think its simplicity detracts from the fabulousness. First off, look at the cut of the shirt's collar. Totally shows off his very excellent collarbones and neck. The dip in his collar has a super-cute pattern that adds a bit of personality to the otherwise plain shirt and also teases us with just a little more skin. Fabulous? I think so. Finally, we see his hair down and while his bandannas are really adorable, they have nothing on the way his hair naturally lies. Which, like, everyone (including the author) agrees with. She seriously draws him without his bandanna as often as possible.
Fabu-rating: High. Someone truly fabulous doesn't need over-the-top clothing to shine, they know how to make their natural fabulousness do the work for them. Mannerisms are part of being fabulous and this outfit really brings them out, especially the pants. The somewhat revealing shirt also rakes in a ton of fabu-points.
First Uniform
Okay, now we're moving on to the uniforms that Lavi wears. Uniforms are custom-made by the Order so that they fit each person's needs and personality while still giving soldiers a sense of unified purpose. But no one cares about that right now. Here, Lavi is wearing a longish coat, stopping just above his knees. This actually makes him look shorter and younger than he actually is, making him look 16ish instead of 18. The coat's not excessively fabu, but its length give him points. A coat that was a little shorter or a little longer just wouldn't be as fabulous. Lavi's got a new bandanna here too, one that was custom-made with a scaly/dragon-esque pattern, and that's pretty fabu, especially with that really pretty color. Finally, there's the scarf. As I mentioned before, any boy that wears scarves outside of the winter season is fabulous. I see no further need for discussion on this.
Fabu-rating: Medium-high. Not Lavi's most fabulous outfit, but still pretty fabu. He may be trying to tone it down, but not really succeeding.
2nd Uniform
More tight!pants. (He may have a problem. We need a 12-step.) Lavi keeps his bandanna and scarf from his previous uniform (although, for better or worse, they're destroyed in Japan). Although I said last time that Lavi's longish coat added fabulousness points, he actually gets a lot more for this one. Look at how it's cut: above the hips, about mid-way up his waist. Also look at the zipper. It only goes halfway. Fabulous? Yes. Yes, it is. The sleeves also show off a bit of his forearms and he's now sporting super-cute fingerless cloves that don't quite reach his wrist. Let's all be honest here: this is his most fabulous outfit yet.
Fabu-rating: Super-high. There is nothing about this outfit that isn't fabulous. If you disagree, you need your fabu-dar checked.
3rd Uniform
We haven't seen Lavi a whole lot since the uniforms were redesigned, so this was the only decent image I could find. Lavi got a new bandanna and scarf since his old ones were destroyed in Japan. These are a little more subdued and in keeping with the new (stricter?) dress code: black with purple (or red, depending on the mangaka's mood) highlights. Lavi's new headband is nice, though, very cute. Look at those colors! It's pretty fabulous. Actually, Lavi's pretty good at color-coordinating here and if that isn't fabu for a guy, I don't know what is. Lavi's jacket is actually normal length now, ending at his hips for once, but it compensates in fabulousness by swooping out a little at his arms and neck. As part of the new uniforms, the coats button to the side and have these military style braids crossing over the collar. Everyone's fabulous quotient went up with that, of course, not just Lavi's.
Interestingly, Lavi changed his eyepatch, switching from the one-strap that he wore before to a two-strap that Deke wore. I'm not sure if the mangaka just wanted to draw something else, or if she's hinting that maybe Lavi is attempting to be more like a Bookman now and wanted to visually clue us in. I always thought that it was a good way to tell Lavi apart from Deke; the way the eyepatch kind of cuts across Deke's face makes him seem a little more forbidding and unfriendly, while Lavi's one-strap is much more open and inviting. Or maybe Lavi just doesn't want the eyepatch to fall off now that battles have become a little more intense. Am I over-analyzing the number of straps on an eyepatch? Yes. Yes I am.
Fabu-rating: High. At first I thought this uniform was more subdued than his previous ones, but then I saw the colors. So while the styling isn't as fabulous as his previous uniform, the colors definitely are.