Was there a style guide for the Winter Soldier? Who cut his bangs? Who waxed his chest? Who designed his holsters? Who tailored his leather jackets and tightened his chest harnesses and mended his cargo pants? Who are the people complicit? Who tailors the murderers? Does complicity matter in fiction?
First of all, the style of the time would have been influenced and brought about by previous eras of design and likely also perpetuated by reclaimed war materials. (Like the stretchers-turned-fences in post-WWII London) From what I've read, the Russian army was severely depleted post-WWII, so they were unlikely to be able to devote lots and lots of resources to a soldier's design. On the other hand, this was one guy and they were preparing for what would turn into the Cold War, so...maybe? Anyway, there would have been a period where he was outfitted with things from the war.
I'm curious what kinds of people they would have needed to create this persona. How many layers of styling did they go through? How many layers of bureaucracy? Who was the top person to approve the look and styling beyond just the actions?
What were the effects of the twenty-first century fascist 'aesthetic'? Today's fascism is not so compellingly or nostalgically styled. Perhaps it's the rising tide of capitalist oligarchies in the West that prides itself on the (poor-fitting) grey or blue business suit as the styling of the modern day fascist. When power is associated with money (as it usually is but especially now, having elected a CEO and all his billionaire friends to the White House), the aesthetics of money will rule. I'm thinking, mostly, of today's...office-pantsuit-blazer-tech-bubble-slacks fashion in opposition to the military-dress of the political elites of Nazi Germany. Perhaps it's the fact that military service has not been compulsory in the U.S. in recent decades, or that that personal role in military campaigns is no longer a necessity to wield or showcase great power. To an amount of Americans unassociated with the military, perhaps the political elite do not need to demonstrate their military service. Their word, ironically, seems to be enough. For now. (I'm thinking of the Republicans who feel betrayed by the current lack of support for their racism against immigrants from the future Trump administration.) So. That's the West in the present. The stylings of the people in power are important to the stylings of those carrying out the violence. Was it the same in the Soviet Union? Or were the elites allowed to dress less conservatively, with access to more resources and an ability to get around the law?
I'm curious how the Winter Soldier got to the style he has in the twenty-first century? What are the basic elements of his outfit that likely remained unchanged over the years? Now, a lot of this is going to be up to interpretation, since there's little MCU canon to support this except for a few flashback scenes. I wonder if the comics have anything more about the post-war Winter Soldier? Or does the story pick up in the present day? I suppose it couldn't have...depending on how long ago it was written. Ah. Okay. Something to look for. I digress.
I think earlier outfits would have significantly lessened his individuality. Perhaps his hair growing out is the thing we can attribute to his later individual styling. It would take a long time for his hair to grow out to that length from his war haircut; about nine months to a year of consecutive growth. If we assume that his hair doesn't grow when he's frozen, we must assume that he was out of cryofreeze for at least a year in total. So depending on how much they used him and how long he was out on missions for, we can account for his haircuts. My favorite idea is that they kept his hair short through the fifties, training him and testing him out on short range missions. It's likely this period is when he was out of cryo for the longest periods of time, but I don't see them growing out his hair during this time. I think it was when he no longer needed training that they let his hair go (styled, but let it grow out).
Did he have a dress uniform? Did other people in the project have a similar one? Who was the seamstress, since his uniform seems to be so singular? It's unlikely they would really have frozen him in it, since the materials were probably relatively precious and had to be kept in good condition and/or updated. Or would the technology that kept him from aging also prevent the clothes from breaking down??? I find that hard to believe, but they also froze a man and it is a superhero movie so I digress.
It's likely that the earlier iterations of the Winter Soldier would not have been so...whatever they were in the 2010s. His 2010s outfit sexualizes the aesthetics of early twentieth-century fascism...the leather, the military influence (the straps, the tactical pants, the big boots, the weapons storing...very kinky) with a lone-wolf twist of the individuality of his coloring, (black, not camo) arm (with star to imply allegiance), and loose hair implying that he's a lone agent who is less beholden to the rules and restrictions of a governmentally ruled military.
Okay, I just read Brett Pardy's paper on the militarization of the Avengers and they made a REALLY great point: "Matthew J. Costello neatly sums up the overall political picture of Marvel comics' superheroes as a tendency to pursue 'liberalism with a fascist aesthetic' (215)" (Pardy 10). I am fascinated by what this implies the villains are mean to be. If the heroes 'wear' a fascist aesthetic, what are the "real" fascist villains 'wearing?' More visually/intellectually obviously bad takes? But to be honest they rely on culturally significant Bad things too often, like blaming everything on the Nazis as if the Nazis are the only ones who ever did anything really bad. Of course they're not, and it's sort of reductive to imply that. Giving the Nazis too much credit and also assigning too much cultural importance and not enough thinking to the audience--not letting us build critical thinking about the villains and whether or not we agree with them. Because I agreed with the villains' politics in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Of course I did. And of course new Captain America had to be the middle ground. (I'm so sorry Sam!!! although they did give you a pretty nuanced (kind of?) opinion for a Marvel character). So where do those politics leave Bucky?
I look forward to seeing where they take him in Thunderbolts---especially because he seemss to be in Congress??? Girl what is he doing there he literally killed JFK!!!!!
There's this Shakespeare paper I haven't read yet called "'Boy Eternal': Aging, Games, and Masculinity in The Winter's Tale" which reminded me of Bucky's situation pretty succinctly. The last man of a generation, abandoned and still kicking.
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Pardy, Brett. "The Militarization of Marvel's Avengers."Studies in Popular Culture, pg. 103-123. 2019. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26926334.
Mostly long fics; not the raunchiest out there but most of them get hot under the collar. Mind the tags and don't like don't read.
