Lupin's fashion sense

[Lupus Zeniga]

There is this site, bondsuits.com, which talks about how James Bond has dressed/been dressed in all his films and how Bond is the epitome of men's fashion. Out of curiosity, I asked them what they thought of the way Lupin dresses (black shirt, yellow tie, green/red/pink/blue jacket). They sent me this reply in all seriousness:

"Arsene Lupin III's clothing works on an animated character, but it would not work so well on a real person. Dark shirts with tailored clothing, especially with a tie, don't work."

So, that was interesting.


Of course, Lupin doesn't really follow fashion trends/standards, but sets his own. While I think the pink jacket may have been too gaudy, his other jacket colors (and his dark shirts) have made him very distinct and awesome.

[Psycho_Kenshin]

Lupin is definitely dapper. I prefer the black shirt over the blue shirt he has in series 2 though, black goes with everything.

[DrFurball]

I've always felt that the black shirt works when his pants are black as well, like in the manga:

(click to show/hide)

...though it's worth mentioning that, in full-color pieces, Monkey Punch tends to give him a blue shirt and pants:

(click to show/hide)

On that note, I didn't realize until recently that there seemed to be a time where, (especially in the "San Francisco" and "Yap Land" story arcs) instead of the trademark sports jacket Lupin wears, Monkey Punch was drawing him in something that reminds me more of a safari jacket:

(click to show/hide)

Wonder if he though Lupin's traditional look was too outdated, and wanted to give him something more modern for the early 80s? Guess he changed his mind, because for the end of "Yap Land", and most of the finale, "Bad City", Lupin's back to his sports jacket (though the final chapter has him without a jacket or tie).

[Red Dear]

If light colored ties with dark shirts didn't work, it wouldn't be such a popular color scheme
in Jazz bands or, more stereotypically, in classic representations of Mafia gangsters.

It is true though that sometimes, especially under Monkey Punch's pencils, Lupin III's fashion
doesn't follow the basic rule of color scheme clothing (no more than three colors) and can sometimes
look outrageous. But that's what makes him stand out on a graphic standpoint and makes him instantly recognizable.

Plus, if you look at real 70's and 80's fashion, Lupin's choice of clothes can even look modest in comparison !

Like DrFurball, I am more partial to the dark shirt with dark pants combination, as it makes his silhouette clearer and stronger.
The white pants always toned him down I feel.