The Game is Afoot

There are few duos more iconic than that of the genteel John Watson and infamous Sherlock Holmes. The investigative pair have been the subjects of numerous movies, TV series, as well as the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Most recent in this legacy of incarnations, is James' and my interpretation of Holmes and Watson.

We wanted something challenging for our first joint-attempt at cosplay, and hope to do and post much more of it in the future. Throughout this cosplay we strived for the highest degree of historical accuracy possible, or rather historical appropriateness. This was carried through in our fashion, props and scenery, as well as the male/female dynamic.

The most striking aspect of Holmes and Watson's relationship is how incongruous they are together. Where Watson is the quintessential Victorian gentleman, Holmes (whether male or female) is eccentric and unconventional. Watson adheres to the expectations of polite society, while Holmes does and wears whatever s/he wants. This is exemplified in the cover image, where Sherlock has just fired a gun inside the apartment, testing the extents of John's patience.

To display the daywear of our personages, we envisioned them investigating a crime scene. John Watson jots down notes in his orderly and organised fashion, while Sherlock Holmes fiddles with the weapon found on the scene. Holmes has clearly deemed the chair she is seated upon as non-essential evidence, while Watson takes more care not to disturb the layout.

~Fun Fact: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was not just an author, but also a physician and amateur detective. He personally investigated the cases, and managed to prove the innocence, of two men who were released from prison in 1906 and 1908.~

James:

I have always found Dr. John Watson to be the more captivating of the two characters. As a literary device, he was created by Doyle to narrate, observe and regulate Holmes' bizarre behaviour. He was intended to offer a 'normal' person's perspective of Holmes and lend relatability. However, Watson is by no means normal. A retired Army surgeon, Watson is brave, honourable, learned, clever, a perfect English gentleman and usually the silent hero of the books. I have always found Watson's sensible and intuitive views and patience mixed with confusion towards Holmes' activities to be very personable. I have, after all had a few bizarre roommates of my own in the past.

A great deal of my inspiration for portraying Watson was derived from the books, as well as the famous illustrations by Sidney Paget. Very few physical characteristics are noted regarding Watson in the books, though he was said to be athletic and 'as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut' with 'a small moustache.' I may not be as brown as a nut but I certainly made sure to have the moustache. I went for a thin moustache, small by Victorian standards, with turned up ends, as was fashionable in the late 1880s.

The blue check Harris three-piece tweed suit and bowler hat were an obvious choice. Paget's Illustrations recurrently show Watson in well cut darker suits with a bowler hat.

Tweed was used in the 1820s for outdoor clothing. It was warm and breathable and was therefore used often for hunting jackets. By the 1840s its warmth and comfort became used more domestically as loungewear for men. These jackets were soon paired with a waistcoat and trousers and by the 1860s three piece tweed suits had become fashionable. The same is true of bowler hats that found their way from gamekeepers in the countryside to the height of fashion in London. Therefore by the time Doyle published his first Holmes adventure, a three-piece tweed suit and bowler hat was a fashionable and staple outfit for english gentleman. Watson was likely to have kept up with current trends amongst English gentleman in the city.

The look is completed by smaller details including a pocket watch and cane. The pocket watch would have been a principal accessory for any English gentleman, especially a military man used to keeping time and punctuality. Though it was fashionable at the time for gentleman to carry a cane on warm days and umbrellas in winter, Watson's cane serves a more important purpose. Serving in the Second Anglo- Afghanistan War, Watson was injured at the battle of Maiwand by a jezail bullet before catching typhoid. The injury caused his discharge from the army and has led to a great many depictions showing him with a cane.

Similarly, Watson was known to carry a 'Service Revolver' with him in the books. Service Revolvers were made by Webley and used as the standard issue service pistol within the British Army from 1887 to 1963. My particular pistol was used by my Grandfather in the Second World War, while Watson's revolver would have been slightly smaller.

Jeordy:

Sherlock Holmes has come to be understood as something of an antihero. The character is often represented as moody and unpredictable. Moreover, Sherlock has what we would now describe as a superiority complex, making him/her generally unpleasant to be around. Combined with a self-declared distain for polite company, Sherlock Holmes is quite an unsociable individual. This stormy and changeable essence is well captured in Robert Downey Jr.'s Homes as well as Benedict Cumberbatch's, which is where I drew most of my inspiration. I admire the costuming choices for Sherlock in Guy Ritchie's films, and attempted to mimic some key elements.

This androgynous late-Victorian outfit is intended to give a nod to Sherlock Holmes' eccentric flair. I chose a top hat and tweed trousers as they were almost exclusively male articles of clothing. Women's voluptuous gowns and petticoats were very restricting, both physically and socially. My Sherlock would have shirked these for trousers, more practical for her active and unpredictable lifestyle, especially as adhering social convention held little interest for her. The top hat polishes off the overtly masculine elements, and would have helped her to blend in to the male public, where a lone woman's presence would have been outrageous.

The pipe was an obvious addition, both because Sherlock was a pipe smoker, and because it furthers the audacious practices of my Ms. Holmes.

One aspect of Sherlock Holmes' characterisation that I wanted to emphasise is the frequent use of stimulants, namely coffee, tobacco and cocaine. To reflect the effects of this questionable diet, I shadowed my Sherlock's eyes quite heavily to make them recede a bit and bring a slightly gaunt element to the face.

I chose to have Sherlock wear very subtle earrings, mostly to add to the androgynous aspect of this getup. My hair also plays into the mix of genders; it would have been long for a man, but short for a woman, making it all the more unusual for the time. The silk scarf is another slightly feminine accent. I imagined it as an eccentric's take on a cravat. The irregular dye would not have been typical in the period, making it a strikingly odd accessory for this Victorian individual.

Possibly the most obviously Sherlockian aspect of this outfit is the houndstooth cape. Its plaid illusion lends itself well, referencing the iconic plaid deerstalker cap associated with the character. The item itself fits the spirit of the character. The boots are plain brown leather with a slight heel, and easily could have been worn by either gender. Boots would have suited Holmes' active lifestyle, making both London cobbles and Devonshire moors accessible.

I chose to wear gloves in the crime scene, for the purpose of not contaminating evidence with Holmes' fingerprints. While the first case of a murderer being convicted based on fingerprint evidence did not occur until 1902, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle predicted the future of forensic science and described Sherlock Holmes using fingerprints in investigations long before this date.

To frame the more relaxed lounge attire, we attempted to recreate some of the chaos and clutter which would have abounded in Watson and Holmes' shared flat at 221B Baker St. A military man, Watson was neat, tidy, and purposeful with his decoration. Conversely, Holmes' style was considered 'bohemian,' and he might today be considered a hoarder. Considering Holmes' overwhelming personality, it's likely Watson's say in the arrangement of the shared space would have been entirely overlooked. Anyone who has ever had a messy housemate can relate to Watson's plight.

To call Sherlock Holmes 'messy' would be putting it lightly:

'He keeps his cigars in the coal scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jackknife into the very centre of his wooden mantlepiece.' (Strand Magazine, 1893)

In our own shared flat we have accrued our own collection of oddities, but we like to believe we're on the tasteful side of clutter.

James:

Some finer details come into play in these closer shots. As a military man, Watson's wardrobe would have been tidy and utilitarian as well. I wore a double stiff collar, which, though popular at the time, would have been an obvious choice for Watson. The stiff cardboard collar is more durable and long-lasting than the traditional fabric alternative. With this design, Watson could leave a scuffle with his collar straight and presentable.

The tie is thin, silk, and though well coloured with a floral pattern in subtle reds and greens, does not stand out and remains classically stylish yet reserved. The tie, which I actually bought in India seemed perfect for Watson who may have done the same thing when serving in the British Army there.

The hat is by London's own Lock and Co, founded in 1676 and used widely by English gentleman in the 1880s. It is not unlikely that Watson's own bowler may have been from this reputable London hatter.

Jeordy:

Under the cape I imagined Sherlock wearing a sensible but feminine cotton and lace blouse, which is just visible here beneath a vibrant blue silk oriental robe. This combination of things is in keeping with the eccentric flair ascribed to Sherlock's style.

The pose reflects the avant-garde and unladylike attitude and habits of Ms. Holmes. Slouching into a chair, pipe and pistol in hand, legs akimbo, boots resting on the coffee table, and a contemptuous gaze, this image offers the antithesis of what would have been expected of a Victorian woman.

Unlike most Victorian woman, my Sherlock Holmes would not have worn a restricting and disfiguring corset. Mobility and functionality would have been her primary aims in dressing, all the better to accommodate her frequently unorthodox behaviour.

Supremely unconventional for Victorian sensibilities would have been Holmes and Watson's living together. Despite that their relationship would have been platonic, 19th century Londoners would have shuddered at the notion of an unmarried man and woman residing together, especially unsupervised. We imagine our duo may have gotten away with it by claiming familial relation, but in a society where the reigning monarch and her husband were first cousins, that sort of alibi can only go so far.

As an unusual addition, James and I chose to include a more formal evening look, as it fleshes out a lesser seen side of the characters. As relatively respectable members of society, Watson and Holmes would have made formal outings, whether to dinner, the opera, or similar leisurely excursions. Social conventions demanded particular attire for these activities, precipitating the need for clothing other than the everyday outerwear described above.

We fashioned this photograph on daguerreotypes, or early photography, where the subjects would have had to be still for extended amounts of time. By the 1840s a portrait would have taken roughly 60 seconds to process, which is lengthy compared to the 1/60th of a second the iPhone 7 takes. This demanded uncomplicated stances, and often resulted in stern or unamused expressions.

James:

Watson served as Assistant Surgeon in India with the British Army's 5th Northumberland Fusiliers before joining the 66th Berkshire Regiment in Afghanistan. As a former decorated soldier it is likely that Watson would have worn military dress to formal occasions. Both the Northumberland Fusiliers and Berkshire's officers would have worn a uniform of a red mess jacket with black trousers.

Interestingly, as a medical officer and veteran of the Afghan war Watson would also have the option to don a Blues Patrol long dress coat, still in use today. Treat yourself by looking them up after you finish perusing this post.

However, I am wearing an officers jacket from the King's Troop regiment, a British cavalry regiment, in an attempt to show Watson's military side. I paired the jacket with vintage tuxedo trousers that have a satin black stripe down the leg, as did British mess uniforms. My black leather riding boots completed the look.

For this look I again played up the mixture of gendered clothing. The plain and unstructured white cotton dress was not a popular style in the late 19th century, but did exist in the subculture movement called Aesthetic Dress. Women who dressed in this style did not wear tightly laced corsets or large underskirts, and instead opted for plain, hygienic and healthy loose cotton gowns. If my Sherlock Holmes were to wear a dress, she would wear something more along this style. Another feminine element was the addition of a pearl necklace and earrings and cream gloves. These are typically female, and might have helped Sherlock in negotiating dress codes at more upscale locations.

The outfit is balanced with the highly masculine bowler hat and velvet tuxedo jacket. Neither was appropriate formal women's wear. Bowler hats were less formal than top hats, so Holmes choice is intended to show a lack of basic social understanding. Both items would have been borrowed -probably without permission- from John Watson, as I did from James. Roommates are notorious for unauthorised borrowing, after all.

It was thrilling to breath life into these two legendary literary characters, and to offer our authentic but unexpected interpretation. Was it excellent, or elementary?