Style
The Cat is obsessed with his own superficial attractiveness and has an enormous and flamboyant wardrobe, which he couples with an obsession with his reflection and a penchant for preening. He has been described as 'a vain, preening fashion plate who resembles James Brown with fangs', and Danny John-Jules has described the character of Cat as based on a combination of Little Richard's look, James Brown's moves and Richard Pryor's facial expressions. When auditioning for the show John-Jules attended the audition in character, wearing his father's wedding suit, which he described as a "zoot suit". In order to understand the role, John-Jules studied the 1986 book Catwatching by Desmond Morris, learning, amongst other things, not to blink while in character.
In the first episode the Cat is introduced wearing a pink suit which Danny John-Jules described as feeling 'like an old Cab Calloway suit'. Concerning his character, Danny John-Jules has said 'He's probably like a little girl the first time she puts on makeup and says "Hey this stuff looks good...".'
During the first two seasons, the Cat typically dressed in various 1940s-era suits (often gray or pink, with big shoulders and pocket handkerchiefs). He would also wear Cuban-heeled shoes with most of his outfits. He would also wear suits with tailed jackets and ruffled shirts (most notably cream-colored or reddish-pink). Over the next three seasons, the Cat began wearing flashier outfits (like a tartan three-piece suit) and more leather and vinyl outfits (with boots). He also began wearing brightly coloured hats and coats- such as his zebra-print coat (later revamped to yellow and black). He began sporting more jewellery and earrings.
Starting with series 6 and on through 7, The Cat's wardrobe was drastically simplified (John-Jules jokingly speculated that this was done as a cost-saving measure). He wore a black pvc jumpsuit (often with gloves) with a limited number of coats or suits worn over it. Ironically, he spent most of series 8 either in his prison jumpsuit or his battle fatigues.
Read more about this topic: Cat (Red Dwarf)
Famous quotes containing the word style:
“To write well, to have style ... is to paint. The master faculty of style is therefore the visual memory. If a writer does not see what he describes—countrysides and figures, movements and gestures—how could he have a style, that is originality?”
—Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)
“New is a word for fools in towns who think
Style upon style in dress and thought at last
Must get somewhere.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“To translate, one must have a style of his own, for otherwise the translation will have no rhythm or nuance, which come from the process of artistically thinking through and molding the sentences; they cannot be reconstituted by piecemeal imitation. The problem of translation is to retreat to a simpler tenor of one’s own style and creatively adjust this to one’s author.”
—Paul Goodman (1911–1972)