No Gerry Anderson production is complete without an appropriately heroic uniform worn by our galactic policemen, aquanauts, indestructible security specialists, or brave rescuers. One of the most famous of these is the outfit worn by the pilots of International Rescue. This Thunderbirds Thursday, we’re celebrating the iconic uniforms of the various Thunderbird heroes!
Fashions of the Future
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For all of its runaway atomic disasters and magnificent mechanical muscle, Thunderbirds never forgoes its uniquely fashionable sense of style. Where Gerry Anderson liaised with the likes of Reg Hill, Derek Meddings, and Bob Bell in creating Thunderbirds‘ futuristic world, co-creator Sylvia Anderson tended to such areas as characterisation, which included being in charge of the fashions of these puppet heroes.
Sylvia worked closely with series puppeteers Christine Glanville and Mary Turner in devising the visual identity of Thunderbirds‘ characters. For the costumes themselves, Sylvia also worked closely with Elizabeth Coleman, wardrobe lead of many classic Supermarionation productions. Sylvia and Elizabeth co-designed much of Lady Penelope’s wardrobe, which undoubtedly gave the pair a more playful scope for diverse fashion choices than the Tracy boys themselves.
Elizabeth’s duties also included ensuring that the puppet bodies themselves could move as unobtrusively as possible within the far-reaching styles of clothing that were produced for these puppets. Just about everything imaginable, from overcoats to pyjamas, tuxedos, and casual wear, was worn by these characters. Elizabeth produced some 500 costumes for much of A.P. Films’ sci-fi puppet works throughout the early 1960s, but her work on Thunderbirds surely remains the most extensive, given the scale of the series’ production.
Rescuing in Style
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The International Rescue uniform is striking for its surprising simplicity, compared to what previous Supermarionation heroes had worn before. The grand chest design of the uniform worn by World Space Patrol colonels and the visually busy intricacies of your average WASP uniform aren’t entirely apparent here.
The I.R. uniform mostly consists of a sky-blue bodysuit, seemingly a single unit of clothing and quite baggy in appearance (a likely indicator of how the costume was designed with the puppet’s freedom of movement in mind). Each uniform equips its wearer with a standard International Rescue Ray Gun firearm and a pair of… cannisters? This pair of cylindrical devices remains a mystery for the series, as they went unused by any of the Tracy brothers!
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Each I.R. uniform features a visually striking sash slung over the left shoulder of its wearer, adorned with the classic International Rescue emblem across the wearer’s chest. The sash component also provides some distinction between the five Tracy brothers who wear them, each of them served in different colours. For reasons not entirely obvious, the colour palettes worn by each Tracy brother don’t match the colours of their International Rescue craft – something future remakes of Thunderbirds took great pains to correct! Nevertheless, this eclectic approach widens the use of dynamic colours for the series’ visual style.
Capping off the I.R. uniforms, quite literally, is the occasional presence of a distinctly two-point-sided headpiece, which looks quite obviously taken from caps worn by real-life American military personnel during the Second World War. Again, simplicity is the design philosophy at work here, and it works to superb visual effect. The I.R. uniform is uncluttered and prioritises flexibility while delivering something eye-catchingly stylish and with some added practical features.
The International Rescue uniform is a classically regarded component of Thunderbirds‘ visual aesthetic. The dominating, universally blue colour scheme between the variants gives off a suitably hopeful aura and somehow wouldn’t hit as convincingly if it were any other colour. This absolutely remains the kind of uniform to be worn when dashing to the danger zone to perform some dangerous rescue where all normal means of emergency responses have failed. The International Rescue uniform is a unique icon of retrofuture fashion and one of the best-loved costumes of any Gerry Anderson series.
Don’t forget to keep your eye on the Official Gerry Anderson website and socials tomorrow for the release of our official Scott Tracy cosplay costume! Sign up to the Anderson Entertainment newsletter so you won’t miss out!
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