Nymphadora Tonks (Harry Potter)

Note from the author: Hey guys, I’ve owed y’all an update for AGES I know, but it’s getting closer to exam season. I actually have several drafts stored up but either A) haven’t worn the outfit yet or B) have no good photos. I am thinking hard about how to write a multi-part steampunk feature but I don’t want to screw it up because it’s a subculture so dear to me heart.

For now updates will be irregular, maybe once in a fortnight, but should this blog should hopefully kick off into once a week territory after June.

And now a proper post:

I’m sure you’ve all come to the conclusion that I’m a massive geek, if the mere existence of the blog didn’t alert you to that fact.

I bought a goddamned time turner. “Awesome” is the correct reaction.

To celebrate I thought I might show you my Nymphadora Tonks outfit. Besides being the character I most identify with in the books, she’s probably got one of the most distinct yet not too wizardy wardrobe in the films. (Also Natalia Tena is just gorgeous and in the midst of writing this post I found that she plays accordian in an awesome band called Molotov Jukebox.)

I will be tackling her earlier casual outfit that she wears to rescue Harry from the Dursley. As much as I love the Deatheater-fighting outfit I think the bustier, striped shirt (drool) and dragonhide jacket are a bit too specific to pull off without major additions to the wardrobe. (Although this outfit is also pretty damn cool and pretty damn doable.)

Unfortunately images on the interwebz are vague about the specifics of what’s under her jacket, but you can kind of get the general idea from this picture (note the enlarged version is huge, but you kind of need it to make out the details):

Here’s the breakdown of what I think she’s wearing:

• Grey hoodie with red lining
• Long red and black striped t-shirt
• Black tight-fitting shorts, below or at the knee
• Black tights/stockings with some punk rock rips 😉
• Mid-calf black combat boots
• Just below the knee black jacket with a giant pocket on the left side. Notice the jacket is a lot bigger at the bottom, so much that the excess material gathers from the waist down. It’s also not a consistent
• Fingerless leather gloves.
• Necklace of what looks to be made of large brass bells or studs (?)
• Possibly a thin studded belt over the t-shirt.

The jacket is also pretty unique and it’s going to be difficult to find something that matches it. From order of preference I would go with length, colour, then style, as usual preferencing the overall silhouette over details.

Because she never really takes the jacket off, the details of what’s going on underneath aren’t so important. The essential item is probably the hoodie which shapes the collar area.

The main impression I get from this outfit is sort of “mainstream punk” if that makes any sense. Stick to bold colours, worn items, matte and simple materials (mostly cotton).

Book Canon

In Order of the Phoenix Tonks is described as wearing a Weird Sisters t-shirt and patched jeans (thanks HP wiki!). I think the punk/outsider style look would be pretty consistent with her character, given her pink hair and metamorphmagi status. A band t-shirt would totally work, as would some ripped jeans, patches, badges, etc. She’s kind of the punk version of perky-goths (perky-punk?), so I think experimenting with a bigger colour palette would look fine as long as it was still rough around the edges and DIY. You could probably also femme up the outfit a bit with a figure-hugging top and skirt and differently-coloured stockings.

The Outfit

When I grow up I want to be an Auror!

The breakdown:

• Pair of thrifted pants cut into shorts then rolled up – $2
• Emily the Strange striped t-shirt ~ $20
• Black opaque tights/stockings ~$10
• A black sleeveless hoodie – so long ago I can’t remember how much it cost
• Tripp NYC Elizabeth jacket (with french cuffs and eye and hook closures at the front) – US$75 (it was overpriced and from Hot Topic but I love it anyway)
• Fingerless knit gloves – $3
• Leather studded collar from Diva – $5 (God I love their $5 sales – usually I can only find one good thing, but that one thing is pretty good)
• Combat boots – $100
• I also stuck a bunch of badges on – one of them says SPEW 🙂
• And of course my time turner.

You can definitely replace the jacket, as noted above, with a cheaper/different version. I liked this one because it has the silver studs at the front that mimic the omgpunk. I also would’ve preferred to wear my Doc Martens instead for a rougher look but they were being fixed and unavailable. You could also grab a pair of old stockings and rip them but I rather like all the pairs that I currently have.

Images of Tonks gacked off the Natalia Tena fansite.