This is way longer than I expected oh gods, please forgive me for it.
It’s a well known fact that Jiang Cheng has the best wardrobe of all CQL characters, I’m not here to argue with that, but I think it’s time for us to stop sleeping on Nie Mingjue’s absolutely fantastic fashion sense.
I mean have you seen him?? The man is out there serving looks even with the Nie sect limited color palette. Please let’s ignore the context here and just look at his robes
I wasn’t sure if I should rank them, so I’ll just ramble about them in order of appearance:
1. The gray “I’m the boss” one
That’s the first time we ever see him and what can I say? He does leave an impression. We see him using these robes two times, in episodes 10-11 and on the beggining of Fatal Journey, as the first picture shows, which makes me wonder: Is this his stay-at-home set of robes? ‘Cause damn
I don’t know how I should comment on the particular details of his robes but I really appreciate how wide this extra fabric layer makes his shoulders look.
Really imposing and powerful look.
2. The Sunshot incredibly beautiful “this is how you win a war” one
Look, this one might be my favorite, it has EVERYTHING
Shoulder game is strong here, and this bronze-like color goes really well with his belt. Now let’s talk about his outer robe for a moment, just THE COLOR I mean it’s the prettiest shade of gray I’ve ever seen.
Also Long Sleeves
And a CAPE. A f**king CAPE. I’ll never get over this look and I’m really glad the costume department let this king wear a cape again in Fatal Journey, he was made for it.
Next comes the inner layer that’s not really a robe, as you can see when he’s standing, but the silver pattern is what really does it for me, guys. It’s probably the first thing you see once you look down from his face, ‘cause I know we all get lost on that beautiful mustache, and it’s perfect.
You can’t lead a war campaign if you don’t look good, I see.
3. The “I didn’t really want to be here but I’m looking good anyway” one
It’s so dark, it probably reflects how he was feeling during pretty much all the scenes he’s in while wearing it.
Once again he accentuates his shoulders with an extra fabric except this time his sleeves are not long at all. I personally think he looks even more handsome like this, it makes his arms look bigger. What is it called? I don’t know, but it matches his belt as well.
( Is it really a belt, guys? I don’t wanna disrespect but I don’t even know where to start looking for names nor I know other english names for belts)
The subtle golden/bronze details on the outer robe and on the inner robe’s collar contrasts really well with the black and dark gray
Sad thing he looked really miserable wearing it :c
4. The “big event he seemed ok with attending” one
Dark again. But he didn’t look as depressed as in the previous one, he actually had fun that day, which is good. Enough of tears and betrayal for now.
May be the wider sleeves he ever wore, perfect for clapping his hands like a happy toddler. There’s also a lovely flowery pattern on the darker robe that you can easily miss if you don’t pay enough attention.
For the first time his shoulders are not accentuated by fabric or shoulder pads and it’s really nice to see him like this. We all love a buff Mingjue, but CQL Mingjue is not that buff and I love him just as much.
Really elegant, not as imposing and he has every right to want to look civil for once. It may be the series’ way of telling us that he’s not dressed for real combat or war, who knows.
5. The “all this just for a flashback?” one
Listen, this one right here is just AMAZING
I don’t understand why they dressed him so beautifully for what? 10 minutes of a flashback. I wanted to see it for more than a couple os scenes!!
Everything here is different, so this will take time.
First: His inner robe, the first one, is not the usual black, it’s light gray, it’s lighter than his robes actually, and we don’t see him wearing it like ever again since chronologically in the series this is the first robe he wears. Does it secretly mean that all went wrong from the moment he met MY? who knows
Second: The outer robe is fancy. There’s so many details to it and it may be the lighting of the scene, but it seems to be a warmer shade of gray, doesn’t it? The golden\bronze thin strip around the silver larger strip is perfect. It kinda has the opposite effect of his shoulder pads, since it makes his shoulders look a bit smaller but it’s so very elegant.
Third: The upper part of the inner robe. I mean who gave him the right to look that good ??? It’s dark but it has golden little shapes in it!! And it kinda looks like there’s a zipper in there because of that mid section. And oh to be a single jewel resting over Sect Leader Nie’s chest…
Fourth: The bottom part of the robe is also something new. We see pleats on Huaisang’s main robes, but never on Mingjue’s until now, that’s why I took the last screenshot, nothing to do with the bloody Baxia at all. I wish we could have seen them in pretty pleated robes together.
It probably contradicts what I said about his shoulder things being a code for battle, since the first thing we see him doing with this outfit is killing some guy/puppet; but for the rest of the time he wears it is peaceful
Honestly, imagine how Meng Yao felt. It was some fairy tale thing, wasn’t it? You’re a nobody eating bread and drinking water and then this king pops up out of nowhere and defends you from bullying and offers you a job and takes you home with him??
6.The “kick your local murderer down the stairs” one
I don’t really know what to say about this one. The context kind of ruined it for me, but let’s try.
It resembles the fourth outfit since it’s a really dark inner robe and a lighter and patterned outer robe. Except this one has this nice and shiny thin strips around the sleeves and the waist.
It’s pretty but not especially pretty in my opinion. If I were to rank the outfits, this one would rank last.
7. The “fighting qi deviation and needing emotional support” one
Fatal Journey, baby.
I know what I said about the second one, but this might be my favorite. It’s practical, no long sleeves or heavy outer robes. It’s also appropriate for horse riding, wich is great. The simple, sleeveless light gray outer robe is really nice.
There’s a cape again!! And I have to say the cape looks even better now that his sleeves are tighter, the way it falls gracefully on his back is perfect. I love the way it seems to be attached to the shoulder pad too.
The robes are simple but the thing is: The accessories are not.
His belt is now silver and if we ignore that the production team just painted it, we can assume he has two sets of identical waist belts, one is bronze and the other is silver. Now the final touch: The shoulder pads. This is what makes this outfit the most extra of them all. It’s silver and just so, so pretty I wanna cry everytime I look at them. I mean, the layers, the dragon\beast entire head makes him look so fierce and ready for the fight.
I wonder how comfortable they are tho.
10/10 would rank first place.
bonus: Baby Mingjue
We love a consistent king after all! Has he been wearing dark robes since he was a baby? We will never know. I love this dark yet translucent outer robe tho.
1000/10 the cutest and best dressed child out there.
Conclusion: Nie Mingjue is a fashion icon!
* Do not take this too seriously, I did zero research and english is not my first language. If there’s any terrible grammar mistakes, point them to me and i’ll edit it. If I’m somehow disrespecting Chinese culture, please also point it to me and I’ll apologize, edit or even delete the post.
