Heated Rivalry Costume Analysis
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This is getting to you a little later than I would have liked it to, because I was really hoping I’d be able to interview the costume designer for this, however I wasn’t able to get into contact with her, which, to be fair, who am I? LMAO!
Now, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what Heated Rivalry is about, as I’m even more sure we could quote the show back and forth at each other, but for the sake of keeping these consistent, I’ll provide a little synopsis.
Heated Rivalry follows Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), two professional hockey players who have been on rival teams since their rookie year and have been biblically getting to know each other since the year before that. Their relationship is very casual initially, but after almost a decade of hotel meetups, hockey game stand offs, longing looks across a room, a tuna melt gone wrong, and a trip to the cottage, they fall in love. I have yet to read the books because I had a TBR I wanted to finish, and I also figured it’d be better to wait for when the show is over and I am deprived, but I’ve done a little research to cross examine where the costumes are concerned.
Costumes were done by Hanna Puley, and for the sake of this analysis I’ll just be focusing on Shane and Ilya. While this might not be an overt “fashion” show, I still feel that that clothing helps tell the story. The less obvious movies and shows are always my favorite to analyze and think too hard about anyway. You also all know how much a period accurate costume gets me going, but in this case, I really couldn’t give a fuck that Gym Shark didn’t exists during this time or whatever.
Anyway, It’s tempting to want to just go back and forth between the two men, as they are quite opposite, but I’ll try my best to focus on one at a time, so let’s start with Mr. Landlord (Shane).
Shane and Ilya are both athletes, so athleisure is naturally a large part of both of their wardrobes, however it feels like more of a staple in Shane’s everyday life. Both Hudson Williams and Rachel Reid have talked about Shane being on the spectrum, and I don’t know how intentional this was, but it wouldn’t be out of character for him to just want to wear clothes that he feels are comfortable or are of a certain material. As someone who can’t wear socks that feels too much like socks when I’m at home, I understand. He wears a lot of hoodies, specifically, and they read as almost a form of protection. Not only is he able to put his hood up and create a barrier, but Williams also gave him an oral fixation, which we see when he’s biting the strings of his hoodies. Shane’s wardrobe operates first at the level of the body, not image. After all, what we wear mediates our physical comfort in the world before it communicates meaning. In The Fashion System, Roland Barthes writes that garments can act as “buffers” between the body and social exposure. Shane’s clothes buffer him from excess stimulation, excess interpretation, and excess scrutiny.
I’ve seen a lot of people find issue with Shane’s Banana Republic ass sense of style, but it feels pretty accurate to the time period— blazer over hoodie and all. This also assumes that all costuming must be aspirational, which, misses the point entirely. I think there’s still this resistance to period accurate millennial fashion, because it’s not far enough removed. People act like the world is ending every time an article comes out about skinny jeans being back, but skinny jeans never left. More importantly, though, it would make sense for him to want to just blend in and be nondescript. He’s often wearing a mask when interacting with people, and being this very classic, brand safe, Canadian boy is an easy way to just exist without any unwanted attention. Think of the look he wears to the club— jeans and a t-shirt— he looks great, but it’s still a very classic look. This is someone who has a lot on his mind all of the time. He’s ruminating and over thinking everything, so clothes being another thing he has to think about would be too much.
Enter Shane’s stylist. I think it would be safe to infer that his mom had a say on the things he wore for a good portion of his life, and while it’s his choice to get a stylist and want to look a little bit more fashionable, it’s another move that feels very on brand. The Miami Vice moment he gives us in Florida feels like a risk for him, yet I’m still sure there were things he pushed back on, before they landed on the white suit, black t-shirt. Shane hires someone to tell him what the “correct” way to look is. Similarly, he hires an interior designer to work on his whole house, even his bedroom with its bulk size pillow order. A space that should be very personal and comfortable is instead optimized.
I like that we see him rewear things, because it makes me feel like he was once told by someone that these things make sense to wear in certain situations, and so he just continued to wear them. Shane having something like a capsule wardrobe, a formula he could follow, would create predictability in a life structured by this big secret. My favorite piece we see reworn is a blue linen shirt he wears to lunch with his parents, and then again when he comes out to them. It feels like an implicit way to communicate to his parents that he’s still the same boy they know and love.
Ilya puts up a front in his own way too. If Shane is predictable invisibility, I’d say Ilya is selective visibility. Again, both of them are athletes, so the tank top and track pants being pieces that we see Ilya in a lot isn’t shocking, but the specificity of it feels very Eastern European— especially with his go-to brand being Adidas. I was like, I know that guy! He’s literally my cousin. Also, anytime you enter a Polish household, someone will offer you slippers, so Ilya always walking around his house in slides made me giggle. I was like, damn, he’s down bad fr when I heard him let Shane keep his shoes on.
He wears a lot of black, creating a refusal to be read, which parallels this bad boy hardness he presents, while actually carrying so much just below the surface. Ilya’s masculinity is ritualized through sport, nationalism, and identifiable signifiers. Like with the tank tops— muscles are okay, but sensuality is not. At least not in the way that he would like to present it publicly. We see him in a lot v-necks and shirts with buttons undone, showing off his neck as well. The neck is a very vulnerable spot, and showing it off like this exudes dominant power. He’s not scared of you and he’s in control. He doesn’t have to declare his desire, because you can feel it. Until he’s at his father’s funeral, where we see him in a mock neck. Yes, this is a situation where dressing more conservatively is expected, but this choice, as opposed to a regular suit jacket and shirt, feels more constrained. His mother’s necklace— the one he always has on— also isn’t visible here. Not only is he protecting himself, but he’s protecting her, too. Another moment where he feels more vulnerable to me through his clothing is when they go to Shane’s parents’ cottage after having been caught by Shane’s father. We’ve seen Ilya in shorts and a t-shirt many times at this point, but here it feels very boyish, like he’s coming back from summer camp or something. Not only is the first time he’s meeting Shane’s parents formally, but Shane is also coming out and telling his parents he loves Ilya. They’re high school sweethearts in a weird way, if you think about, but the summer at the cottage is the first time where they’re really able to experience that sweetness. It all feels so pure and brand new, so it makes sense for those emotional, adolescent stakes to present in the face of Shane’s parents. His clothing softens, because his world does.
There’s more variety in Ilya’s wardrobe and his clothes feel more dependent on context. Loungewear at home and at hotels, suits at events, patterned shirts at clubs and parties, whereas Shane could make a t-shirt and a hoodie make sense anywhere if he could. Back to printed shirts, though, that 1998 Jean Paul Gaultier shirt that Ilya wears while I cry at the club along with Shane was very fab. It made sense for Ilya culturally, but it’s also very fitting of the moment. He’s on the prowl, like a cat, but the print also feels like a skin, paralleling the way Ilya has been skinned and exposed after Shane walks out on him. Also! I was looking at Puley’s Instagram and the sweats he’s wearing as he switches his hips on his way to answer the door for Shane pre tuna melt were Rick Owens! I never would have guessed. Still, with that being said, I don’t see Ilya as a fashion boy, although I can totally imagine him buying random hypebeast shit and asking Shane if he looks cool, only to be met with a blank stare. His fun with clothes just feels like an extension of his being more comfortable in his body and with his sexuality. I know in the books Ilya wears the Hawaiian shirt in Florida ironically, only to feel instant regret when he sees how good Shane looks, but it’s that confidence that allows him to pull it off regardless.
There were also a few things that we can talk about while referring to both of them, like all the suits they were. For starters, it is very difficult to get a suit jacket to fit perfectly on muscular arms— as I’ve pointed out on many a red carpet review— but I think there was a great progression of quality and style here. Their first suits in 2008 feel very, baby’s first suit. They don’t fit great and I wouldn’t blink twice if you told me they were from Men’s Warehouse. Still, Ilya’s has a subtle pattern, that, again, makes sense individually but also culturally. Then at the press conference they get a little better, and once we’re in Vegas they’re a lot more classic and fit a lot better, with Ilya’s having that extra flare in the stitched lapel. I also really loved when they swapped clothes; Ilya throwing his pants at Shane after they woke up, Shane wearing a plaid shirt at the cottage only to later see it on Ilya. It shows the evolution of their intimacy in a nice subtle way. We also see both of them wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses as they drive to the cottage, and while they are very similar, there’s still subtle differences. Shane’s are bigger and more generic, while Ilya’s are sharper and sleeker. They’re still individuals, but they’re finally on the same page and finally taking this very big step in their relationship, together.
Also, for fun, if Shane and Ilya were front row at a fashion show, which one would it be? I think Shane is giving Ralph Lauren brand ambassador, but I also imagine him in something like Lemaire or Zegna. If he wanted to get a little spicy with the classics, I think a Jil Sander, Hermès, or Celine would be fab. Kind of can see him being a Jonathan Anderson darling at Dior too. As for Ilya? My first thoughts were Aaron Esh and Martine Rose. Rick Owens feels like a duh, but what about Willy Chavarria?!! Gucci, Tom Ford, and Saint Laurent with all the current creative directors feel right too. I also imagine them giving us a Thom Browne joint slay.
Alright, well, time to rewatch, again.