The TODAY show has already posted the interview with the cast from Zealandia on its website, although it appears to be shifting it around.  So, I caught a few screen caps for your viewing pleasure.  All images courtesy of the TODAY Show, NBC.

“The dwarves have gonads made of stone.”

***

Now look at this –

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Richard Armitage babbles incoherently to GreenDragon. Poor baby.  Courtesy of TORn.

Here I sat piecing together thoughts on the Great NY Adventure, when I suffered a terrifying visual hallucination.  From what I recollect, TORn released its Monday interview of our boy.  They quote RA as saying this:

 “God I can’t wait!  I miss that beard!  It was really weird.  I hated it when I had it, and then when I shaved it off, I was like, ‘Where’s my chin?!’”

I couldn’t believe my eyes.  But after ascertaining I had not suffered a stroke, my outrage turned to TORn.  Slander!  Libel!  They blaspheme!  But reassured that TORn is a reputable outfit which would never misquote RA, I had to turn sadly to the source.  My disappointment has been deep, my conviction shattered.  So after prolonged chanting and centering of my chi, I solemnly compose this letter:

Dear Rich,

WTF is wrong wit choo???!!!  Are you serious?.  Did you forget the itching and scratching involved with growing a beard already?  Your chin is right there on your face, luv.  Right there clearly defined where we can see it, as it is intended.  I know it was nice not shaving every morning, but let’s not go crazy! It hid your chin!  I also realize you find talk about your looks hilarious, but it is what it is, dude.  The last I looked, the Grizzly Adams look is not the thing nor the best look for you.  If anybody tells you otherwise, they are deceived, Rich.  Deceeeeived!  

Just grow the beard for the last bit of filming, shave Fuzzy Wuzzy immediately afterwards, pull up your big boy pants and move on.  That weird feeling too shall pass again.  I’ll just put this down to delirium caused by fatigue along with the reference to being 6 feet 3.5.

No love,

Judiang

PS: Don’t even think about keeping it!

PPS: Call your stylist!

PPPS: Erm, please.

PPPS: Just wear George, Lex or Fernando again and we can put this behind us.  Scout’s honor.  *

Ahh, I feel better now.  Hopefully, the NYC adventure will be posted Friday or over the weekend.

[*Fake letter is fake, but you knew that already.]

***

STOP!

Keeping up with The Hobbit tour? Want to congratulate RA? Show your appreciation by

gift bombing his Justgiving page!  Show him and the world you care.

You know you want to.

I’m traveling today.  Hopefully with good wi-fi connections, there will be periodic updates here.  If not, watch my space on Twitter under @judiang.

Just so everybody knows, my clothes fetish casts a wider net than just uber-expensive custom-made suits.  I can do casual wear too.   Get a gander of that shirt, vest and tie combination.  I’ve never liked checkered shirts, but I love this one.  Whether it’s red, white and navy, or red, white and black; it doesn’t matter.  The design and smallness of the checks lend quiet sophistication.  I realize expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better, but in this case, it does.  The quality vest and tie finish the top half nicely.  I haven’t seen the bottom half here, but as long as he didn’t wear the pants and sneakers from the ARIAS, I’m sure that was lovely too.

Richard Armitage thinks about the soft bed awaiting him on the plane. Courtesy richardarmitagenet.com

STOP THE PRESSES!   I’ve seen suitor #3!!!!

He is called Fernando.  RA modeled him at the Toronto premiere.  He’s a gorgeous blue, delicately pinstriped suit and you can find him here and here.  He is superb and perfectly highlights RA eyes.  Unfortunately, he’s trapped by ginormous watermarks at Getty Images but I’m confident our journalists will remedy that situation.

***

Are you really feeling the love?

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Richard Armitage and “George” together. Courtesy of richardarmitagenet.com

While I rhapsodized over George (the Zegna suit) and Lex (the BDSM suit), our irrepressible Jane had different reactions. I was so flabbergasted she didn’t want to marry George, that I dashed off an email asking if she wanted to guest blog a rebuttal.  She replied that she wasn’t sure if she had enough for a post but I could paraphrase her thoughts.   Here is what she thought of my beloved “George”:

“Basically I think it’s boring. It’s the kind of suit I associate with politicians and businessmen if it is expensive, or bank clerks if not so expensive. It’s a requirement for certain jobs or occasions- a uniform. And not one that has anything to do with RA. It is a costume for him. The casual and semi-formal outfits we saw during the last few days are still him, just much better quality and most of the time combined with care. I like seeing him wearing clothes that fit well and are made of high quality materials, because that always shows. But I don’t want him to look like a model. It isn’t that I dislike the suit, it was obviously what was appropriate for the event (some other actors wore something similar) and I’m not opposed to high quality. But it wasn’t a revelation and an indication of a “new Richard.”

Richard Armitage debuts “Lex.” Courtesy of richardarmitagenet.com

Jane also has a few things to say about “Lex”: I’m also not too keen on the suit from Tokyo, I think the shiny material looks tacky. It is probably meant to look cool. I really liked some of the three part suits the stylist put Bradley Cooper in and have hoped for something like that. I have no clue for which occasions three piece suits are appropriate; maybe they weren’t right for a daytime premiere.  With a conventional suit, I would have preferred an open collar with no tie (like at the Captain America NY premiere) or at least with a more colourful tie and shirt. I’m glad at least he didn’t wear a skinny suit with a thin tie as many much younger male celebrities with slighter builds do.

Jane feels RA is better served another way: I like an outfit with a little quirk.  I like that his fashion sense is not so well developed after all and that he either doesn’t know better or doesn’t care. I don’t like vain men.  Although a perfectly groomed and dressed man may be attractive, I don’t like the suggestion of vanity behind it.

Richard Armitage rushing casually for his plane connection. Courtesy of bcc.tumblr.com

On the other hand, the casual outfits are things we have seen before on him, just a lot better now. I was one of the first to notice that the first airport outfit must have been the product of the stylist, and that he dressed like that for a 24 hour flight because he knew photographers would be there. I totally approved of that outfit. We have seen jeans+suit jacket on him several times, jeans+leather jacket countless times. We have also seen a three-piece pin strip suit with no tie. Those are the clothes he would choose for himself. I can easily see him choosing the Aria outfit you didn’t like for a night out. The mixture of formal jacket and “cool” jeans and trainers feels like him (though the polo shirt is questionable). I remember a suit+trainers pic from an event. Not sure about the vest and chequered shirt, but I liked that as well. But those formal suits are just following a convention of how to dress, even the rock star chic shiny material. It is Lucas North pretending to be Pete the banker. Or RA modelling for Zegna. I didn’t feel Aidan Turner and Dean O’Gorman looked authentic in their suits either, especially given how casually they were dressed in the airport shots, obviously not caring about photos being taken.”

I stopped mentally stroking George and Lex long enough to consider the main thrust of Jane’s contention.  Is RA being styled to look unauthentic?  This is a valid argument.  I have my own opinion, but first I’d like to hear what you think, Dear Reader.  I’ve been joking about falling for his suits, but has this polished transformation overshadowed what some might think of as the real RA?

Richard Armitage channels elegant Sir Guy for the 21 century at the Tokyo Hobbit premiere. Courtesy of richardarmitagenet.com

Since our boy probably is resting during his 12 hour flight on the Tokyo to Toronto leg of the great The Hobbit: the Expected PR Megablitz, fandom has time to wedge in Real Life. I rushed out for some unexpected shopping and remembered everybody else is holiday shopping. Who woulda thunk it?

So back to the Tokyo premiere, but first my inner fangurl wishes to say: “RA looked simply divine, relaxed and radiate at the event. His gorgeous eyes simply popped, and made me -” OKAY LUV, that’s enough. I have a reputation to maintain. *Cough.* Let’s get to what everybody has been wondering: RA, were you sporting a LEATHER SUIT?

After finally peeling my eyes from his face as he stood on that stage, I was 50 ways of confused. That couldn’t be the FABULOUS Zegna suit (hereto known as George); it shined too much under the lights. So, was it sharkskin? When he helpfully placed his hands in the trouser pockets, I wondered if the entire suit was the most expensive of supple calfskin leather I’d ever seen. Phwoar! He’s speaking my language again.

Fans tweeted his awesome stylist. Finally she returned the word: the suit isn’t leather. It’s WAXED WOOL.

Yes, this is another exquisitely tailored suit (look at the line of his long legs and the perfect leg breaks) in black waxed wool. I’ve never heard of such a thing, but I love it. It’s funky and daring, while still dapper and elegant. So it has the style of leather without the innate stiffness. Might have to find a name for this baby, too.

Yeah baby, yeah.

***

Wait, focus here for a moment!

;

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You know you want to.

Richard Armitage sets fans screaming at the Tokyo Hobbit premiere. Screencap Courtesy of http://doihaveablog.wordpress.com

To my delight, ItsJSForMe sacrificed sleep for us and screencapped The Hobbit premiere in Japan.  The pics are blowing me away.  While my snarky half tussles with the gushing fangurl in my next post, let me become totally shallow now and ask:  How is it that he’s more beautiful than he was in New Zealand?  He’s positively glowing.  You’d think it was his wedding or something.

More later.