NEW VOTING INCENTIVE! MORE PUCK VOLUME TWO PREVIEWS!
Vote for Puck on TWC to get another glimpse of the upcoming exclusive story arc that will only be found in Puck Volume 2, whenever that comes out!
VOTE FOR PUCK TO SHOW THAT DEMOCRACY STILL WORKS!!!
As for this comic…
Phoebe's observations in panels two and four have always struck me as odd, especially in Canada where I live. Most of the year, one half of the population is going to be doomed to extreme discomfort at any formal event. And I speak as a guy who has been in the wedding parties of outdoor weddings in deadly summer heatwaves. It's awful. And I've watched girls risk frostbite in January, all in the name of elegance. You'd think we could get together and come up with a seasonally appropriate modification for both genders that involved less suffering, but I guess that's me overestimating the pragmatism of the general population again.
Puck 448
NEW VOTING INCENTIVE! MORE PUCK VOLUME TWO PREVIEWS!
Vote for Puck on TWC to get another glimpse of the upcoming exclusive story arc that will only be found in Puck Volume 2, whenever that comes out!
VOTE FOR PUCK TO SHOW THAT DEMOCRACY STILL WORKS!!!
As for this comic…
Phoebe's observations in panels two and four have always struck me as odd, especially in Canada where I live. Most of the year, one half of the population is going to be doomed to extreme discomfort at any formal event. And I speak as a guy who has been in the wedding parties of outdoor weddings in deadly summer heatwaves. It's awful. And I've watched girls risk frostbite in January, all in the name of elegance. You'd think we could get together and come up with a seasonally appropriate modification for both genders that involved less suffering, but I guess that's me overestimating the pragmatism of the general population again.
Soo. . .
Daphne is okay with showing off her body on a small scale, not something on a grand scale like prom then. Or where someone else might take her picture and utilize it on the Internet without her knowledge?
Or could she be somewhat having a negative self image?
I don’t think Daphne knows what Daphne is okay with. She almost definitely has a negative self-image because she’s a young woman and it’s hard not to develop one of those in this world today.
It most likely has to do with contextual control and vulnerability mechanics. Dressing up in something tight that you’ve ok’d yourself, FOR yourself is comforting. You feel like the bomb. When you have to wear weird getups on the behest of other people, or in the presence of people you’re not all that okay with, it makes you self conscious and uneasy.
This is a very wise, very apt observation. And 100% correct.
Men don’t win prom with a nice tux. We win prom by being with the most attractive and scantily dressed woman available.
I’m also fairly certain men’s formal wear is designed to make us feel like we’re about to be executed. Pressure to not mess things up, the sense that everyone is judging you, and knotted ropes around your neck aren’t really comfortable. No matter how expensive that silk noose is.
Good observations. I cannot argue with either.
i think you´re only allowed to attend prom in a tux if your date is a girl, daph…..also, i´d like to point out that phoebe´s pov is slightly skewed – ok, going to a prom nearly naked totally works, but normal, grown-up formal events still have the dress code of floor-length dress.
also, to all the guys complaining about how uncomfortable wearing a tux is: STOP WHINING! you try walking around on high heels for hours, wearing shapewear that barely allows you to breathe let alone eat and we´ll talk again 😉
Well, there’s the floor-length gown thing for very formal occasions, but within that parameter, there still seems to be a competition for who can be the most naked while still wearing a floor-length gown. And from what I’ve seen at proms recently, the floor-length gown is a rarity anymore. It happens. Just not often.
And you’re right about the tux complaint thing. It’s a formal occasion. Everyone is uncomfortable. I guess we should all just accept it and stop whining.
<blockquote cite= "STOP WHINING! you try walking around on high heels for hours, wearing shapewear that barely allows you to breathe let alone eat and we´ll talk again " Word
There’s this old joke: formal-wear is designed by those who won’t be wearing it, each designed by the opposite gender to be as uncomfortable as possible (success!).
You may be onto something. There does seem to be a weird war of discomfort being waged.
You obviously haven’t seen one of the wives from one of the military birthday balls. She just seemed to have a six inch by six foot strip of fabric wrapped around her for a dress.
Well, nobody forces women to walk on stilts and I think if you ask most guys you’d find that they think it actually look pretty dang dumb. 😉 Especially when most women don’t walk well in them b/c it puts the natural human step way off.
As far as heatwaves go, if you’ve got Scottish or Irish Ancestry, maybe Welsh, too, then might I recommend a Kilt? It’s formal wear, but you get a nice breeze on your nether bits.
Oh, I forgot, and if you don’t know your tartan, then, as long as you’ve got military, police, or prison guard experience, you can just wear Black Watch tartan.
Well, that sounds appealing to me, since my last name is Scottish and my mom’s ancestors are Irish. And since I’m former military, I don’t need to know my tartan! 🙂
My Scottish blood is so diluted, I don’t think I get the right to a kilt. And I definitely don’t get the rights to dare the nether bits. You gotta have a legit Scottish brogue to manage that.
There’s a little thing called “modesty snaps” on kilts that can help protect against exposure. 🙂
well you could always go commando in shorts and say its your way of celebrateing what little scottish blood you have
People’s suggestions are getting disturbing.
“Well, a Scotsman in a kilt left a bar one evening fair…”
Donald… er, I mean, Robert, where’s your trousers?!
That does explain Phoebe’s starched collar, unattached to a shirt.
She knows what she’s doing. Like a mad scientist.
Daffy: being “kinda uncomfortable” is all about prom night. Quit whining.
Truer words have never been said.
I wanna skip ahead to where Puck and Colin discuss what Daphne brought home from the shop. There is no way that’s not going to be awkward haha!
Assuming she brings anything home from the shop. I don’t think this jaunt to the mall will go well.
You haven’t even gotten to the most reassuring and embarrassing store yet. Under un mention ables 4 u.
Well, I know how these things work, and you need to choose your dress before you choose your undies. There’s an order of operations here. Though I don’t think we’ll follow them into that store.
Oh. Hmm. I was kind of thinking of something from Pibgorn. The choice of correctly fitting and supporting undies that Daphne approves of and is sufficiently nerdy, like “up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B” printed on said undies might give Daphne the capability to wear the fat leg warmer and win prom and Tyler’s undying devotion. If not his nerdlust in love.
And the scorn of every senior class cheerleader going out with Farmer Ted.
Yay, a fellow Pibgorn fan. +1
We know that Phoebe is wearing underwear, cause we can see a glimpse in the front.
Red is the color of demon panties. Or ate they the Devils panties?
Well to judge from Drusilla, she doesn’t wear underwear at all. Or anything else, usually. Brooke explained it best: “My demons and fairies are starkers.” Consider yesterday’s strip
I would say I had an argument against the whole “dudes have to wear tuxedo’s” bit to formal events, except I don’t.
I also hate wearing a tuxedo because I find them restraining and annoying (as in, I think they limit my ability to move freely).
As for Daphne thinking it looks like (as she puts it) “a leg warmer for fat people,” I can’t say I disagree. I had to attend some “formal event” some 10 years ago where all women did, in fact, look like that. Meanwhile, the men all looked like they wanted to take off their tuxedo’s to avoid dying from heat (this was around mid July).
The weird thing is that men’s and women’s formal wear both restrict movement in very different ways. A tuxedo is tailored and stiff and has no give, and is weirdly designed so you can’t really raise your arms much. Women’s formal dresses, meanwhile, are always designed to be … perilously perched, shall we say, upon a lady’s frame, making movement dangerous for an entirely different reason. Then people get to these occasions and weirdly a dance is almost always a component. Who thought this up?
Pragmatism & high fashion haven’t had a very close relationship for the last several centuries, at least (in European & related cultures, anyway). Corsets, for example. Let’s damage internal organs on a long-term basis solely to satisfy the demands of fashion. (And no, corsets weren’t limited to women’s fashion. Seriously.)
Pragmatism smacks of poverty. That’s why.
Daphne, may I suggest Robin sew your Prom Dress ?
Robin’s attempt at sewing
You’re mean.
@EG
No, not at all.
Never discount the PITY VOTE.
That was a major plot device in CARRIE. She was voted Prom Queen out of pity, by good-hearted classmates. Carrie only went nutz after John Travolta pored blood all over her.
John Travolta – GRRRRRRRRRR
I’ve never forgiven him !
I’m pretty sure the vote was rigged so Carrie will win.
SEWING
Robin: Pity Vote
Phoebe: No Vote
Be a WINNER, Daphne !
That’s why I like military formal wear; it’s the same across both sexes, minor variations based on sex not withstanding. For example, women are allowed different shoes and are allowed to wear a skirt if they wish, but it’s uncomfortable in all the same spots.
This is discounting the Navy though, since Navy formal wear is weird compared to the other branches.
Military formal wear also does not look dumb. Which is a plus, because regular formal wear often does look dumb, to my mind.
Which is strange, since men’s military formal wear is, in this day and age, as close as one possibly can be while still retaining a military distinction (rank insignias, medals, etc) to regular men’s formal wear. 🙂
I’m not too sure what Army formal wear looks like today, since they went to the blue uniform for regular dress. If it’s the same “dress blues” they used to have, I can agree that it is amazingly like a tux — and just as uncomfortable.
Google is your friend, boss. Just a quick search shows that yes, Army dress blues is pretty much a tux in form and function. 🙂
Have you seen some of the stuff the quartermaster can provide for Marine dress?
My bf has his own tux, with cummerbund, tie (not a clip on), and TWO shirts. He used to practice in this weird little town where they had one black-tie event per year, mandatory for social climbers. We have been together going on eleven years now, and I have never seen him wear it. He, on the other hand, sees me get up for parties every month or so. He just wears a blazer, with tie only in the cooler months. Life is so unfair.
I have a nice suit, with a formal vest and a pocket watch. I have to break it out at least once a year for prom, or any other school-related formal occasion. I don’t own a tux. You need to be a big deal to own a tux.
You could have my bf’s, since he never wears it, but it might not fit.
Probably not.
Well, you can, Daphne. All you need is low-hugging pants, the tux jacket cut short in front and only one button, plus a collar exactly like Phoebe’s with a bow tie.
You seem to regret that Daffy’s motivation is to out-do Hannah Van Beek. All HvB would do if she saw Daffy in a get-up like that is smile pityingly and say something like, “Isn’t that your friend, the one you think so much of? I guess she couldn’t find a girl with bad enough taste to ask to the Prom.”
All I’m saying is that there are ways Daphne can wear a tux to prom. If she wants something a little more stylish, I am certain somewhere there is a orom dress that looks like a tux. I see it as black silk, one shoulder covered the other bare, with white accents. Possibly a sash as a cummerbund, though in fashion as elsewhere less is often more. Might be a voting incentive there, EG.
I think you have an inner fashion designer lurking in that brain of yours.
I’m sure Marlene Dietrich would have loved it, if it had a skirt with a 9″ hem 😛
Ooh, or satin hot pants and net stockings with stilettos and a top hat like in “The Blue Angel.” That’s the ticket. I mean, I would still say that, but in a slightly more respectful tone of voice.
That’s … non-standard.
Do you think she wouldn’t say it? I sure would if I were her. 😛
the lawyers of many a horny teenager everywhere would plead for them to say “no comment”
when i went to highschool we had a few girls and guys who when with their dates they were very nervous due to how their partner dressed that they kept only the chin and up in their field of vision for the first few minutes.
It really is an awful rite of passage when you get down to it.
I know that I definitely march to the beat of a different drummer, but…
I was really awkward in High School, but on prom night, when I put on those tails, there was kind of a transformation, because I knew I looked GOOD!!!!!!
The next day I went back to being awkward, but….
Well, the tails were just bringing out your latent sexiness is all. Don’t let the tux take all the credit.
That is so sad…. My Inner Sex God got beaten up by my inner nerd! What does that say about me as a person??????????
OH MY GOD, DAPH. JUST PUT ON THE PAINTED ON DRESS AND TAKE YOUR MAN BACK, SHEESH
Hey, whose side are you on, anyway?
Sherwin Williams
“Oh, you like this dress? I always like to show a little fur.” 😛
Yeah, kinda funny that Daphne is the least comfortable being bare, seeing as she’s the one who has a built-in full body covering.
It’s like she knows that she’ll ever be able to show off her just shaved legs in that car wash bikini.
I attended a wedding on December 31, 2017. In Ottawa, we just happened to be suffering through -40C temperatures at that time. The bride, in a gorgeous bare shoulder ball gown dress, went outside without a coat or wrap or anything of the sort to get pictures taken at the city’s war memorial. Her dress was a very light pink. She, when she came back in the National Arts Centre, was a very interesting shade of frozen blue. I’m a girl and even I don’t understand the fascination with the skimpier than necessary dress.
Hear hear! Especially when the seasonal temps don’t work with it. And sure, you CAN wear a less skimpy dress, and people will be polite, but they’ll praise it with damning words like ‘handsome’ and ‘traditional’.
It’s a wedding though. It’s not like anyone can call the bride “sexy” or “hot”. Except maybe the groom, but if it’s church wedding he’d be getting some grumpy looks from the priest for that.
They call her ‘elegant’ or ‘radiant’, which are code words for ‘appropriately hot’.
Not necessarily. Sometimes they’re really elegant or radiant without need for code-talk.
I thought “radiant” was code for “she’s already pregnant”. Since “glowing” is too obvious to be considered a code word.
Phoebe is prejudiced towards revealing clothes by her upbringing. Women can look absolutely gorgeous in the right dress, even if it doesn’t show an inch more skin than they’re comfortable with.
That said, Daphne would absolutely rock a tuxedo. ^_^
Phoebe is, granted, not exactly the one you want to get advice from on this front.
Nor on the back. Ba-da-bump!
Daphne really should have stuck with Puck on this one.
@Rock
Yep
The PITY VOTE is Daphne’s only real chance.
The Pity Vote ain’t gonna cause HvB to run to the bathroom except to erupt in unattractive and unseemly hiccupping laughter.
@Susan
PUH-LEEZE !!
In 446 Episodes (I subtracted 1 & 2 – those were the precious NON-DAPHNE ones), has Daphne ever thought things thru ?
I want the Dutch Gurl to be so Smokin’ Hot that even TRACEEE looks like an old shoe.
Daphne should drop to the floor, twitching in agony at being so thoroughly outclassed.
(much like I do when Baldie brings home that awful RED TUNA ! Yuk Yuk !)
I agree with Rock’s sentiment. Flattering clothing will hide the bad bits and show off the good bits.
Someone like Phoebe is all good bits.
Well said.
Daphne will be allowed to wear a tux at the prom, only if she’s with a female date! Rules are rules!
😉
…like I’ve been saying. 😉 If she could get anybody female to be around her for three hours.
How human-like is Daph’s body? I mean, she’s got hair all over, but aside from that it seems to be just the head that is different. Basically, would a normal dress for people fit her?
Normal dress would definitely fit her. No weirdness going on.
Hello.
I am a fan of your comic and characters. Would you consider a commission (paid, say, $100 or some equivalent) to draw the female cast nude? Privately for me of course, not part of the comic.
Thanks for your consideration and almost certain rejection (I get it, no worries)
Brian
Hey there Brian,
Thanks so much for the kind words and following my little webcomic. I’m super flattered by the request. Alas, I don’t do commissions mainly because I just don’t have the time to do them. I can barely keep the comic going, what with the full time job/mortgage/family thing, so I don’t have a lot of time for anything extra.
The nudity thing I personally have zero problems with, but I don’t put any NSFW content out there mainly because my day job as a teacher means that I could potentially be held up to a kind of scrutiny that would frown upon such things, were they to ever come to light. I know it’s stupid, and I wish I didn’t have to worry about such things, but I do.
There may be an answer, though. Or multiple answers. Because you could potentially commission someone else to draw those pics. I’m not protective of my characters in terms of not wanting other people to draw them, so you could get someone to make ‘fan’ art. And honestly, I’m kind of a third rate visual artist as it is. You could commission WAY better art from someone else, I’d think.
I would suggest Ricky Fang as a potential choice. You can find him here: https://www.deviantart.com/hooksnfangs/ His style is very similar to mine and he knows my characters well. He’s also amazing at drawing girls, with and without their clothes on. Not sure what his rates are, but he’s good.
Another possible choice is Sean Harrington from ‘Spying With Lana’ if you’re looking for a slightly more realistic style. You can find him here: https://www.deviantart.com/artbrosean/ The man excels at painting the female form, and he’s been commissioned to draw my characters before so he’s vaguely familiar with them. He’s also a professional artist who is always ready to work for hire. His rates, though, might be a bit steep for what you’re looking for because he usually charges $100 per drawn figure. Maybe the rates are better if you’re getting multiple, though?
Anyway, just saying that there are (probably better) options besides me.
Again, though, I’m flattered that you asked.
Thanks a lot for answering. I’ll look into that, and from what I see I may use one of these recommendations.
And the teacher thing makes a lot of sense.
Also, just a note:
On amazon, where Puck Vol. 1 is sold, there’s a preview of the book. This preview includes the copyright page, and that page includes what I’m assuming is your name, as there is a teacher named that in your area. Not sure if you knew about that.
Again, thanks for the recommendations!
Oh yeah, my real name isn’t really a secret. It’s more that I just keep it off the site in text format so that it’s not easily searchable and isn’t the first thing that pops up.
He wants to see Daphne nekkid.
Ewh Ewh Ewh !
Oh, BTW, love Phloebes’ expression in the final panel. Pensive? Lost in thought? Distracted by the idea of tuxes? Who knows? Certainly not Daffy, who is still picturing herelf as der kleine blaue Satansbraten
She’s doing the ‘fourth panel offhand comment’ face. My characters always look up and away from whoever they’re talking to when they drop an offhand comedic quip, and they usually do a little hand gesture with it. Not sure what that’s about, but it’s an established trope by now.
FAN ART ALERT! I have gotten started on my Puck (non-Robin) portrait of Phloebes. My bf helped me with the arms and the tail. He showed me how to make a curve by moving my wrist and not my fingers. Awesome! 🙂
Terrible confession: I draw curves with my fingers. Well, the initial curve might be done with my arm or wrist, but I don’t have the control to do a secondary line in its proper place, nor do I have the control to ink those lines using my wrists. I end up using my fingertips to do most of the work. I also hold my pen in the weirdest way possible: the lefty’s claw. That makes it even harder.
Come visit us in Texas. My bf will gladly show you what he showed me, and I will get to know your wife, which I have long wanted to do.
Alas, it’s very unlikely that I’ll ever get to Texas. And if I did, I’m not sure how you and my wife would get along. I don’t think that you would not get along, but I’m not sure it would work. My wife is a very quiet, introverted librarian who knits and reads and suffers from low self-esteem. From what I know about you, you are a very loud, extroverted medical type who runs and dances whose middle name is ‘self-esteem’. You are about the exact opposite of my wife. And again, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t get along, but I’m not sure how it would work.
@Susan
And I only offered a PIZZA if EG ever visited Salem.
You got me beat.
boo boo hoo
(Baldie said he’d also buy EG a beer, but then EG, as a teetotaler would refuse. Then Baldie would reluctantly down that beer, so as not to waste it)
The chances of me getting to Salem are about 3000% higher than Texas, mainly because I think I can drive there within a day. (It would be a long, long day of driving, but still.) Pizza’s a pretty big draw, though.
@EG
Baldie says he’d even spring for Pepperoni.
He’s such a sport !
(And we could talk behind Susan’s back all evening. She’d like that.)
Alert Stage Defcon Two!. I have finished the background (sorta pretty much) and am working on Phloebes’ outfit. I found out that I hate drawing stripes.
That makes two of us.
Heh, always good to know
” you are a very loud, extroverted medical type who runs and dances whose middle name is ‘self-esteem’.”
It’s a fair cop. 😉
I am a PATREON, so I got to see this week’s strip 32.2 minutes early.
It is AWESOME.
I’ll even read it again when you common plebes get it.
(cheapstakes. give EG a buck a month. crickets ain’t cheap and he needs to eat)
I really should have posted this one yesterday on Patreon. It was done early. But I was distracted because of kitchen renovations.
Who has time to be pragmatic?
There’s good to be looking!
Daphne should feel lucky she wasn’t first French Empire. Then, not only did you have to wear what in that culture was little, it had to be damp as well.
That sounds unpleasant.
Well, it was likely more cold than anything else. And if my memory is correct, it was likely also strange as it was one of those times when mothers were dressing like their daughters rather than daughters dressing like their mothers.
So THAT’S why there are three-piece suits- for men.
Exactly. The coolest guys have twelve-piece suits.
Sensei speaks the truth. I am 41, a possessor of the fabled “Dad-bod” without the benefit of kids to shift blame to for it, and the only way I can get through summer without turning my pants into a sweaty, smelly oven, is by wearing shorts of some description.
I am not a fan of the super-casual style for myself. I have a white-collar-ish/business casual background. I would prefer the dignity of pants over shorts if it were practically possible. It is not.
I look great in a suit. Most men do; they’re designed to make men look good, after all. I am actually a bit regretful I don’t get an excuse to wear one more often. (I concede not all dudes are with me on that point, and that’s fine).
However one cannot deny that in the warmer months of the year, they are composed of multiple layers of mainly black fabric, which are miserable to wear outdoors for a sunny July wedding.
Watched a younger guy faint during an August funeral a few years ago, during the outdoor burial portion. The women (most of whom can also wear shade-generating hats) were alarmed and confused. “Oh dear! Was he overwhelmed? Were they close?”
“No dammit! It’s 35°C and we’re standing in an open field with no shade, wearing all-black penguin suits! If that priest (who I am betting is not wearing anything but boxers under that airy white robe) doesn’t wrap it up soon, the rest of us are going to start dropping too!”
“PFT! It’s not THAT hot out!”
“We are NOT built the same, woman! Remember today next September when you want to snuggle up to be because YOUR skinny a#& is cold!”
There ARE suits that are summer weight, and drape lightly, allowing the fabric to breathe, but only rich people in the South buy those. Boys going to proms and weddings and funerals are always put in ridiculously hot wool suits.