ZOOT
The Tribe - Zoot
Zoot was only a part of The Tribe for the blink of an eye and yet his character
remains one of the most well- known and, surprisingly, well-loved.
Perhaps it is because we were able to get into the head of the guy that thought
Power and Chaos was the way when we saw how he behaved with his daughter and got
to take a look at how he turned from Martin to Zoot in the Pre-Tribe scenes.
Whatever it is, Zoot is alive and kicking in the hearts and minds of many Tribe
fans.
The Zoot look started out as a bad boy biker one but with the addition of an
adapted police outfit Zoot was definitely born.
Starting
at the bottom we can see that Zoot wears some comfy looking boots. Ex-army surplus
store, these boots are leather and come up to just above the ankles. They are
designed to be long-lasting and it looks like they are. No platforms here thanks,
Zoot is rough and rugged and his boots are well-worn and lived in.
The boots come up over the bottoms of the leather bikers pants that Zoot wears.
Made of hard-wearing leather these pants seem to be fairly comfortable although
like Slade's jacket they are heavy.
The back is made oblong
panel of white leather with white stitching down the back right hand side of the
trouser leg stretching from the waistband to the mid-thigh.
To the left of that there is a half -moon raised patch of blue leather with
blue stitching and there's another raised half-moon panel on the back left trouser
leg.
The waistband is blue leather and there is a decorative silver buckle and blue
leather strap in the centre of it with a brass popper on either side.
At the bottom of the back of each leg there is a vertical zip.
The front of the pants are red leather with red stitching. There is another
white oblong panel on the left leg that matches the one that is on the back of
the right leg.
There are also the same half-moon raised panels on both the front trouser legs
as there are on the back though these are red rather than blue.
There is one small pocket on the right hand trouser leg at hip level.
The knees of the trousers are made for bending and have zipped pockets. Just
underneath the knee pocket on each leg there is a raised red leather panel.
The trouser legs taper slightly and there is a piece of black elastic fitted
that Zoot would put his foot through to help keep the trouser legs straight.
The waistband is blue leather and there are 2 blue leather belt loops attached.
There is a long piece of blue leather that has 4 brass holes in it for the belt
toggle to go through - and there has been one more hole added - obviously Zoot
has a very slim waist!
The belt buckle is plain silver, nothing fancy and underneath the belt buckle
there is a silver popper and a zipper.
Worn
over the knees are knee-guards. These are made of a soft black denim material
with foam inserts to give a solid shape. A black plastic knee pad is stitched
on and it sits high on it's material backing.
There are silver studs glued on to the plastic cap as well as 2 pieces of elastic
with a silver belt buckle attached - purely for decoration. 3 holes are cut out
of the plastic cap on each side.
The knee-guard has black elastic stitched on which goes around the back of
the knee and then reattaches on the other side to Velcro.
There is an oblong piece of metal with small holes drilled into it that has
been attached to the knee-guard by 2 metal studs. The whole metal piece has been
spray-painted red.
There is a piece of metal chain that is attached to the bottom of the knee-guard
by soft black leather and metal studs.
Zoot
wears layers and the first one is a shirt and tie. Well, nothing like any other
shirt we've seen! A good quality cotton shirt, originally white it has been dirtied
up a bit and shredded too!
Seen
from the back, you will notice that the shirt has a split all the way from the
bottom to the mid-back area.
The sleeves have been cut off and the front has been shredded, leaving only
the collar and a piece of the shirt that can be tied to hold it all together.
The collar is worn buttoned up and a blue raggedy tie is worn with it.
The collar sits over the next layer which is a basketball top. Made of red,
white and blue perforated material this top allows Zoot's skin to breath!
The back is red with a big white 14 in the centre. The front is primarily red
with a white and blue panel. There is a smaller white number 14 on the chest and
the collar is also white.
Worn around the collar and over the tie and tops is an amazing necklace. Each
side is the same and is made up of panels.
The
first panel is made of very soft black leather. It has silver braces attachments
at the top which would fasten to the shirt to keep it in place.
There are 2 holes punched through the leather towards the top and they have
brass studs in them.
There is a silver metal star glued to the left leather panel.
A silver metal strap secures the next panel on each side which is made of woven
khaki coloured almost metallic fibre. It is stuck to a stretchy blue-green material.
Almost like a tubi grip bandage in texture.
At the end of these panels there is a silver metal band and the panels are
joined together at the bottom by a bolt.
This marks the start of the metal horseshoe shape off which hangs a bone carving
of a bulls face.
The
bull is probably made out of cow bone and it has grooves carved into it to make
the shape of the face.
Covering the top of this carving is a helmet made of tarnished silver metal.
Attached to this are 2 horns, again probably made out of cow bone.
The horns are held in place by a slim silver metal band with circles decorating
it. The helmet has intricate silver metal spirals, dots and flowers stuck on and
there is an opal coloured stone set in silver at the centre of the hat.
This carving is attached to the horseshoe shaped clump of metal by 3 pieces
of chain and a washer that sits in the middle of the horseshoe piece. This is
held in place by a screw with a bolt at either end.
Over
the shirt comes the jacket. This is perhaps Zoot's best known item of clothing.
Viewed from the front we can see that the jacket is an old navy blue suit jacket.
Lined with black silky material, this jacket is good quality.
Or should be say was good quality?
Zoot has made the additions of several safety pins and chains that appear all
over the jacket.
The cuffs of the sleeves have been cut off so they look pretty ragged and there
are black commanders stripes stitched onto the lower part of the sleeves.
The left breast pocket had a patch covering it and held on with large safety
pins. It is black with red stitching and has a white emblem and the words Cress
Earth painted on to it.
On the left lapel there are 3 silver numbers pinned on - 404.
The top of the sleeves have silver metal commanders stripes attached to them
with silver nuts and bolts.
On
the each shoulder there is a black twisted rope that stretches from the shoulder
seam to the collar bone and is then secured with a silver button that has a crown
emblem on it.
There are 6 crown emblem silver buttons on the front of the jacket and they
have all been spray painted red.
The back of the jacket has a large emblem attached to it with safety pins.
It is cream coloured flag material and has a red explosive emblem on it with the
red words Keep Warm Burn The Rich printed on to it.
Hanging off the bottom safety pins are more safety pins and various silver
chains.
There is also a large silver Roman coin attached to the back by a chain and
safety pins.
The
hat is another stand-out Zoot feature and it is an old navy band-player's hat
that has had a few alterations made.
There are safety pins all over the top of the hat and some goggles attached
to the front above the peak.
These goggles look like they have come from an old motorcycle helmet.
Rarely seen without the hat, Zoot keeps his dreads underneath and that completes
the unique, rebellious style of Zoot.
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