[Benedict and I have had] a discussion—how vain is [Sherlock], really?
All the great Sherlock Holmeses—including Benedict—are always impeccably dressed, always beautifully turned-out.
I doubt if Sherlock Holmes ever started, ah, dating a woman, that she’d ever see a mirror, because he’d be too busy adjusting his hair. It’s the thing that Benedict started doing, in-character, every time there’s a mirror he just goes—[Moffat motions checking his hair]—‘Still cool.’
—Y’know: ‘I find no women attractive but they better fancy me.’
So we discussed how much that is just his need to be the alpha male in the room, and to take command, and to therefore to look good … or is there a real moment of vanity?
He wears expensive shirts; he wears good suits. And Benedict’s not the only Sherlock Holmes that does that. They’re all well-turned-out.
[…]
He would dress well because everything that is worth doing at all, as far as Sherlock Holmes is concerned, is worth doing extremely well.
Steven Moffat
(Babel on SVT Sweden, April 2014 [x])
his need to be the alpha male in the room, and to take command
(via traumachu)
Yeah, I can’t buy into any of those interpretations that claim that Sherlock secretly hates himself or is actually insecure. This is bona fide 100% rock-solid egotistical vanity.
Like, if Sherlock did actually think Irene was hot, it’s because there’s nothing he’d love to fuck more than a mirror. (Or maybe John, that miraculous creature who loves Sherlock as much as Sherlock does. ^_^)