Most superhero costumes are so ugly and uncomfortable that they aren’t even worn by the people who have to wear them. That’s because they’re made with cheap fabrics, or they’re made without special considerations for being worn under a costume.
A few years ago I saw a woman at an event wearing a superhero costume that looked like it had been made in the ’70s. She was very stylish in an eccentric way, but there was no way she could be seen as stylish or confident wearing that costume. She looked like she’d just stepped out of a time machine, and was embarrassed by her costume’s ugliness and lack of styling.
I’m not going to go into how to make your own superhero costume here. My advice is more general: pay attention to how you’re dressed at all times, especially when you’re about to don your costume for public view.
You may want to buy new clothes before making a big appearance in public, and I’ll admit that if you do it right, buying new clothes can make you look better than buying old ones; but that doesn’t mean you should do it when it’s inconvenient or expensive.
The first thing to remember is that while the superhero costume looks amazing, it’s not really all that comfortable. You’ll feel like you’re wearing a corset instead of a t-shirt. And you may wish you were more comfortable, but there’s no way to tell your other friends that this is what you have to do because you want to be a superhero.
The second thing that makes the costume uncomfortable is that it makes you look like a guy. Women who wear superhero costumes look like guys who wear women’s clothes, or at least they do when they are not wearing any other clothes underneath. They’re just wearing a piece of fabric with a “cape,” which doesn’t make them men or women, just a person wearing a cape.
The third thing that makes the costume uncomfortable is that it puts you in an awkward position. The superhero outfit is designed for someone who can run around fighting crime, which means it has no straps at all under the breasts and small straps over the shoulders and back, so they’re always falling off. That’s why superheroes always keep their legs crossed when they’re standing still and their arms folded across their chest when they’re running. They don’t want to be an easy target for people with guns.
Once you’ve decided
If you put on a superhero costume, you will be watched. You will be stared at and pointed at. You will look ridiculous. But that’s fine because if you can get people to stare at you for long enough without breaking eye contact, you’re a superhero.
There are subtle social cues for a superhero costume: it is somewhere between an everyday outfit and something you don’t care about. It is somewhere between an everyday outfit and something you’ve put in the washing machine; if you put it in the washing machine it’s still not quite right but it’s close enough that people won’t notice. That bizarre three-layer logic is the key to wearing any kind of costume: You can’t go too far wrong.
When we think about superheroes, our first impulse is to think about the costumes. Superman, Spider-Man, Batman – all those comic book covers have an image of the costumes on them. And if you look at photos of actual superhero costumes, they do look pretty amazing.
But there are other things that matter more than outfits. They’ll tell you that a good costume isn’t just one that fits well, but one that feels comfortable and makes you feel confident. They’ll tell you the most important thing is the mask: no one will know who you are if your face is hidden behind a mask. They’ll tell you to spend time practicing in front of a mirror before trying to do an act for your friends and family and teachers – at least until you get it right. But that’s not necessary for a professional performance. The point is to act like yourself in front of people who don’t know what you’re doing.
A superhero costume is a way to make yourself feel like a superhero. It is a way to get in the mood to be a hero.
The costume itself, however, is not really the most important thing. The most important thing is the idea of being a superhero. As with any other performance, it’s about putting on the right face and working out what you are supposed to be doing. Once you have decided that this is who you want to be, then all the bits and bobs of costume are what are needed to get you there.
The “superhero costume” is just the outside thing that gets you there.
Wearing a superhero costume is like wearing a disguise: the best way to do it, the most convincing, and the most fun is to have one that makes you feel good.
What does it feel like to be super? It feels like you are in charge of your own destiny. You feel strong and powerful, capable of making choices that you would never make if you were just some regular person.
When I was a kid I used to put on my father’s old costume that he had made for him when he was the Flash. It was sort of a police uniform with boots and a belt and everything. Anyway, I loved it. I felt awesome in it, like in an action movie. But it wasn’t just about the costume; it was about what it meant to wear it and how that made me feel. It made me feel powerful, like I could do anything, even become a superhero myself someday.
That feeling of power is exactly what being super is all about.
It’s called the “Supergirl costume,” but it looks more like a tutu and fishnets.
The woman in the photo is wearing a homemade costume, made of black spandex. She has a mask, a cape, and boots that look like they’re held on with shoelaces. The outfit is very tight and stretchy. There are no straps or fasteners on the top of her chest; instead, her breasts bulge out from the sides of the costume. When she is standing up straight, her long red hair reaches down to her waist. She is holding two swords: one for slashing, one for stabbing.
The photos are from the website Cosplayismagic , which collects photos of people wearing comic-book-inspired outfits.
It turns out that among people who wear superhero costumes at conventions–costume enthusiasts who meet in person every year for a few days to dress up as their favorite superheroes–the Supergirl costume is not unusual at all. The popularity of the costume seems to have begun in 2008 and taken off in 2010, when the blog Geek Girl Chic featured it prominently.