Release the Sewing Machine of Justice

[Nothere]

So I was thinking about costume design, and was wondering what people thought in general. The underwear on the outside cape look ready for a comeback? The colorful  bodystocking better than the bare chest and big guns? Are you pro or anti chest emblem? Are there specific styles better suited for the brick, acrobat, and flying character?

[steriaca]

Lolita fashion superheroes. Nothing strikes fear in criminals like victorian lace and ribbons.

[Ninja-Bear]

Well for acrobats and martial artists, I think you would want bidy stocking style clothes with the most freedom of movement.

[massey]

I prefer the old 4 color designs over any of the newer stuff.  There's an element of the ridiculous in superheroes anyway.  We're talking about people flying around and breathing fire, not exactly realistic stuff.  Insisting on modern, leathery tacti-cool costumes just doesn't work for me.

[aylwin13]

I prefer the old 4 color designs over any of the newer stuff.  There's an element of the ridiculous in superheroes anyway.  We're talking about people flying around and breathing fire, not exactly realistic stuff.  Insisting on modern, leathery tacti-cool costumes just doesn't work for me.

 

I agree. There are certain instances where the newer stuff works, but in general I'm good with the older costumes.

[freakboy6117]

It's interesting the capes and trunks look is something that was common amongst entertainers acrobats etc. when the first mystery men and super heroes. Modern suits are still based on athletic wear just the modern high tech versions.

[wcw43921]

So I was thinking about costume design, and was wondering what people thought in general. The underwear on the outside cape look ready for a comeback? The colorful  bodystocking better than the bare chest and big guns? Are you pro or anti chest emblem? Are there specific styles better suited for the brick, acrobat, and flying character?

 

I may have said this before, but I'll say it here--they're trunks, not underwear-on-the-outside.  Trunks.  Look at Superman--when did you ever see underwear with belt loops.  Those are trunks, okay?

 

As you may have guessed, I'm with massey--I prefer the classic tights look.  Nothing against more modern designs--I especially liked the armors they came up with for the Big Hero 6 movie, and for Michael Keaton as Batnan.  But as someone with fond memories of George Reeves and Christopher Reeve as Superman and Adam West as Batman,  I got to give it to the tights.

 

Capes, too.

[Anaximander]

I prefer traditional cape and tights for supers, but I mainly employ whatever I think best fits the character's theme.  I do insist that a character's a'venturing clothes to be somewhat distinctive and different than their everyday clothes.

[Scott Anderson]

1. Original costumes (make of that what you will) are based on modified circus garb.  They're easy to draw.  Capes show dynamic movement.  Superman's outfit was a brilliant stroke.  Costumes have been based on his for 80 years- either variations on a theme or antitheses of it.

 

2. There are only so many color combinations to work with.  When a popular hero locks one of them up, the artist has to move on to another.  After a while, costumes become more and more baroque to avoid copying something that's already established.

 

3. Almost nobody without some kind of superpowered defenses would actually fight crime in tights.  Woman character are especial and nearly universal offenders in this, often wearing the cloth equivalent of minimal body paint.  HAS NOBODY HEARD OF PANTS?

[bubba smith]

I agree with feakboy

[TheQuestionMan]

It's Comic Book trope of Defensive Nudity.

 

Effectively Combat Luck or Distraction. How many young folk accidently crashed into immovable objects when paying too much attention to the object of you desire/lust. ❤️

 

 

QM

[Nothere]

I blame the trend towards realism. For decades Batman had nothing bullet proof. Then his emblem became bulletproof. Now Even his socks are bulletproof. Course this being Batman his socks are also wifi capable and have eight secret compartments.

[Christopher]

So I was thinking about costume design, and was wondering what people thought in general. The underwear on the outside cape look ready for a comeback? The colorful  bodystocking better than the bare chest and big guns? Are you pro or anti chest emblem? Are there specific styles better suited for the brick, acrobat, and flying character?

For flying or growing Characters: No miniskirts. Or at least wear unoffensive underwear.

http://evil-inc.com/comic/skirt-the-issue/

 

Personally I prefer the more practical modern Costumes. Stuff like Wonder Womans Costume in teh "Justice League War" continuity:

http://www.watchcartoononline.com/justice-league-war-2014

 

The Jack Snider Superman and Batman interpretations make a lot of sense for me too, especially from the Costume perspective.

Just his Wonder Women looks a bit wierd with all the Bronze.

 

Or the Avengers Costumes.

 

A few months ago there was a thread about "practical superhero costumes" made by a designer. It had some good examples too (but I fail to find it).

[DShomshak]

I prefer the traditional tights/bodystocking, but it depends on the character. Some characters demand other "looks" as a way to show something about their personality, personal circumstance or powers. Frex, I have one character whose "costume" consists of blue jeans, athletic shoes, and a letter jacket with a cross on the breast and "Jesus" written across the back where a school or team name would normally be. He's an Evangelical Christian just out of high school, and his identifying quote is, "Are you on Team Jesus or Team Satan?" My martial artist hero Steel Phoenix's costume is a karate gi with wrestler's boots, gloves and a mask. And then, for characters who are physically unusual their body is effectively their "costume," such as werewolves, demons, robots, etc.

 

I like chest logos, but I suck at designing them.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Nothere]

So somebody did an internet poll on four traditional comic designs. The votes were yes cape, no tights, no trunks, and yes white eyes. Personlly I would have made the fourth insignias. I never really considered white eyes a tradition. What say the board. Is a hero not a hero without a big S, bat or spider on their chest?

[GCMorris]

I'm against chest emblems unless you are the superman/captain America type. I have two groups, the first group are Victorian era characters in the modern world. They wear mostly typical Victorian apparel. The second group wears body socks with no capes or emblem and usually one or two colors.

[assault]

I've got a superheroine who wears a costume based on the Burkini. It's got the classic super costume stuff, except for not being skintight.

[massey]

Watching the Olympics a few weeks ago, I saw something that made me think of this thread.

 

The US women's gymnasts had some very super-ish uniforms.

 

 

Spandex with strong primary colors can look good.  Of course it looks better on somebody who is in great shape, as opposed to it being stretched to the breaking point when donned by most roleplayers or convention goers.

[Badger]

1. Original costumes (make of that what you will) are based on modified circus garb.  They're easy to draw.  Capes show dynamic movement.  Superman's outfit was a brilliant stroke.  Costumes have been based on his for 80 years- either variations on a theme or antitheses of it.

 

2. There are only so many color combinations to work with.  When a popular hero locks one of them up, the artist has to move on to another.  After a while, costumes become more and more baroque to avoid copying something that's already established.

 

3. Almost nobody without some kind of superpowered defenses would actually fight crime in tights.  Woman character are especial and nearly universal offenders in this, often wearing the cloth equivalent of minimal body paint.  HAS NOBODY HEARD OF PANTS?

 

Pants?

 

Heh, most I play, tend to prefer either combat fatigues, or T-shirt/blue jeans.

 

 

Probably the one clear case of inserting my own aesthetics into my characters.  My opinion on nearly every hero costume ever "the hell I'd ever go into battle wearing that"  (power armor characters being the big exception, considering the armor being part of their powers) 

 

Edit: Yeah, superhero costumes in the one thing I do hate from the superhero genre.  Though since I love the genre, I can ignore it. 

[Balabanto]

I've got a superheroine who wears a costume based on the Burkini. It's got the classic super costume stuff, except for not being skintight.

 

I played a female arabic superhero. She wore a Burqa. That's right. A full burqa. It conceals your face, she had desert/sand themed powers, and was comfortable when standing in a large cloud of sand. 

[Badger]

I played a female arabic superhero. She wore a Burqa. That's right. A full burqa. It conceals your face, she had desert/sand themed powers, and was comfortable when standing in a large cloud of sand. 

 

Such powers are probably more appropriate to more restrictive clothing.  A more physical heroine would probably find it a bit inconvenient.

[death tribble]

I don't like the idea of a woman showing off her midriff for no readily apparent reason. Some of the designs for example of Supergirl were daft. Also using a more realistic body shape as it would seem to encourage anorexia otherwise. The classic Wonder Woman design is really the most flesh you should see on a Superheroine. And no high heels unless you are flying almost all the time.

When Captain America was fighting Superia and there were a horde of women villains, almost all had costumes which were serviceable and non revealing.

[bluesguy]

Watching the Olympics a few weeks ago, I saw something that made me think of this thread.

 

The US women's gymnasts had some very super-ish uniforms.

 

 

Spandex with strong primary colors can look good.  Of course it looks better on somebody who is in great shape, as opposed to it being stretched to the breaking point when donned by most roleplayers or convention goers.

And they were pretty darn near superhero level in DEX and Acrobatics abilities.

[assault]

I don't like the idea of a woman showing off her midriff for no readily apparent reason. Some of the designs for example of Supergirl were daft. Also using a more realistic body shape as it would seem to encourage anorexia otherwise. The classic Wonder Woman design is really the most flesh you should see on a Superheroine. And no high heels unless you are flying almost all the time.

When Captain America was fighting Superia and there were a horde of women villains, almost all had costumes which were serviceable and non revealing.

 

Taking a cue from what women, especially young women, actually wear is a good idea. This includes, but shouldn't be limited to, what they wear in summer. This is why revealing costumes are actually OK, up to a point. They just shouldn't be universal.

 

The midriff thing falls into this. Yes, some young women favour this,

 

But: there is also the question of fashion. There will be years when you would be seeing the bellies of half the women between the ages of 13 and 25, and other times you won't. That's a problem for character design, since characters seldom update their looks according to the whims of fashion.

 

And that's assuming that often middle aged and male players have the slightest clue about this kind of stuff...

 

We should get onto male costumes at some point. Tarzan's loincloth, Hulk-style ragged pants or Namoresque speedos?

[Lucius]

I like capes and I like chest emblems. But not necessarily for every character.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary turns both heads to look over its body, turns them again to look at you with that double barreled gaze, and asks "Costume?"