Pretty, Fizzy Paradise

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Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Belated thoughts on Supergirl's skirt

It occurred to me that I haven't yet commented on Supergirl suddenly having shorts.

Probably because my brain just filed it away as "another costume change" and didn't find it particularly notable at the time. I think it was a good idea though. Supergirl's skirt never bothered me much, I always assumed it was a skirted leotard way back when, and well, it was the least of the problems of the early current version's costume, but I'm looking at the picture and I realize that even aside from the shorts, somehow, with me not noticing, they've actually made her outfit almost tasteful.

I'm still irrationally bothered by the midriff thing, but she's been wearing a skirt more than a glorified belt for quite a while, and the cut of the shirt has become more modest too. Now she's actually wearing a costume that I could picture Martha Kent having made for her. Seriously, that's always been my biggest problem with her original costume. I can accept that sometimes teenagers don't always have the wisdom to distinguish sexy from slutty, and that a teen girl, especially a super-powered one, might make some unfortunate clothing decisions in an effort to display her individuality. I could NOT accept that a grown woman of Martha Kent's background and personality would ever let the girl out of the house like that, let alone MAKE that for her. (In my own mental retcon, Martha made a costume more like the original Supergirl's classic costume, and Kara took scissors to it after the fact.)

So with that out of the way, I think the shorts are a good idea. They're cute, age-appropriate, and definitely a benefit to young girls who might want to cosplay. I do think eventually the outfit may feel a bit dated, but by that point, maybe they'll have a new costume design.

I think a lot of times, especially with this version of Supergirl, I've tended to harp on the negatives rather than the positives, but I really do think this is a good change.

5 Comments:

  • At July 08, 2009 11:55 AM, Blogger Your Obedient Serpent said…

    I'd like them to RE-establish the early Bronze Age tradition that Supergirl has a variety of costumes.

    That said, I have to say that even the Hot Pants outfit they finally settled on in the mid-'70s looks less dated now than her current outfit.

     
  • At July 08, 2009 3:00 PM, Blogger David Tai said…

    I'd say go through Sterling Gates' run... it's very very good, and I think gets down to making Supergirl a likeable girl instead of, well, a reflection of what writers think today's girls are like :P

     
  • At July 08, 2009 6:04 PM, Blogger SallyP said…

    Oh Kara definitely made her own...improvements to the costume. Thank goodness she's seen the light.

     
  • At July 08, 2009 10:17 PM, Blogger Centurion said…

    There was a fair amount of coverage over this bit at HeroesCon this year. It's odd overall how petty people can be over what can generally be seen as not just an improvement over the design, but as improvement in the title itself.

    It was also interesting just how many people were requesting sketches of supergirl from Igle.

     
  • At July 09, 2009 4:34 PM, Blogger tavella said…

    I'm not hugely fond of the bike shorts + skirt look, as someone says, kind of already dated, but it's certainly better than the skirt-belt. I kind of liked the shorts outfit she used to have, myself.

     

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