e168. Time to Stop Wearing Underwear on the Outside

Have you ever noticed how infrequently superheroes in most superhero TV shows and movies actually wear their superhero costumes? It makes sense when you think about it. Superhero costumes are actually kind of silly: wearing underwear on the outside of spandex bodysuits? They’re based on pop culture tropes from nearly a century ago, which honestly only barely made sense at the time. Now, over 80 years later, the classic idea of a superhero costume is just completely ridiculous. Most cinematic superhero costumes have been redesigned to take more modern design aesthetics into account, but even then they’re “kind of silly”. So most of the time, we just have our superhero characters avoiding them altogether. But why? Are superhero costumes more than just underwear on the outside? On today’s show, Mav and Wayne welcome back returning guest, Hollywood costumer and superhero fashion historian Monica Geraffo to look at the history, future, logic, aesthetics, semiotics, culture behind superhero costumes. And as a bonus, we also discuss Batman and… “if he does that”… because of course we do. Listen and let us know what you think. Citations and Links: * This episode’s Call for Comments* WornOnTV.net – Arrow* Celebrity Style Guide – Arrow* The Superhero Costume: Identity and Disguise in Fact and Fiction by Barbara Brownie & Danny Graydon * Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme* Follow Monica on Instagram: @monicamarvelous* Follow Monica’s website: https://www.monicamarvelous.com* Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick* Follow Katya on Instagram: @justthatnerdkid * Follow Wayne on Instagram: @tetroc2017* Follow Mav’s Personal Blog: http://chrismaverick.com* Follow Wayne’s Personal Blog: http://wayne-wise.com * Follow us on Twitter: @voxpopcast* Follow us on Instagram: @voxpopcast* Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/voxpopcast* Like and Subscribe to us on YouTube!* Make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever podcasts are found and please leave us a review!

Om Podcasten

Vox Populorum is a blog and podcast devoted to pop culture criticism. We believe that the best way to understand culture is to discuss it. But we also believe that it's a lot more fun to have these conversations throwing back a couple beers at the bar rather than in a classroom. Please join our weekly round table of media critics, academics, creators, artists, professors, students and fans for an engaging discussion about movies, novels, comic books, television, video games, music or whatever else we happen to think of! Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.