Batman
Batman’s costume has gone from campy (think Adam West in the 1960s TV series) to sexy (think George Clooney or Val Kilmer in the bat-suit). You have the option of creating the bat-suit from anything from cotton to intensely molded latex and rubber. If you choose the latter, it might be best to order the costume.
For children, the simplest Batman costume (and the one that will look the least ridiculous) is the Adam West version. As Batman, Adam West wore grey tights and grey tight fitting long sleeve shirt. On top of that you simply need to add largish navy blue underwear, a yellow utility belt (which on West was simple a belt with yellow squares on it), navy blue boots, gloves, the cape and the mask.
Adam West’s Batman costume is a light grey with navy blue accents: all other movie costumes were dark grey or black on black. The comics have used the dark grey and navy combination, and some use dark grey and black, but none are as bright and easy to see as Adam West’s costume.
Batman’s cape is a long black cape: it brushes down by his calves. Batman’s cape is also shaped differently than many other capes: it has semicircles cut of out of the bottom so that if you were to extend the cape, it might look like the wings of a bat.
Batman’s mask is a larger mask than Robin’s: it is more of a balaclava because it covers his whole head and leaves only the bottom of the nose (sometimes) and the mouth showing. The mask has two pointy ears on the top. Adam West’s bat-mask has eyebrows on them too.
Batman’s boots are taller than many superheroes’ boots: his reach up to his knee. Sometimes Batman’s boots have a point in the front pointing upwards. The gloves that Batman uses often have mini-wing accents on the forearms.
Batman has the bat-symbol on his chest. This is the silhouette of a bat (like in the bat-signal) and it is centered. The bat-symbol is typically black on the grey background. Michael Keaton’s bat-suit was black and so had the bat-symbol silhouetted in a yellow circle. Comic versions of the suit have more stylized bat symbols, and some omit the oval surrounding the bat altogheter: The Christian Bale movie has such a style.
In the latest Batman movie, Batman Begins, Christian Bale plays Batman. His suit is all black, and his bat-symbol is merely a black silhouette. Christian Bale’s bat-suit also has black bracers on his arms
Hint for all people wearing a Batman costume: you can add anything to a Batman costume by simply saying that it is the bat-x. As in, “What do mean this isn’t part of my costume? This is my bat-beret!” And don’t forget to find a Robin to complete the outfit!
