Spiderman, like his superhero contemporaries, has undergone some costume changes. His costume has at points been entirely black with only a white spider symbol on the chest, and more recently a gold and crimson armor costume with many accessories. However, Spiderman’s classic blue and red costume is the most easily recognizable.

Spidey’s feet are in red boots, which are fairly tight to his body. They come up almost to his knees. Every part of Spiderman’s costume that is red has a black webbing pattern on it.

Spiderman wears a blue leotard. Over this leotard is a red band that looks like a belt. (Spiderman is one of the few superheroes who doesn’t go for the underwear-over-his-clothes look) On his shirt there is a red pattern that extends from his shoulders to his belt: it narrows as it gets lower. On this red pattern is Spiderman’s symbol: a black spider that looks as if it is crawling the black-on-red web.

The top part of Spiderman’s arms (not his upper arm, but the top as in facing upwards) are in the red web material, and the lower part is in the solid blue material. The red meets the red on his chest perfectly to create a nice line.

Spiderman wears red gloves that go up to his mid-forearm. Spiderman’s costume, although it has lines in certain places, is all sewn together, connected, or made of one piece of material.

Spiderman doesn’t carry any weapons, just the ability to squirt his web from his hands.

If you are interested in getting the Spiderman look without the hassle of getting a costume, you can get Spiderman t-shirts and clothes. For children, consider buying Spiderman pyjamas to use a Hallowe’en costume (and then to use again later!)

Michelle Pfieffer’s Catwoman wears a skin-tight leather suit from head to toe, complete with pointy ears. This Catwoman costume you can see the grey stitching. The eye holes for Catwoman are larger than on most masks. Catwoman wears smouldering eye make-up, and dark blood-red lipstick. Her light complexion contrasts with the black plastic or leather costume (but note that a light complexion is not a must for Catwoman, like Eartha Kitt or Halle Berry).

Sometime Catwoman’s costume has a tail, other times her costume does not have a tail. Hardcore comic fans will tell you that the tail is not in the cannon, and should be omitted from any costume. Sometimes in the comic books her costume is a deep shade of purple, as well. When she wears a dark purple suit, she wears black gloves past her elbows, and thigh-high black boots.

In the 1960s Batman television series, Eartha Kitt played Catwoman. Her Catwoman costume was black, and fit tightly as well. The major difference was that her costume didn’t have a full mask. Her mask was very small, just to cover the area around her eyes. It had large eye holes and slanted upwards to mimic the shape of cat’s eyes.

Halle Berry most recently played Catwoman in the poorly-received movie. This is not the traditional Catwoman that we know, Selina Kyle, but a different Catwoman, Patience Phillips. Halle Berry’s Catwoman costume is the most revealing: she wears a fuller head mask, and then wears a black halter bra, black gloves past the elbow, and black leather pants. There is a criss-cross of leather around her bare midriff, to create a torn look. This costume would certainly not be appropriate for children or adolescents.

The modern comics Catwoman is much less scantily clad than some other versions. Her black hair is trimmed short, and she wears a black leather jumpsuit. She wears a smaller mask that is basically a pair of large goggles with a cat’s eye effect at the top.

Catwoman carries a black whip, regardless of her incarnation. See our safety tips for ideas on how to safely let children wear weapons.

However, most Robins (whoever they are) generally look about the same. Robin, named after Robin Hood, has a costume that does remind you a bit of one of the merry men. Robin wears a red tunic with green sleeves and a yellow cape.

The 1960s television and movie Robin, played by Burt Ward (opposite Adam West), wears skin-coloured tights with green boots. On top of these tights he wears (essentially) green underwear underneath his green tunic. Sometimes Robin is depicted without the tights at all.

When Robin wears a green tunic, he has a black belt at his waist: the tunic falls below the belt. His tunic has large yellow stitches up the front. Robin has an insignia on his left breast: a black circle with a yellow R in it.

The Tim Drake Robin in comic books has a more modern costume. He wears green tights. Over his green tights he wears a red bodysuit with green sleeves. When Chris O’Donnell played Robin in Batman and Robin, his costume often kept the same colours as the Tim Drake comic book robin (though Chris O’Donnell’s character was Dick Grayson). Chris O’Donnell also donned a stylized grey and black latex costume to play Robin in the Batman and Robin.

Robin, like Batman, wears a domino mask. Robin’s mask is a small eye-covering mask, like something you would wear to a masquerade ball. Robin’s mask is sometimes dark green in the comic books, and sometimes brown.

Robin’s green boots are much shorter than Batman’s boots. Robin’s boots are ankle boots, and sometimes flare out at the top.

The most definitive part of a Robin costume is clearly the yellow cape. This cape, tied at the neck, sometimes fits under the topmost yellow collar on Robin’s tunic. Check out our safety tips about capes.

Robin wears green gloves, which are always a fun addition to any costume. Robin’s glove are long elbow length gloves that flare out at the end.

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!

The main difference is that George Reeves and the TV cartoon Superman don’t have many muscles at all (this could make for an amusing costume); their costume seems very simple to us now. Other supermen have muscles. Short of going to the gym, you could get a suit with built-in muscle, or order a muscle suit to go with your costume. This could also add to the hilarity of your costume, as would stuffing your shirt to create fake muscles.

Not only have there been many different versions of Superman, sometimes Superman himself dons a different costume! There is, of course, Superman’s mild-mannered alter ego, Clark Kent, the reporter at the Daily Planet. The most notable part of Clark Kent’s outfit is the thick black-rimmed glasses. Remember: these glasses have to be distracting enough so that Lois Lane won’t figure out that Superman is the same person as Clark Kent! Clark also typically wears button up shirts, and carries a pen and pad of paper to get the latest scoop.

Superman himself also sometimes wears different costumes. Superman, at one point, had a Man of Energy outfit that was electric blue (with a more jagged stylized S). You will probably not be able to find one of Superman’s alternate costumes at a costume shop, but you could put in the time and energy to make one. Unfortunately, Superman’s alternate costumes won’t be as recognizable, so most people choose to stick with Superman’s classic red, yellow, and blue uniform.

Superman’s costume is made of the primary colours: blue, yellow, and red. Superman’s leotard is blue (think of this as a skin tight one-piece: some Superman costumes are quite tight, and others, particularly children’s costumes, are much looser). On top of his blue leotard, Superman wears what is essentially a pair of red underwear held up by a yellow belt. Superman has red boots, but these boots are not big or clunky: they often appear to simply be a part of his leotard.

As with any good superhero costume, a superman costume would not be complete without a cape. Superman’s cape is red. It is typically cut just above the ankle length at mid-calf, though some variations have the superman cape hanging to the lower back.

The most defining characteristic in superman’s costume is the stylized S on the front of his uniform. As you can see, the S is red, and is in a stylized gem shape that is also red. The background is yellow. Sometimes this S is embossed (as in Brandon Routh’s costume in the new Superman Returns movie) and other times this S is simply made with flat fabric (as with the comic book drawings of Superman and the George Reeves costume).

Superman’s hair is black and straight, and often cut fairly short with a curl on the forehead. However, for a convincing superman costume, hair is the least important element.

If you want to go as Superman but don’t want to put the effort into finding a costume, Superman t-shirts have been popular choices for men, women, and children. You can find these superman t-shirts alone or in a set of underoos. There is more superman merchandise available, from superman boxers and superman briefs to kid-friendly superman pyjamas.

The variations in Superman’s costume brings us to a new topic:choosing your Superman. Although there has arguably been only one man of steel, there have been many incarnations of his fictional persona.

This site has the best of both worlds: that is, the best of marvel superheroes and the best of DC superheroes, with some extra heroes thrown in for good measure.

You might want to consider checking out the costumes for Superman, Batman, or Spiderman. You might want to read about Wonder Woman or Catwoman.

If you are choosing to make a costume, this site will give you options for your design choices, and help you not forget anything. If you are looking to buy a costume, this site will help you choose the costume that you find most flattering.

This site has costume ideas that are appropriate for both children and adults.

Remember to check out our costume safety tips before making or buying any costume. Then, you can have fun stealing from the rich and giving to the poor and leaping tall buildings in a single bound, and still manage to keep yourself safe to save Gotham later.

Electra has a few different costumes. The typical comic-book costume for Elektra is her in a red bathing suit. At the top of the bathing suit, there is only one shoulder. She wears red knee-high boots. Each thigh is circled by two red bands. Her lower arms are almost entirely covered by red bracers (made of material), and her upper arms sport a red band each.

Elektra sometimes wears a red band around her head (but under her hair in the back so that it is only seen at the front). Other times she covers her hair entirely with a red bandanna.

In the Elektra movie, Jennifer Garner’s costume was similar to but slightly different than comic book Elektra. Jennifer Garner’s Elektra wears long red pants, which look to be leather. The movie Elektra has a bare midriff under a low-cut red halter shirt. Instead of wearing arm bands, the movie Elektra has medium-width swaths of red material wrapped around her arm in a diamond pattern from her hand to her elbow.

Elektra carries two blades, also called sais, which have three prongs: the one in the middle being longest and straight, and the ones on the side being shorter and slightly curved. Elektra carries her sais because she is an assassin: like Catwoman, Elektra is a vixen of a villainess.

Daredevil’s first costume is not as recognizable as his later red costume. Daredevil’s costume was a yellow leotard (not a bright yellow, but more of a mustard color). Over this he wore maroon boots (so dark that they are almost black) that lace-up in the front and extend to mid calf. He wears a dark maroon-black coloured tight fighting tunic over his yellow leotard, which is cut like briefs at the bottom, is belted with maroon, and ends at the yellow sleeves, with a round neck.

On Daredevil’s chest is his logo, two interlocked Ds. The double Ds on his yellow costume have been drawn as yellow, or as maroon. Daredevil’s face is covered by an yellow mask with two pointed devil horns.

Daredevil’s more well known costume is entirely red (though this too is more of a maroon red). Matt Murdock is blind, and so his costume covers his eyes entirely. It is not advisable to cover your eyes for a costume for safety reasons. Daredevil’s red mask also has pointed devil ears.

Daredevil’s costume is an entirely red leotard that covers his whole body except for his mouth and nose. His red gloves are the same colour as his costume, and extend to just below his elbows.

On Daredevil’s chest there is the double-D logo. This is a brighter red than the rest of his costume, and is outlined with black.

Daredevil is known for carrying a billy-club. Daredevil’s billy-club is modified: it can be disguised as a blind man’s can when he is Matt Murdock.

If you are going with more than one person, Daredevil’s girlfriend is Elektra.

Robin Hood wears green tights. He wears a green or brown belt. Sometimes Robin Hood has a bright Kelly green outfit (think Errol Flynn), and other times his green is more muted and somber (like Kevin Costner). Robin Hood wears greens and browns, so that he can easily hide in Sherwood Forest.

Robin Hood wears distinctive brown boots. They are flat-footed, and come to mid-calf, where they fold over at the top and are slightly floppy.

For Robin Hood’s shirt, you can choose to have a brown or beige collared shirt underneath a green vest. Other people choose to portray Robin Hood in more of a tunic. There are many options. Generally, Robin Hood wears short sleeves.

Robin Hood’s hat is his most defining feature. The green pointed cap is always feathered, and the larger the feather, the better. The feather is sometimes red.

Robin Hood carries a bow, and has a quiver of arrows slung across his back. For the sake of a costume, it is probably easiest to glue your fake arrows into your quiver. The leather piece that holds the quiver on goes diagonally across the chest. You also have the option of carrying a sword as Robin Hood, though that can be cumbersome in a costume, and it might detract from your bow.

The Incredibles, like The Fantastic Four, all wear the same uniform. The base of the Incredibles uniform is a red leotard. On this, they wear black boots, and black underwear. Above their black underwear, they have a yellow belt. They have black round collars, and black gloves to the elbow.

On their chest, the Incredibles wear a stylized “i” icon. This is a yellow icon on black, set inside a yellow swirl. Note that the thickness of the oval surrounding the icon varies. The outer rim is an orange, or a darker yellow.

The Incredibles all wear small black masks over their eyes. These look very much like raccoon eyes. They could easily be painted on in lieu of using a mask.

There is a slight difference in the costuming of the two men and the two women: the women characters wear their boots higher, to mid-thigh, whereas the men wear theirs to just below the knee.

In comic books, the Fantastic Four wear blue matching uniforms. They have black boots. The uniforms all have black gloves to the elbows and black thick round-neck collars. The uniforms all have a numeric symbol, 4, on their chests, in a circle. They wear a black belt. In the comics, sometimes the black gloves, belt, and collar are drawn as a dark navy blue.

In the Fantastic Four movie, the uniforms all zipped up the front. They moved the four symbol over to the side. Sometimes the zip was not entirely done up on the uniform (as with Jessica Alba’s character, the Invisible Woman).

Ben Grimm does not wear a Fantastic Four uniform when he is The Thing. He simply becomes a large, muscular man-creature. He looks like cracked reddish-brown rock or thick dirt.

Naturally, when the invisible woman is invisible, you can’t see her costume either. This would be a challenging costume to buy or make.

The Incredible Hulk wears torn blue jeans, which is easy enough to manage for a costume. The difficult part of making or buying an Incredible Hulk costume is that he is entirely green. Even his hair is green. (You can easily dye your hair temporarily green with spray-in dye or kool-aid).

If you choose to paint your whole body green, you will have to get a friend to help you get your back done properly. You could also choose to wear green and pain the parts that aren’t covered by your shirt and jeans.

Some versions of the Incredible Hulk give the Hulk a bowl haircut (like a shorter pageboy haircut). Others have him with very short hair. Some versions of the Incredible Hulk have his eyebrows thicker and bushier than normal eyebrows.

The X-men movie uniform is black. It looks like tightly tailored motorcycle jackets on top, with the shoulders patterned. The symbol, an X, is found on the belt. The whole costume is grey or black.

Storm (Halle Berry) is the only X-man to wear a cape in the movie.

In Marvel comics, the X-men wear blue and yellow in different patterns.

In the Marvel Comic Books, Wolverine typically wears a costume that is yellow and blue. He wears large blue boots that come up to his knees and flare outwards. He wears a mostly yellow leotard. Some drawings of Wolverine show his leotard being divided lengthwise down the arm and legs, with the outer parts being blue, and the inner parts being yellow. Wolverine has two small puffs at the edges of his sleeves, like streamlined epaulets.

Wolverine wears a mask that is yellow up around his neck and head. This mask shows his nose and mouth. The eyepiece of the mask is blue. It is shaped like two upwards points, and does not hug his head closely.

Wolverine is best known for his adamantium claws. He has three on each hand, coming from the knuckles between his fingers (through his blue elbow length gloves). Because Wolverine’s claws are retractable, they are not necessary for a Wolverine costume, but they will help your costume’s recognisability.

With Wonder Woman, hair is key to creating an effective costume. Cathie Lee Crosby’s blonde portrayal of Wonder Woman in a made-for-TV movie has all but been forgotten: and it might have been the hair that made her so forgettable!

To create proper Wonder Woman hair, you can either buy a wig, or dye your hair (temporarily) darker to achieve the Wonder Woman look. Her hair can be done a few ways. It can be let down (roughly shoulder length ideally) and slightly wavy or curly, or it can be done straight with a flip (think roughly like Jackie O.). Remember: bigger is better when trying to create authentic Wonder Woman hair!

In Wonder Woman’s hair, she wears a golden tiara. This tiara is mostly obscured except for the front diamond-shape, or triangle shape. On this there is a red jewel.

In the second season of Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman show, she sometimes wore a cape. This cape was half red, and half blue and white stripes. There were small shiny stars at the top of it. Some comic book artists also began drawing Wonder Woman with a cape. The comic book cape emphasizes the fact that Wonder Woman is a goddess because it is regal red with gold trim.

Wonder Woman carries a golden lasso. This lasso makes anyone who is caught in it tell the truth. It is Wonder Woman’s main weapon.

Wonder Woman wears two silver arm bands, which are sometimes drawn gold. They are the size of largish bracelets and fitted close the wrist. (Hers are indestructible, and come in handy in deflecting bullets).

For information on Wonder Woman’s boots or sandals, see the Wonder Woman costume main page: the footwear accessory was so important it couldn’t be missed! With your costume, lasso, armbands, and tiara, you’ll be ready to save the Universe in no time!