Catsuits are a recurring costume for fictional characters in various media, as well as for entertainers, especially for use in musical performances. They are sometimes referred to as "bodysuits", especially in reference to a full-body suit worn by a man (although bodysuit usually refers to a legless garment); catsuit is typically used only in reference to women.[1][2]
A trend of bodysuits was observed by film reviewer Alan Farrell in his book High Cheekbones, Pouty Lips, Tight Jeans, and a number of occurrences of the garb in films were mentioned – Charlize Theron in Aeon Flux, Milla Jovovich in the fourth and fifth film of the Resident Evil franchise, Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix, Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Kate Beckinsale in Underworld, and Raquel Welch in Fantastic Voyage.[5] The trend of leather and vinyl catsuits were identified as an attempt to redefine the gender role of women through films.[6] Theresa L. Geller described the catsuit as a part of the Hollywood tough chic paradigm in an article published in the journal Frontiers.[7] That view was shared by Sherrie A. Inness in her book Action Chicks, which also included computer games and professional wrestling in that paradigm.[8]The Action Heroine's Handbook describes the catsuit as one of the three options of the first rule of thumb described in the book: "Dress to accentuate your best physical assets".[9]Action Chicks: New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture by Sherrie A. Inness describes catsuits as an iconic garb of female TV and film characters.[10]
Movies and television series
Notable uses of catsuits or similar full-body garments include:
A.N.T. Farm: Fletcher got confused with the term "cat-burglar" and got dressed in an actual full-body cat-costume instead of the usual all-black cat-burglar outfit.
The Avengers: Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman, better known for the role of Pussy Galore in Goldfinger) wore black leather catsuits that took four-hour fitting sessions for the shooting.[14] She opted for the leather as her clothes were getting repeatedly ripped off during fight scenes, including one scene that had her trousers ripped in close-up.[15] Her fetishistic garb was identified as a reason behind The Avengers' entry into cult status.[16]Emma Peel (played by Diana Rigg) wore a number of black leather catsuits during the monochrome series,[17] but then switched to wearing colorful psychedelic jumpsuits as the show entered Technicolor. Emma Peel's black leather catsuit was identified as a precursor to the popularity of leather, spandex and vinyl bodysuits in subcultures such as Punk and Leathermen.[18] Her character has been described as the inspiration for most iconic bodysuit-clad female characters that followed, including the Catwoman, Monica Vitti in Modesty Blaise, Jane Fonda in Barbarella, and Marianne Faithfull in The Girl on a Motorcycle.[16] The catsuits and fashion paraphernalia in The Avengers, including the leather boots, kept the youth "at home on Saturday nights" according to The Spectator.[19] Novelist and social analyst Gillian Freeman attributed this popularity to the "kinkiness" of the attire of Gale and Peel in The Undergrowth of Literature, her seminal study on pornography.[20]
The Avengers: In the 1998 film based on the series, Uma Thurman wears a black pleather catsuit and a black PVC catsuit as Emma Peel and her evil clone respectively.
Batman Returns: Michelle Pfeiffer (Catwoman) wears the catsuit, and European fetish magazine«O» claims that the popularity of her costume has taken forward the social approval of fetish costumes, a claim partially acknowledged by scholarly sources.[24]
Catwoman: Halle Berry dons a black catsuit when she interrupted a jewelry-store robbery-in-progress. She later gets a new 2-piece black leather catsuit that she famously wears for the rest of the film.
The Dark Knight Rises: Anne Hathaway (Catwoman) wears a very different version of the catsuit from previous films, consisting of two layers of material, the outer being polyurethane coated spandex. Utilizing non-polyester fabrics created less sheen, compared to the costume design in the previous film (Batman Returns) featuring Catwoman.[25]
Charlie's Angels & Full Throttle : Cameron Diaz appears in a white spandex catsuit, she also appears in a silver one during the film's opening scene. Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore appear in black catsuits (during the Alley fight scene) and the villainess Vivian Wood (Kelly Lynch) appears in a sleeveless black latex catsuit and leather jacket. The Angels also wear blue catsuits when on the race track. Liu appears in a silver catsuit while being latched to a car in Full Throttle.
Colombiana: Zoe Saldana changes into a black catsuit in order to perform an assassination requiring stealth and flexibility that would not be possible in regular clothing.
Dude, Where's My Car?: A group of five attractive females wearing catsuits appear a number of times throughout the movie.
Ergo Proxy: Female protagonist Re-l Mayer has on some occasions worn a suit that resembles a catsuit. However, its main use is to protect the wearer from the harsh cold temperatures outside of the dome city Rondo.
My Hero Academia: The character Camie Utsushimi wears a black catsuit as her Hero costume.
Irma Vep: Irma Vep (played by Maggie Cheung) spends most of the film dressed in a tight black latex catsuit, jumping from one Parisian rooftop to another and defending her director's odd choices to hostile crew members and journalists. In the TV series Les Vampires, the inspiration of Irma Vep, Musidora wears the same costume and make-up as Cheung. This particular look also appears in Mark of the Vampire for Carroll Borland's characterization of vampiress Phoebe Duprey.[29]Irma Vep was included in the X-list (National Society of Film Critics' movies that turn us on) for the catsuit worn by Cheung.[30] In the film the costume is devised by bisexual costume designer Zoe (played by Natalie Richard), enamored by Irma in the costume, as a vague reminiscent Michelle Pfeiffer costume in Batman Returns.[31]
Kim Possible: The character Shego wears a green and black catsuit as her trademark outfit. Kim Possible has also worn a catsuit on multiple occasions, including an actual leopard-print cat suit (as Sheela of the Leopard People) as well as Shego's outfit. In the 4th season, Kim got a custom white full body battle suit.
Kitirik: Wanda Louise ["Bunny"] Orsak appeared in costume as a black cat in the title role of the TV show "Kitirik" on Houston's (ABC TV channel 13) KTRK from 1954 to 1971.
Scott Lang / Ant-Man: First appears in Ant-Man, portrayed by Paul Rudd. A burglar that decides to turn his life around by wearing a technologically advanced biker-suit that can shrink and grow him at will.
Shuri / Black Panther: First appears in Black Panther, portrayed by Letitia Wright. The younger sister of King T'Challa who becomes the Black Panther following her brother's sudden death from an unspecified illness (as a result of the studio not recasting the character after Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer in 2020). She wears a black catsuit similar to T'Challa's that has silver and gold accents.
The Matrix trilogy: Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) wears a black PVC catsuit. Her androgynous appeal in the film was carefully designed in PVC catsuits, at times by trench coats, generating enormous following, especially among cybergeeks.[32][33] The role and costume launched her into stardom.[34] Trinity's shift from the maiden with longer hair and softer garbs to the black vinyl catsuit has been commented on as a statement in gender identity.[35] Kym Barrett, the costume designer, made 15 versions of the catsuit, all designed to look the same on screen.[36] She was nominated by the Costume Designers Guild in 2001 as the Best Costume Designer for her designs for Matrix characters.[37] While discussing the Matrix she said that she "wanted to go just from the script--to come up with clothes that weren't connected to a certain time or place".[38]
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Rangers wear full body spandex suits, ranging in colors of the rainbow. Every reincarnation of the series features different designs for the Ranger's suits, although sticking to the rainbow colors. The 2017 film changed the suits to an organic mechanized armor (similar to Iron Man's armor) that emerges from the wearer's body when tapping into the Morphing Grid.
"Human Nature" – Madonna wears a black PVC catsuit. She recorded the song to lash out at the outcry over her book Sex, and to stretch the point wears a catsuit along with ropes and chains in the video.[41]
"Oops!... I Did It Again" – Britney Spears wears a red shiny catsuit. The catsuit presented with a number of problems during shooting of the video. It trapped so much heat that sweat flew off her sleeves every time she flicked a hand or twirled. The suit flattened her breasts and extra padding had to be added, which kept slipping off.[43]
"Your Addiction" – Night Club lead vocalist Emily Kavanaugh is seen walking into a room initially wearing a red-velvet robe covering her head to toe, she then gradually removes the robe revealing herself in a shiny black skin-tight latex catsuit as the song progresses.[45]
Video and computer games
Notable uses of catsuits or similar full-body garments include:
Dead or Alive – British assassin Christie wears a black and white catsuit as her primary outfit in DOA 3, and as her second costume option in DOA 4.
Tomb Raider series – adventurer and action heroine Lara Croft has appeared in several catsuits, including a black leather catsuit and thermal spandex catsuits.
Mass Effect 2 – Cerebus agent and possible romance option Miranda Lawson wears a white leather catsuit throughout most of the game and, after her loyalty mission, has a second black catsuit outfit option.
Bayonetta series – The titular protagonist Bayonetta wears a catsuit that is composed of her own hair as a medium. The suit is occasionally removed when she is summoning demons to kill powerful angels.
Persona series – In Persona 4 Arena and Ultimax, the character Mitsuru Kirijo wears a black leather catsuit which is covered by a very long white fur coat. In 5, part of Ann Takamaki's Phantom Thief outfit consists of a red catsuit that also reveals her breasts.
Post-modern thesis
In a post-modern thesis on the superhero genre Michael Lecker wrote, "In the superhero genre, clothes do the talking through semiotics, which [Roland] Barthes discusses in depth in his work: The 'first, literal message serves as a support for a second meaning, of a generally affective or ideological order' (Roland Barthes[46]). The cat suits that adorn the feline hybrid characters in this genre are firstly illustrating their connection to felines. On the ideological level, the costumes signify the attributes that our society has projected onto cats and that the characters embody."[47] In another post-modern thesis on sadomasochism in cinema Andrea Beckmann wrote, "Cinematic SM is twisted into the non-consenting, violent realm of the unhinged that we know it is not. Fetishism is used as an excuse for a bit of titillatory semi-nudity, or to identify the villain – the man in black leather. Horror films, in particular, will happily throw in a leather catsuit or a gratuitous bondage scene to spice up a mediocre script (M Olley, Pam Hogg: Warrior Queen of the Catwalk[48])."[49]
