BIBFRAME Work
Title
The superhero costume
Type
- Monograph
- Text
Contribution
Subject
- DESIGN / Fashion (BISACSH)
- ART / Popular Culture (BISACSH)
- Popular culture (LCSH)
- Clothing and dress--Symbolic aspects (LCSH)
- Identity (Psychology) (LCSH)
- Superheroes--Social aspects (LCSH)
- PERFORMING ARTS / Film & Video / History & Criticism (BISACSH)
- Superheroes (LCSH)
- Clothing and dress (LCSH)
Language
Illustrative Content
Classification
- PER004030
- DDC: 391 (Assigner: dlc)
- ART023000
- LCC: GT580 (Assigner: dlc) (Status: used by assigner)
- DES005000
Content
Supplementary content
Summary
"Costume defines the superhero, disguising and distinguishing them from his or her civilian alter-ego. Instantly recognizable, the often garish garb includes insignias which are frequently appropriated and distorted throughout the world in a variety of media. This book provides the first interdisciplinary analysis of the superhero costume and investigates wide-ranging issues such as identity, otherness, ritual dress and disguise. Analysis focuses on the implications of wearing superhero costume, exploring interpretations of the costumed hero and the extent to which the costume defines his or her role. Using examples across various media (comic books, film, and television) with case studies including The X-Men, Watchmen, real-life superheroes such as Phoenix Jones and Pussy Riot and audience activities such as cosplay, The Superhero Costume presents new perspectives on the increasingly popular genre. A lively and thorough account of superhero fashions throughout history, The Superhero Costume will be essential reading for undergraduate students of fashion, visual culture, popular culture and cultural studies"-- Provided by publisher.
Table of Contents
Machine generated contents note: -- IntroductionSection 1: Origins and Evolution -- 1. Superman, The Brand, and the Circus Strongman -- 2. Wearing the Flag: Patriotism and Globalisation -- 3. Evolution and Adaptation: Form volume FunctionSection 2: Masquerade and Identity -- 1. Identity, Role and the Mask -- 2. Channelling the Beast -- 3. Dressing Up, Dressing Down: A Spectacle of Otherness, and the Ordinariness of the Civilian Alter-egoSection 3: Harsh Realities -- 1. Superhero Costumes and The Fashion of Being Unfashionable -- 2. Cosplay -- 3. Real-Life SuperheroesSection 4: Case Studies -- 1. Watchmen -- 2. Iron Man -- 3. The X-MenNotes -- Bibliography -- Index.
Authorized Access Point
Brownie, Barbara. The superhero costume
Admin Metadata
- Date: 2026-09-11T20:16:08.598318+00:00
- Agent: cbc
- Status: c
- Derived from: 23980155
Admin Metadata
- Date: 2026-09-11
- Cataloger id: Unknown
- Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
- Description language: eng
- Description authentication: pcc
Alternative Formats
Blue Core Actions
- Load to Marva Marva loads Instances, not Works. Open one of this Work's Instances and load that into Marva instead.
- Load to Sinopia
- Export to Catalog Only Instances can be exported. Open one of this Work's Instances and export that instead.