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.Bodysuit, Dictionary.comCatsuit, Dictionary.com
The catsuit has been identified as a film-maker's costume of choice for stealth.Paula Deitz, "Origins of Casual Style", The New York Times Magazine, 1989-08-20 In films like Irma Vep, Les Vampires and Heroic Trio, crime and catsuits are featured together, as well as its major original use in Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief."Danger clad in a catsuit", The Age
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.Alan Farrell, High Cheekbones, Pouty Lips, Tight Jeans, p. 15, Lulu.com, 2007, The trend of leather and vinyl catsuits were identified as an attempt to redefine the gender role of women through films.Elyce Rae Helford, Fantasy Girls, p. 6, Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, Theresa L. Geller described the catsuit as a part of the Hollywood tough chic paradigm in an article published in the journal Frontiers. That view was shared by Sherrie A. Inness in her book Action Chicks, which also included computer games and professional wrestling in that paradigm.Sherrie A. Inness, Action Chicks, p. 72, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 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".Jennifer Worick, Joe Borgenicht and Larry Jost, The Action Heroine's Handbook, p. 73, Quirk Books, 2003, 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.Sherrie A. Inness, Action Chicks: New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture, p. 72, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004,
Movies and television series
Notable uses of catsuits or similar full-body garments include:
Æon Flux: In both the television series and the 2005 film starring Charlize Theron. A.I. Artificial Intelligence: Ashley Scott plays android Gigolo Jane wearing a tight catsuit. The Amazing Spider-Man duology & Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy: portrayed by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, respectively. In both versions, Peter Parker designs and makes the spider-suit himself after gaining his spider-abilities. It consists of a red-and-blue lycra complete with spider-motif. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery: Liz Hurley and Mimi Rogers appear in black leather catsuits in a tribute to Emma Peel. 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.Nick Morrison, "Catsuits? I'd rather wear nothing at all.", The Northern Echo, 2004-06-16 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. Her fetishistic garb was identified as a reason behind The Avengers entry into cult status.Bill Osgerby and Anna Gough-Yates, Action TV, p. 225, Routledge, 2001, Emma Peel (played by Diana Rigg) wore a number of black leather catsuits during the monochrome series,Dave Thompson, "Black and white and blue: adult cinema from the Victorian age to the VCR", ECW Press, 2007, , p. 215 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.Valerie Steele, Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, p. 80, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005, 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. The catsuits and fashion paraphernalia in The Avengers, including the leather boots, kept the youth "at home on Saturday nights" according to The Spectator.Dave Rogers, The Complete Avengers, p. 89, Boxtree, 1989 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.Gillian Freeman, The Undergrowth of Literature, p. 5, Nelson, 1967 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: Batgirl has appeared in various forms of the catsuit throughout the Batman film, TV and comic book franchises. Catwoman has worn a variety of lurex, PVC, leather and spandex catsuits in the TV series, film and comic book franchises. The villainess Harley Quinn is renowned for her distinctive costume – a red and black diamond-checked catsuit in the style of a harlequin jester. Batman (1966 film): Lee Meriwether as Catwoman, wears a black tight shiny catsuit. Batman (TV series): Adam West's version of Batman wears a spandex suit. Batman Forever: Jim Carrey wears a number of flamboyant green spandex catsuits for his role as The Riddler. 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.Efrat Tseëlon, Masquerade and Identities, p. 74, Routledge, 2001, 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. Batman & Robin: Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) wears two flamboyant spandex catsuits. 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. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Wilma Deering (played by Erin Gray) wore disco-inspired spandex catsuits during the show's first season. The Cannonball Run: Jill Rivers (Tara Buckman) and Marcie Thatcher (Adrienne Barbeau) drive a black Lamborghini Countach dressed in tight shiny one-piece race suits. Cat's Eye: The criminal trio of sisters Rui, Hitomi and Ai wear spandex catsuits throughout the anime film. In the live action version the catsuits are worn by Miss Japan 1992 Norika Fujiwara (Rui), Izumi Inamori (Hitomi) and teen icon Yuki Uchida (Ai). 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 Saldaña changes into a black catsuit in order to perform an assassination requiring stealth and flexibility that would not be possible in regular clothing. Doctor Who: Travelling companion Zoe Heriot wears a sparkling catsuit, apparently common in the "21st century".James Chapman, "Inside the Tardis: the worlds of Doctor Who : a cultural history", I.B. Tauris, 2006, , p. 57 Fantastic Voyage: the cast uses tight white one-piece diving suits. Galaxina: Dorothy Stratten wears white spandex catsuit during the whole film. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero: Scarlett, the GI Joe Team's counter-intelligence specialist and lead heroine, wears a yellow orange and violet leotard-catsuit with matching gloves and boots. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: Scarlett, the GI Joe Team's counter-intelligence specialist and lead heroine (Rachel Nichols), wears a black catsuit, as does the lead female villain called the Baroness (Sienna Miller). The Girl on a Motorcycle: the female protagonist (Marianne Faithfull) rides a motorcycle through Europe wearing only a leather catsuit. 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.Temple Drake and David Kerekes, Headpress Guide to the Counter Culture, Headpress, 2004, Irma Vep was included in the X-list (National Society of Film Critics' movies that turn us on) for the catsuit worn by Cheung.Jami Bernard, The X List: The National Society of Film Critics' Movies that Turn Us On, p. 151, Da Capo, 2005, 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.Paul Tatara, "'Irma Vep' puts stake in the heart of current cinema", CNN, 1997-06-12 The Incredibles: Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter), Violet (voiced by Sarah Vowell), Dash (voiced by Spencer Fox in the first film and Huck Milner in the second film), and Jack Jack wear red spandex suits while Frozone (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) wears a light blue/white spandex suit. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: The criminal quartet forming the C.L.I.T. syndicate (Eliza Dushku, Shannon Elizabeth, Ali Larter and Jennifer Schwalbach Smith) wears black catsuits. Kappa Mikey: Mitsuki wears a black catsuit with yellow details as her spy outfit on the episode Le Femme Mitsuki. Kill Bill Volume 1: Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) wears a yellow leather catsuit-like two-piece suit with black stripes in a tribute to Bruce Lee's iconic tracksuit in Game of Death. 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. Lajja: Bollywood actress and dancer Urmila Matondkar appears in a gold pleather catsuit in the opening item number "Aa Hi Jaiye". Lupin III: Fujiko Mine wears a catsuit inspired by Marianne Faithfull in The Girl on a Motorcycle Marvel Cinematic Universe (aka MCU): is a series of live-action blockbuster Superhero films & TV series set in a massive shared universe centered on Marvel Comics characters, starting with Iron Man: 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. Nebula: First appears in Guardians of the Galaxy, portrayed by Karen Gillan.