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Drew Spence
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 February 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 225
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| Posted: 25 April 2018 at 4:53am | IP Logged | 1
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Anyone know where superheroes wearing tights came from? Is there a real-world counterpart? I always assumed the circus and wrestling were the inspirations for the costumes....
The mask and the sideshow aspect - like, what draws attention.
Tight enough so that it shows the physique underneath.
Which I do find strangely traditional that artists are still making characters with those flared high boots (maybe Victorian fashion/Musketeers?) and Robin Hood leggings....
Ironman had an...iron suit, but it still had those cuffs.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 25 April 2018 at 5:30am | IP Logged | 2
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Circus performers.
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
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| Posted: 25 April 2018 at 7:53am | IP Logged | 3
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Circus performers originally, but look at athletic wear
in modern times, mostly skintight material in bright
colours!
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 25 April 2018 at 8:10am | IP Logged | 4
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Inspired by superheroes.
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Stephen Churay
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Joined: 25 March 2009
Location: United States
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| Posted: 25 April 2018 at 10:09am | IP Logged | 5
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The circus performer wore tights to show
off the physique. This includes parts that
maybe shouldn't be shown off. So, they
wore trunks as a bit of modesty.
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John Byrne
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| Posted: 25 April 2018 at 10:32am | IP Logged | 6
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Female costumes, incidentally, had their original inspiration in figure skaters.
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Rebecca Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 25 April 2018 at 11:38am | IP Logged | 7
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Circus strongmen in tights and even capes were pretty common in the early 20th century. If you didn't see them in person you would see them all over the posters. Some of the early super characters were very much out of that circus tradition; Bulletman (and Bulletgirl, the first female super-heroine I believe, predating Wonder Woman) was drawn a bit more from the human cannonball act. Dogs with capes etc. were a little less far fetched in the early days of comic books as there were all sorts of wonder animal acts.
I remember a Northern California surfer wearing a wetsuit that looked like the old original Aquaman costume; it was very cool to see!
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Peter Hicks
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Joined: 30 April 2004
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| Posted: 25 April 2018 at 12:12pm | IP Logged | 8
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Tights that show the hero's physique also harken back to the paintings of completely nude classical heroes from Greece and Rome.
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John Byrne
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| Posted: 25 April 2018 at 12:22pm | IP Logged | 9
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Which is doubtless where the circus costumes started -- but decorum called for cover ups!!
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