In search of superheroine costume ideas for a wedding

April 11, 2008 10:05 PM

Looking for superheroine costume ideas. My girlfriend and I are going to a wedding where everyone is being asked to dress as a superhero of some kind. It doesn't matter if the superhero exists as a character or not, they just have to exist in someone's mind.

The problem she/we are having is that there just aren't a lot of cool female superheros out there, and the one's who are out there are done to death and mostly cheesy.

So here's where we're trying to get:
Smart/sciency (she has a masters in frogs)
Involves big stompy boots
Spandex or fishnets encouraged
Might date Particle Man (my costume)


Ideas about where to look for stylish costume ideas would also be most welcome.

posted by dolface to clothing, beauty, & fashion (21 comments total)

You can always go as the Doppler Effect.
posted by Aanidaani at 10:10 PM on April 11

Entropy Girl?
posted by dersins at 10:35 PM on April 11

Particle Man, eh? How about Suspension Girl?

Oh, wait, that would probably be your arch nemesis...
posted by davejay at 10:40 PM on April 11

There's a particle-wave-duality nature-of-light pair costume just waiting to be made here.

The costume itself might focus more on the watery wave side of things (that way you have an excuse for fishnets, stompers, seaweed braids, frog barrettes, etc.), and if anyone has to ask for the bonus explanation, you say "duh, I'm Wave Girl, the natural and inevitable partner of Particle Man."

I envision Wave Girl's superhero powers being something like Water on Captain Planet or magically restoring wetlands, something like that, but that's not the important part.
posted by whatzit at 10:52 PM on April 11 [8 favorites]

Tank Girl?
posted by infinityjinx at 11:01 PM on April 11 [1 favorite]

Don't forget to put little plastic sea critters caught in the fishnets.
posted by fleacircus at 11:32 PM on April 11

Does she have to be a female superhero? Because she could go as Universe Man to your Particle Man, and if Universe Man happens to be a cross-dresser, oh well....
posted by judith at 11:52 PM on April 11

Mr Furious from Mystery Men.
posted by iamabot at 11:55 PM on April 11

If she's dating Particle Man, she's an Angel, and can wear whatever she likes, all at once.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:56 AM on April 12 [1 favorite]

Ooh, ooh! The superhero "Luna Moth" from the novel "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay".

Different artists' visualizations of Luna Moth (AKA Judy Dark): 1, 2, 3, 4.

In the book, Luna Moth the comic book heroine is inspired by Joe Kavalier's real-life girlfriend, Rosa Luxemburg Saks.

From a review here:
_____________________________________

In 1939 Europe black clouds shroud the countryside as hobnailed Nazi boots spread the despair born of ethnic genocide and megalomania.

Meanwhile, back in bustling, rainy New York City, we shift our attention...

"... to a room that lies far beneath the high heels and jack hammers, lower than the rats and the legendary alligators, lower even than the bones of Algonquins and dire wolves – to Office 99, a small neat cubicle, airless and white, at the end of the corridor in the third subbasement of the Empire City Public Library. Here, at a desk that lies deeper in the earth than even the subway tracks, sits Miss Judy Dark, Under-Assistant Cataloguer of Decommissioned Volumes. The nameplate on her desk so identifies her. She is a thin, pale thing in a plain gray suit, and life is clearly passing her by. Twice a week a man with skin the color of boiled newspaper comes by her office to cart away books that she has officially pronounced dead….She is a kind of human umbrella, folded, with her strap snapped tight.”

Ah, but wait! What desires lie within her heart, and what powers can be unleashed from without?

The Goddess of the Night re-molds Judy Dark whenever the powers of Right need help in the face of Evil…. “You will find, Judy Dark, that you have only to imagine something to make it so.”

So on this particular rainy New York night, a group of thieves is confronted by a cowled and mesh-stockinged figure with "nine-mile long" legs “... a crime fighter with the legs of Dolores Del Rio, black witchy hair and breasts each the size of head….the pair of fuzzy antennae hung at playful angles, as if tasting the viewer’s desire.”

….WHAT LIES IN THE HEARTS OF MEN.”
Meet super heroine “Luna Moth” a/k/a Judy Dark, a creation of Joseph Kavalier and Sammy Clay, two imaginary characters in late 1930s and early 1940s New York City based on the very real pioneers of the era’s emerging art form – the comic book. Joe and Sammy occupy a space in the mind where the lines between reality and fiction are as blurred as those separating the yin and the yang of humankind sitting on a Holocaust, and where the details are as painful to fill in as personal demons emerging unspoken from waxen lips.
_____________________________________

Here's a wikipedia page (w/photo) about the real insect, the luna moth; and here is the AAof K&C site.

I can't think of something directly related to Particle Man, but if by chance you wanted to match up something with Luna Moth, it would of course be The Escapist. 1, 2.
posted by taz at 1:52 AM on April 12

Baby Bowler from Mystery Men, or one of the rejected female superheroes from the audition scene. PMS Avenger?
posted by goshling at 7:44 AM on April 12

Just make up your own superhero. Wear the stompy boots and fishnets, a stylish skirt and matching heroic/futuristic shirt. Bonus points if there's epaulets or other flourishes on the shoulders.

Must-have accessories include goggles and wrist thingies. I don't know the word I'm looking for, but you want to evoke either Leela from Futurama, or perhaps Space Ghost. Buttons, even if non-functional, are a definite plus. Fingerless leather gloves would match the stompy boots and complete the look. Utility belt is optional.
posted by explosion at 9:00 AM on April 12

Sarah Dyer's Action Girl

The second Doctor Light
posted by lore at 9:10 AM on April 12

You are welcome to borrow ThePinkSuperhero for your costume.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:13 AM on April 12 [2 favorites]

Schroedinger's cat? That way she could wear a sexy cat costume, fishnets and the works. Then maybe she could put a box on her head with a window cut out in front.
posted by Evangeline at 11:08 AM on April 12

Another spin on the wearing-whatever-she-fancies strategy: She dolls herself up to a point very near the fierceness singularity. "Dream Girl."
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:05 PM on April 12

American Maid.
Fishnets: would work
Sexy maid outfit: check
Awesome pun: check
Ended up marrying her: check, check, check.
posted by plinth at 5:18 PM on April 12

Girl Genius.

or make up your own.

I've been acquiring costume pieces for my superhero The Crossing Guard.
posted by bleary at 6:40 AM on April 14

doh, I should mention the contractor boots I got for the Crossing Guard.
posted by bleary at 6:45 AM on April 14

How about The Frog Stomper?
posted by diggerroo at 1:26 PM on April 15

I just wanted to follow up in case anyone was interested in how it all turned out.

The answer is GREAT!

Here's a pic of Particle Man and Wave Girl, and here's a link to the Flickr Pool for the wedding (not much there yet, but stay tuned if you're into that sort of thing).

Thanks again to everyone who weighed in, and to whatzit in particular for articulating his/her idea so clearly.
posted by dolface at 11:05 AM on May 6