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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]
The catsuit has been identified as a film-maker's costume of choice for stealth.[3] 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.[3][4]
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]
- ^ Bodysuit, Dictionary.com
- ^ Catsuit, Dictionary.com
- ^ a b Paula Deitz, "Origins of Casual Style", The New York Times Magazine, 1989-08-20
- ^ "Danger clad in a catsuit", The Age
- ^ Alan Farrell, High Cheekbones, Pouty Lips, Tight Jeans, page 15, Lulu.com, 2007, ISBN 1-4303-0434-0
- ^ Elyce Rae Helford, Fantasy Girls, page 6, Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, ISBN 0-8476-9834-3
- ^ Geller, Theresa L. (2004). "Queering Hollywood's tough chick: the subversions of sex, race, and nation in "The Long Kiss Goodnight" and "The Matrix". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 25 (3). University of Nebraska Press via JSTOR: 8–34. doi:10.1353/fro.2004.0062. JSTOR 3347316. S2CID 144565961.
- ^ Sherrie A. Inness, Action Chicks, page 72, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, ISBN 1-4039-6403-3
- ^ Jennifer Worick, Joe Borgenicht and Larry Jost, The Action Heroine's Handbook, page 73, Quirk Books, 2003, ISBN 1-931686-68-8
- ^ Sherrie A. Inness, Action Chicks: New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture, page 72, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, ISBN 1-4039-6403-3