In reply to Galileo's Universe:
as you say, it's all about the product rather than the content:
Luella T-shirt
Fashion
The designers, the models, the shows and of course, the clothes"The SUPERHERO is really THE ULTIMATE METAPHOR OF FASHION ," declares Andrew Bolton
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REF.:comicbooks.about.com/
"The superhero is really the ultimate metaphor of fashion," declares Andrew Bolton, curator of "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy," the Costume Institute's dynamic new exhibit (Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 7-September 1). "It's about the transformation of identity through fashion, through clothing, through one's appearance."
"A starting point for Bolton's research, beyond the comic books and movies themselves, was Michael Chabon's acclaimed 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Chabon, who has written the introduction for the accompanying exhibition catalog, draws closely on the lives of several primary comic-book-hero creators, including Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who created Superman in 1938 for DC Comics, and Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, who conceived Captain America (1941) and The Fantastic Four (1961) for Marvel Comics. Through his fiction, Chabon posits that the work of the early golden-age comic-book creators, working in a period of terrifying Nazi empowerment, followed in the tradition of Maharal, the chief rabbi of Prague in the sixteenth century, who created the golem Yossele, a folkloric superhero whose mission was to help defend the Jewish people against anti-Semitic slanders of blood libel (accusations of human sacrifice). '
REF.:http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/042108
In reply to Karl Fuler:
I really like the Luella T-shirt design !!! ..... a very refreshing Batman .... my favourite comic superhero by the way who doesn't really have supernatural powers !
In reply to Galileo's Universe:
Thanks GU! That's one of mine.
In reply to Karl Fuler:
Cool!!.... and may I add: do keep up the inspiring ideas that transcend the physical eye and that are absolutely worthy of a discerning and appreciative audience !
' As a man is, so he sees. As the eye is formed, such are its powers.'
William Blake
Superheroes have super powers - that is what makes them special. Their costumes do not affect this.
Also, superheroes are supposed to be unique and individual - they do not copy others (apart from the wearing super suits)
In reply to Karl Fuler:
I don't know if you read the whole text in VOGUE on the subject , but what drew my attention was the whole notion explaining how and why the comic Superheroes came about ....
in a time where the Olympic torch is travelling around the world to its final destination full of justified controversy and with so many mixed feelings attached to that symbol so to finally arrive at " Olympia' where today's factual sport superheroes will be battling against each other for the so much coveted titles ... it made me suddenly realise in a very sad way that we don't really have Superheroes anymore ........ as you said "...our culture's increasing trend to reject the romanticism of the individual. Imagination is not encouraged."
In the end it is all about the product, the packaging and our absorbing 'blind' consumption .... the product is what really matters .... and absolutely not the content ! When I come to think about it... what ws that film The Stepford Wives about ? ...... no , the inquisitive Lois Lane wasn't in that movie or was she ?.......:)
Anyway I did enjoy the link .... It's about the ' transformation of identity' through 'fashion' , through 'clothing', through one's ... 'appearance.' Strange that suddenly that famous quote pops into to my mind ..........
' Life steals everything ... it always does ! '
In reply to Galileo's Universe:
But we do have superheroes if we want superheroes. It’s up to us to look for them. I think that sports stars compare very poorly when put next to intellectual stars. Physically, humans compare poorly next to other animals. As far as athletes go, those who obsess about their bodies are usually best avoided.
‘"Fashion, like the superhero, allows you to dream and escape into a world of unfettered imagination," says Giorgio Armani "The power of fashion, like the power of the superhero, lies in its ability to transcend the humdrum and commonplace." ’
It is not fashion that allows us to dream. Fashion creates constrictions, rules to abide by. Fashion blinkers us and restricts our imagination (i’m talking about FASHION here, not clothes design). It is not glamour ( the fantasy of desire), but romantic vision (the fantasy of appreciation) that enriches our lives. The Superhero is a fantasy figure who fights for us against those things which restrict our freedoms.