The out-of-this world costumes of superheroes and goblin kings of our childhoods were nothing less than gnarly.
These threads are also constantly upgraded.
Case in point: the otherworldly flashing eyes on Bruce Waynes mask inBatman vs. Superman.
Can you even compare the color palette of later Jokers with that of Jack Nicholsons ghastly grinning fiend?
The purple suit was that much more purple and the dye job that much greener.
How they were able to achieve that, only your undertaker knows for sure.
Superpowers werent a prerequisite for radioactive colors, either.
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Those were hardly the only costumes brighter than an alien galaxy.
If you set your TARDIS for 1984, the Sixth Doctor was a veritable rainbow of timey-wimey hijinks.
Just dare Number Twelve to go out in public wearing that Technicolor scarf.
…and black was never so black.
Even during the neon era, you could say that black has never been so black.
Lydia fromBeetlejuicemight have started the Victoriana Goth trend with her layers and layers of black lace.
No one had paler foundation, blacker hair, blood-redder lipstick or smokier smoky eyes than Morticia.
Not that makeup was limited to the ladies.
Beetlejuices naturally livid complexion and green-tinged blond hair were perfectly offset by inky black eyelids.
There was more spandex.
You hardly had to puzzle your way through a labyrinth to find it.
Batmans bat suit still had some sculpting to it, but it stretched more than todays Caped Crusader suit.
If youre looking for more color, look no further than Phaedos.
The Power Rangers were a spectrum of the stretchy stuff.
How else could they ninja their way through Tengu and Ooze men?
Anything shiny was shinier to a power of ten.
Not so if you dial back a few decades.
The metallics then were not only metallic, but supernaturally so.
Even supervillains required sunglasses in the movie theater.
Freezes protective cryogenic suit inBatman and Robincould have easily doubled as a full-length mirror.
Going for something more ethereal?
Even Jareths otherworldly eyes wouldnt have spotted her half as easily in a ballroom full of masked goblins.
Which was also full of glitter.
Speaking of glitter, it was far beyond a craft store staple.
The sparkly stuff was a sort of magical fairy dust.
How else could the Childlike Empress ofNeverEnding Storyhave gotten that glow?
The hair was literally out of this world.
The 80s and 90s pumped up the volume quite literally.
Rufio couldnt possibly be so commanding as the leader of the Lost Boys inHookwithout his flashy red-and-black locks.
Stylists had limitless creative license to spray, tease, dye, and embellish.
Fantastical and futuristic characters called for equally outrageous hair.
Not everybody had to spend hours washing out gallons of hairspray after filming was over, though.
The no-makeup makeup look was an alien concept.
Speaking of Bowie, besides being the king of the goblins, Jareth is also the king of eyeshadow.
If there was any character inBatmanmore made up than the Joker, than it had to be Mr. Bluish-white foundation is just a good look for anyone who wants to appear cryogenically frozen.
The sleeves were bigger.
There is absolutely no question that the 80s and early 90s weretheera for epic sleeves.
Potentially lethal padding not your thing?
These days everything seems to be so much more streamlined.
Todays tricked-out costumes are all about those undetectable compartments for stashing daggers and tranquilizer darts.
Just ask anyone facing a Klingon warrior.
Aliens werent the only ones with the weapons advantage.
Even more terrifying than Mr. Outsized gadgets and gizmos didnt just accessorize the characters that wielded them, but defined those characters.
Would the Ghostbusters be the same without their traps and proton packs?
Would Edward Scissorhands be Edward Scissorhands without those massive scissor-blade digits?
Would Rita Repulsa be as repulsive without her massive moon staff?
Maybe not, but that staff sure knew how to enter a roomor a snowglobe.
So why are there still so many cosplays channeling characters from the era of excess?
Maybe theres something to say about black light-reactive spandex or makeup you just cant miss.
What Jareth and Rita and Beetlejuice wore is now nothing less than iconic.
