How Supergirl’s New Costume Compares to Superman’s in the DCU

We’ve finally got our first proper look at Supergirl‘s official DCU costume, and it’s more important than you think. There have been many different versions of Supergirl over the years, but most have worn costumes that are deliberate riffs on Superman himself. In fact, DC actually trademarked the name “Supergirl” in January 1945, even though a character wouldn’t make her debut until 1959; the comic book publisher clearly realized early on that the name just made sense, given Superman’s popularity.

The DCU’s Supergirl is played by Milly Alcock (Upright, House of the Dragon, Sirens), and she made her debut in this year’s Superman. We’ve now had our best look yet at Supergirl’s official DCU costume, courtesy of the first trailer for next year’s Supergirl film, and it’s clearly designed to look very similar to the one worn by her cousin, David Corenswet’s Superman. That means the costume is actually very significant indeed.

The Kryptonian Influence on Supergirl’s Costume

Let’s start with the obvious: Supergirl’s costume is deliberately designed to mirror that of Superman. In the comics, that was originally because Superman was a much more well-established hero, and Supergirl sought to honor him; Superman has only been active for three years in the DCU, though, so there must be a different reason here. The most likely explanation is that Superman’s entire costume is actually representative of Krypton. It’s a detail that makes Superman‘s Krypton retcon – the reveal that the DCU’s Krypton was imperialistic – all the more potent and character-shattering for Clark Kent.

Notice how detailed the similarities are. Supergirl isn’t just wearing the same basic outfit as Superman; even the piping on the blue part of her costume follows the exact same pattern. Marvel popularized the use of piping when adapting superhero costumes for the big screen, and James Gunn’s DCU is following suit; piping is designed to add a bit of variety in tone and style to what would otherwise be a solid block of color, making it the big-screen equivalent of artists adding excessive shading lines. But it’s fascinating to see Supergirl’s piping simply mirror Superman’s.

Supergirl’s costume is a little more alien that Superman’s, though, when you look at the belt design and the jagged edges of her boots. The belt in particular contains angular patterns that are often associated with science-fiction, immediately suggesting this is another deliberate Krypton reference. It’s interesting to see how many jagged edges have been incorporated into this, because female superhero outfits traditionally deploy curves rather than straight lines. These are visual nods to indicate this isn’t your “damsel in distress” kind of female superhero.

What Supergirl’s Kryptonian Influence Means

Krypton has often been portrayed as a sort of doomed technological paradise. The DCU has turned this on its head, though, revealing that the Kryptonians saw themselves as genetically superior to humanity and sent Superman there as a sort of conqueror who was to interbreed with them. Superman didn’t know what Krypton was really like, but the DCU’s Supergirl has memories of Kryptonian. These may have dulled a little with time and nostalgia, but it’s fascinating to note that she honored her homeworld while deliberately never giving Clark any idea what the planet was really like.

The DCU’s Krypton retcon therefore introduces a subtle tension to its version of Supergirl. She is at once honoring Krypton by wearing its colors and designs, while carefully keeping quiet about the darkest aspects of Kryptonian civilization. The Supergirl film is inspired by the popular Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow arc in which a still-grieving Kara Zor-El is initially offworld getting drunk rather than confronting her trauma (an arc set up at the end of Superman), but there could well be something more emotionally complex going on in the DCU. The costume certainly points to that.

Why Does Supergirl Wear a Skirt?

Supergirl’s costume is, of course, slightly different to Superman’s; while he famously wears red trunks on the outside, she wears a skirt. Supergirl has actually gone through quick a wide range of looks in the comics – there was even a readers’ competition in 1970, with Kara struggling to choose between them on the cover of Adventure Comics #397. The character didn’t adopt the traditional look being riffed on by the DCU until the 1980s, in part because of Helen Slater’s Supergirl movie outfit.

In-universe, it’s possible Supergirl’s skirt is worn to express her rebellious streak – for the same reason she’s adopted that brown trench coat. The trench coat certainly hints at a character who wants to hide herself a little, because it can be pulled round to cover up Supergirl’s bright costume, making it possible to miss her in a crowd.

When it comes to the skirt, it’s probably best not to dwell too much on it. The skirt is as meaningless as Superman’s red trunks, in that it’s simply part of the most well-known Supergirl design, and James Gunn’s DCU deliberately wanted to play with those memorable silhouettes. This version of Supergirl is at least more practical than Melissa Benoist’s, in that she doesn’t have a secret identity, meaning she’s not secretly wearing a skirt under street-clothes before she leaps into action.

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