History Main / SuperCostumeClothier

* Leo Zelinsky from the Franchise/MarvelUniverse introduced in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1999'' is tailor to heroes and villains alike, though to prevent fights from starting in his store he sees heroes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays and villains on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He's less "high-end fashion designer" and more "small business owning old-fashioned tailor" but he is one of the few people on either side of the hero/villain divide who can fix things like pants that can be worn by [[ComicBook/TheThing a 7-foot-tall brawler with skin made of rocks]] or who can patch holes in the cape of [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Dr Victor Von Doom]].
* Paul Gambi from ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' may be the {{Trope Maker|s}}: debuting in ''The Flash #141'' in 1963, Gambi was a criminal tailor who designed and maintained costumes for the Flash's RoguesGallery.
** Paul's brother Peter Gambi was introduced in ''ComicBook/BlackLightning #1'' in 1971, a former mob hit-man he reformed and became a tailor working out of Metropolis' Suicide Slum and he designed Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning's super suit and force field belt.
* ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'': Arthur "Art" Rosenbaum is a seamster known for having designed the costumes of several superheroes, including Invincible himself. Hilariously, this career path results in him also having to protect his secret identity by posing as a tailor who develops normal clothes.
* In ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'' Ronnie, the owner of ''Big Ronnie's Custom Battle Spandex'' is not only Gwenpool's costume designer but has done work for many other heroes--she lists [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Captain Marvel Carol Danvers]], [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Jessica Drew]],[[note]](Ronnie and her store having also appeared in ''ComicBook/SpiderWoman2020'')[[/note]] [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} Matt Murdock]] and [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] amongst her clientele. She also lets Gwenpool know of various missions that carry hefty rewards so she can pay her.
* Jumbo Carnation from ''ComicBook/XMen'' is both a mutant himself (he has four arms) and he also designs a clothing range for other mutants. Thanks to his own experiences he has a focus on things like shirts with more than two sleeves, pants with extra legs, or with them in nontypical positions, selling them through the ''X-Factory Store''.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Invincible}}'': Art Rosenbaum is a designer who made Omniman's (and several other heroes') costumes.

They could be a high-end fashion designer, if they are expected to be an [[EccentricFashionDesigner eccentric one]] who combines [[LargeHam flamboyant]] flare with the cackling self-aggrandising "I'm a genius, I'VE DONE IT!" screams of a MadArtist or MadScientist. Others may be more down-to-earth and presented more as community tailor, just their community is one that can survive fire blasts, bullets, and being thrown through buildings... [[ClothingDamage but the costumes they wear often don't fare as well as they do]], so as well as being the person who helped design the outfits, the Super Costume Clothier is also the person people turn to patch their torn outfits up.

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** Mrs. Ryan, a retired supervillain, teaches Costume Shop classes at Whateley, both for those who need super-costumes and those who need to hide odd body shapes. While she focuses on practical and protective designs, she is not averse to encouraging students to show off a bit, going so far as to suggest that female heroes and villains show ShowSomeLeg.

So you have just gotten superpowers and want to use them to either [[{{Superhero}} fight crimes]] or [[{{Supervillain}} commit some]] and you are in a world where people embrace the super costume look, not one that [[NotWearingTights shuns them]]. There's just one problem, you can't sew and don't know anyone who does... so who do you turn to? Enter the Super Costume Clothier - the fashion designer and/or tailor to superheroes/villains (perhaps they will only work with one side of the market, other times they may work with both).

Due to the challenge that superpowers present to cloth, spandex, and even metal, they may have to dabble in science as much as they do draughtsmanship, sewing and other tailoring skills. Not just to help the outfits survive all sorts of super battle fallout, but also the powers themselves if a person's RequiredSecondaryPowers don't account for that - for example having to come up with those MagicPants that somehow always stay put on people who [[RubberMan stretch]] or [[HulkingOut transform into a bigger more muscular form]] as part of their power set, or for individuals who turn [[InvisibleStreaker invisible]] or [[ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing shapeshift]] but can't spread the same effect to their clothes, the tailor will create outfits that will work with said powers. Some may [[ChallengeSeeker welcome this challenge]] as part of their own set of eccentricities.

* In ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'' Ronnie, the owner of ''Big Ronnie's Custom Battle Spandex'' is not only Gwenpool's costume designer but has done work for many other heroes - she lists [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Captain Marvel Carol Danvers]], [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Jessica Drew]],[[note]](Ronnie and her store having also appeared in ''ComicBook/SpiderWoman2020'')[[/note]] [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} Matt Murdock]] and [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] amongst her clientele. She also lets Gwenpool know of various missions that carry hefty rewards so she can pay her.

[[folder:Film - Animation]]

** [[https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/saks-and-violence Millie Wilkins]] is a specialty seamstress and would-be high fashion designer who - like several of the Wilkins family - funds her business by supporting the criminal element in NYC, in her case providing tailoring for supervillains and off-the-rack uniforms for their minions. She sees herself as having a rivalry with Miss Rogers, but she is thoroughly outclassed by Cecelia.

* ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'': [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-316-couture-cammies/ Ashley]] is a super who can control cloth. Rather than use this power in the field, he instead uses it to quickly make highly durable and perfectly sized uniforms for the ARCHON team.

** [https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/saks-and-violence Millie Wilkins]] is a specialty seamstress and would-be high fashion designer who - like several of the Wilkins family - funds her business by supporting the criminal element in NYC, in her case providing tailoring for supervillains and off-the-rack uniforms for their minions. She sees herself as having a rivalry with Miss Rogers, but she is thoroughly outclassed by Cecelia.

** Cecelia Rogers is a [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] graduate who is a MasterOfThreads and maintains a tailor shop near Whateley. She is acknowledged as the world's premiere costumer, and in her youth had gone on a journey to learn the ancient secrets of tailoring around the world, which among other things allows her to recognize a super-fabric as being extraterrestrial in origin.[[https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/tennyo-s-easter-chapter-4]]

** Millie Wilkins is a specialty seamstress and would-be high fashion designer who - like several of the Wilkins family - funds her business by supporting the criminal element in NYC, in her case providing tailoring for supervillains and off-the-rack uniforms for their minions. She sees herself as having a rivalry with Miss Rogers, but she is thoroughly outclassed by Cecelia.[[https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/saks-and-violence]]
** Some Gadgeteers (such as Steamer[[https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/small-mercies]]) do business providing custom clothes to heroes and/or villains, or just to those students who are passing through the area. They often specialize in hiding [[BodyHorror Gross Structural Dystrophy]] problems to avoid FantasticRacism problems.

So you have just gotten superpowers and want to use them to either [[{{Superhero}} fight crimes]] or [[{{Supervillain}} commit some]] and you are in a world where people embrace the super costume look not one that [[NotWearingTights shuns them]]. There's just one problem, you can't sew and don't know anyone who does... so who do you turn to? Enter the Super Costume Clothier - the fashion designer and/or tailor to superheroes/villains (perhaps they will only work with one side of the market, other times they may work with both).

They could be a high-end fashion designer, if they are expected to be an [[EccentricFashionDesigner eccentric one]] who combines [[LargeHam flamboyant]] flare with the cackling self-aggrandising "I'm a genius, I'VE DONE IT!" screams of a MadArtist or MadScientist. Others may be more down-to-earth and presented more as community tailor just their community is one that can survive fire blasts, bullets, and being thrown through buildings... [[ClothingDamage but the costumes they wear often don't fare as well as they do]], so as well as being the person who helped design the outfits the Super Costume Clothier is also the person people turn to patch their torn outfits up.

Due to the challenge that superpowers present to cloth, spandex, and even metal, they may have to dabble in science as much as they do draughtsmanship, sewing and other tailoring skills. Not just to help the outfits survive all sorts of super battle fallout but also the powers themselves if a person's RequiredSecondaryPowers don't account for that - for example having to come up with those MagicPants that somehow always stay put on people who [[RubberMan stretch]] or [[HulkingOut transform into a bigger more muscular form]] as part of their power set, or for individuals who turn [[InvisibleStreaker invisible]] or [[ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing shapeshift]] but can't spread the same effect to their clothes the tailor will create outfits that will work with said powers. Some may [[ChallengeSeeker welcome this challenge]] as part of their own set of eccentricities.

In order to be able to pull off these feats of fashion fancy they may be a bit of a MadScientist or GadgeteerGenius themselves. Sometimes they even have their own superpowers but usually not ones that aid too much in fighting crime instead they may have powers that lend themselves well to their trade, which may mean they actually have a more practical money-making use for their abilities than some [[ReedRichardsIsUseless superheroes]] and [[CutLexLuthorACheck villains]] do.

Contrast with ClothesMakeTheSuperman, where a character's outfit is what gives them superpowers to begin with (though it's not unheard of for the more mechanical-focused costume makers to be the brains behind the tech rather than the person wearing the suit, if that's the case they may operate as MissionControl if they are the one who knows how the suit works). A Super Costume Clothier may be why those with powers can say MySuitIsAlsoSuper in cases where a super's clothes don't get included in their power set inherently.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImAGiantMonster'' by Gravitimmy, a MadScientist who creates forcefield devices. While he doesn't make outfits directly, his inventions make impractical superhero/supervillain outfits wearable. Some supers buy his products as shields and armor, but his real fortune comes in from selling tiny forcefield inserts to make outfits not chafe.

So you have just gotten superpowers and want to use them to either [[{{Superhero}} fight crimes]] or [[{{Supervillain}} commit some]] and you are in a world where people embrace the super costume look not one that [[NotWearingTights shuns them]]. There's just one problem, you can't sew and don't know anyone who does... so who do you turn to? Enter the Super Costume Clothier - the fashion designer and / or tailor to super heroes / villains (perhaps they will only work with one side of the market, other times they may work with both).

They could be a high end fashion designer, if they are expect them to be an [[EccentricFashionDesigner eccentric one]] who combines [[LargeHam flamboyant]] flare with the cackling self aggrandising "I'm a genius, I'VE DONE IT!" screams of a MadArtist or MadScientist. Others may be a more down to earth and presented more as community tailor just their community is one that can survive fire blasts, bullets, and being thrown through buildings... [[ClothingDamage but the costumes they wear often don't fare as well as they do]], so as well as being the person who helped design the outfits the Super Costume Clothier is also the person people turn to patch their torn outfits up.

Due to the challenge that super powers present to cloth, spandex, and even to metal they may have to dabble in science as much as they do draughtsmanship, sewing and other tailoring skills. Not just to help the outfits survive all sorts of super battle fallout but also the powers themselves if a person's RequiredSecondaryPowers don't account for that - for example having to come up with those MagicPants that somehow always stay put on people who [[RubberMan stretch]] or [[HulkingOut transform into a bigger more musculuar form]] as part of their power set, or for individuals who turn [[InvisibleStreaker invisible]] or [[ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing shapeshift]] but can't spread the same effect to their clothes the tailor will create outfits that will work with said powers. Some may [[ChallengeSeeker welcome this challenge]] as part of their own set of eccentricities.

In order to be able to pull off these feats of fashion fancy they may be a bit of a MadScientist or GadgeteerGenius themselves. Sometimes they even have their own superpowers but usually not ones that aid too much in fighting crime instead they may have powers that lend themselves well to their trade, which may mean they actually have a more practical money making use for their abilities than some [[ReedRichardsIsUseless superheroes]] and [[CutLexLuthorACheck villains]] do.

Contrast with ClothesMakeTheSuperman, where a character's outfit is what gives them superpowers to begin with (though it's not unheard of for the more mechanical focused costume makers to be the brains behind the tech rather than the person wearing the suit, if that's the case they may operate as MissionControl if they are the one who knows how the suit works). A Super Costume Clothier may be the why those with powers can say MySuitIsAlsoSuper in cases where a supers clothes don't get included in their power set inherently.

* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': As Sakura is one of the few {{Magical Girl}}s who doesn't have a TransformationSequence, her best friend Tomoyo sets about creating [[IWantMyBelovedToBeFashionable all of Sakura's mission outfits]], which are protective and designed to actually aid her against a specific card's power. Especially impressive considering she's just a 10 year old school girl so even though it's a hobby rather than a profession Tomoyo has had a literal truck load of costume options turn up before a fight, much to Sakura's surprise.
* In ''Manga/MissionYozakuraFamily'', the Yozakuras make all their gadgets, including their work clothes, in-house to keep up with their superhuman spy shenanigans. The loungewear that Taiyo gets is sewn to be bulletproof and blade-resistant while being as lightweight as normal clothing. Kyoichiro is later said to have sewn clothes with the same level of protection for his four-year-old his niece and nephew after the TimeSkip.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': In this world where nearly everyone has a super power called a Quirk, creating superhero costumes, as well as a variety of other equipment to support them, has become its own massive industry. Consequently, hero schools like UA feature Support courses alongside their Hero courses and business and individuals exist who do this either as their main profession or on the side.
** UA has its own Development Studio headed by teacher Power Loader and also features student Mei Hatsume, an eccentric WrenchWench and member of the support course who are usually the ones to repair and upgrade the hero students gear. Power Loader's Quirk allows him to also fight, but Mei's Quirk is ZOOM, basically just super vision so whilst she's a great spotter in battle she doesn't really fight herself and uses her super vision to see fine detail when creating gear and costumes.
** All-Might's costume was created by David Shield, who has the Quirk squiggly fingers which mean he can turn his fingers in any direction and much more precisely than the average person and has used this to become one of the worlds most prominent costume designers. His daughter Melissa is [[UnSorcerer Quirkless]] but a brilliant engineer who wants to follow in her father's footsteps.

** Detnerat is a company that provides items to people that are adapted to work with their Quirks to supplement, amplify or negate the more negative side effects of. They initially arose as generally creating items for the wider population of non-hero Quirk users but got into developing items for heroes too. They also have been known to leak designs to the black market as a method of basically free quality testing.

* Leo Zelinsky from the Franchise/MarvelUniverse introduced in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1999'' is tailor to heroes and villains alike, though to prevent fights from starting in his store he see heroes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and villains on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He's less "high end fashion designer" and more "small business owning old fashioned tailor" but he is one of the few people on either side of the hero / villain divide who can fix things like pants that can be worn by [[ComicBook/TheThing a 7 foot tall brawler with skin made of rocks]] or who can patch holes in the cape of [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Dr Victor Von Doom]].

* In ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'' Ronnie, the owner of ''Big Ronnie's Custom Battle Spandex'' is not only Gwenpool's costume designer has done work for many other heroes - she lists [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Captain Marvel Carol Danvers]], [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Jessica Drew]],[[note]](Ronnie and her store having also appeared in ''ComicBook/SpiderWoman2020'')[[/note]] [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} Matt Murdock]] and [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] amongst her clientele. She also lets Gwenpool know of various missions that carry hefty rewards so she can pay her.
* Jumbo Carnation from ''ComicBook/XMen'' is both a mutant himself, he has four arms, and he also designs a clothing range for other mutants. Thanks to his own experiences he has a focus on things like shirts with more than two sleeves, pants with extra legs or with them in nontypical positions, selling them through the ''X-Factory Store''.

* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': Despite having a power ring, Paul wants body armour as a backup, so he follows some vague recollections about the costumer used by the Rogues, and reaches out to Captain Boomerang to put him in contact with Paul Gambi.

** Cecelia Rogers is a [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] graduate who is a MasterOfThreads, and maintains a tailor shop near Whateley. She is acknowledged as the world's premiere costumer, and in her youth had gone on a journey to learn the ancient secrets of tailoring around the world, which among other things allows her to recognize a super-fabric as being extraterrestrial in origin.[[https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/tennyo-s-easter-chapter-4]]

** Some Gadgeteers (such as Steamer[[https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/small-mercies]]) do business providing custom clothes to heroes and/or villains, or just to those students who are passing through the area. They often specialize hiding [[BodyHorror Gross Structural Dystrophy]] problems to avoid FantasticRacism problems.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/BlackLightning2018'': Adapts Peter Gambi from the comics, like there he's a former mobster turned good, or at least turned AntiHero, who took up tailoring. In the show he explains he intentionally got into tailoring to help have him focus on something to help him deal with his PTSD. He makes Jefferson Pierce's / Black Lightning's outfits as well as those for his daughters Anissa / Thunder and Jennifer / Lightning. He also uses his sewing skills as a BackAlleyDoctor whenever Jefferson needs patching up himself.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': The first season introduces us to Melvin Potter, a talented tailor who was being forced by Wilson Fisk to make special cloth like body armor for him. When daredevil discovers this, he promises to protect Melvin from Fisk. In exchange, Melvin makes Daredevil's iconic red suit and billy club for him.

* Luke Jacobson from ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'' is a fashion designer who designs outfits for supers, he's picky about his clients and has been known to refuse people especially if they disappoint him in some way.[[note]]His name is taken from a character who appeared in the Marvel comic ''ComicBook/DakotaNorth'' but there he was a normal fashion designer who happened to be obsessed with the BadassNormal detective / ActionGirl Dakota North herself. He did want to design outfits for her but not the wider hero community.[[/note]] Jacobson initially baulks at being asked to create a business suit instead of superhero suit for Jen Walters / [=She-Hulk=] but becomes [[ChallengeSeeker becomes intrigued by the challenge]] of creating one which will fit Jen in both her human and [[HulkingOut She-Hulk]] forms.

* Paul Gambi from ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' may be the TropeMaker: debuting in ''The Flash #141'' in 1963, Gambi was a criminal tailor who designed and maintained costumes for the Flash's RoguesGallery.

* ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'': Arthur "Art" Rosenbaum is a seamster known for having designed the costumes of several superheroes, including Invincible himself. Hilariously, this career path results in him also having to protect his secret identity by posing as a tailor who develops normal clothes.

* Leo Zelinsky from the Franchise/MarvelUniverse introduced in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1999'' is tailor to heroes and villains alike, though to prevent fights from starting in his store he see heroes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and villains on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He's less "high end fashion designer" and more "small business owning old fashioned tailor" but he is one of the few people on either side of the hero / villain divide who can fix things like pants that can be worn by [[ComicBook/TheThing a 7 foot tall brawler with skin made of rocks]] or who can patch holes in the cape of [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Dr Victor Von Doom]].

* Edna Mode from ''Franchise/TheIncredibles''. She's a ChallengeSeeker who loves designing outfits for superheroes and having to factor their powers into her designs. She was intentionally written to evoke both the EccentricFashionDesigner and MadScientist character archetypes. In [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1 the first film]] she mentions she despises having to work with mundane supermodels when she used to design for people she saw as gods.