Superheroes, More Than Just a Cape

First off, I love comics and superheroes. When I was in France I went to the little grocery type store with some friends and when leaving my friend said "Only you would leave a store with a copy of Paris Vogue and a stack of comic books." In a way that one sentence sums me up. I love DC and Marvel, I could never pick one over the other. I've always admired the costumes too, all of the colors are amazing. Now with all of the movies I've been admiring the fabric choices as well and everything that transfers the hero from regular to super. One of my favorite heroes, notice I didn't say superhero, is Batman. One reason I didn't say superhero is because he has no powers and many people think that he is just a rich guy who is gifted in different aspects but since he has now powers he is not a superhero. However, to me, he and Iron Man will always be superheroes. I understand they have no powers and that's fine, they can just be amazing heroes. But Batman is probably in my top 3, maybe even my all time favorite.

Me (L) and my younger brother (R)
running down the street.

A couple years ago it was around Halloween time and my siblings were trying to decide what costumes they wanted to get. My 2 sisters wanted to be zombie related characters. I think one was a zombie prom queen and the other a zombie bride, I am not exactly sure. Anyways, my youngest brother (actually the youngest out of all of us) didn't want to be something dead. He didn't want to be something scary. He wanted to be Batman, but he didn't want to stand out and be alone. So, instead of hanging out with my friends, I decided I would go trick or treating with my brother so he wouldn't be alone. When i told him I'd go with him and I could his Robin he was so excited and said "No you have to be Batman too!" We all went to the store and sure enough I found a relatively modest Batman related costume. It's a sleeveless black dress with the Batman symbol on the front and a cut bottom. It came with a bright yellow belt with the Batman symbol in the middle, 2 gauntlets for my arms, and a cape that detaches as well as a very bad mask and things that go over your shoes to make it look like you're wearing boots. I knew more girls would be wearing the same costume so I made it my own. I wore black tights and a long sleeve t shirt under my dress. I also wore black gloves from marching band and black suede boots. I chose not to the wear the mask for 2 reasons: I wanted to just wear my glasses and it looked really dumb. We had a blast and everyone loved our costumes and how we were a pair. It was great because I knew I had made my brother's night and that may be his favorite Halloween. As the oldest of my 5 siblings I know they look up to me for guidance and advice. I try my best to be a good solid role model. But he's the thing, since I'm the oldest who did I have as my role models? Of course you have your parents and other family members, but when life was hectic and "abnormal" I had my superheroes to help guide me. They have good character qualities, do the right thing no matter what. Sure I get a lot of inspiration from them with their crazy costumes and the villains they face, but it's more than that. They've inspired some of my designs but they're also inspired me to be a better person and that's the whole point of this post. Sometimes inspiration comes from something totally random like a character in a comic book you read when you were 7, but that inspiration spreads through your life for more than just a drawing or a quick sketch. It affects you, and really, any inspiration can affect you if you just spend a little more time thinking about it.

Here we are posing.

We are Batman!