Superhero costumes are the highest in demand to look amazing for Halloween, Carnaval or any other fancy dress party. If you love comic books or superhero movies, if you are simply looking for new ideas, or if you want to feel sexy and powerful with a striking costume, there's no idea better than dressing up as Catwoman.
With our easy DIY costume tutorial you'll turn into the the sometimes villain, sometimes heroine feline Selina Kyle in no time, and your amazing look will make jaws drop. Want to know the best part? This is a costume you can make with clothes you already have in your closet, quickly and easily! Take note of these oneHOWTO tips and find out how to make your own Catwoman costume.
Although there have been many incarnations of Catwoman in comics and in films, without a doubt there is one element that almost always appears: her one-piece black catsuit.
In her first appearances, Catwoman wore a long purple dress, a matching cat mask and a dramatic green cape. However, from the 1960s onwards the character began to wear a skin-tight black catsuit, made of leather or PVC, with quite a lot of shine. The catsuit shows off her curves, but also makes her cat burglaries easier.
If you want a truly authentic look you can purchase the suit, but if that is not possible, don't worry! You can make your own Catwoman costume with clothes you will probably have at home. You will need a tight, long-sleeved turtle neck top or jumper in black, although you can wear a more revealing version of the costume by choosing a top with cleavage or a zipper.
Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman costume in Batman Returns had visible silver stitches or zippers around her top, which made it look a bit like a leather jacket. Anne Hathaway's Catwoman costume in The Dark Knight Rises, on the other hand, was much simpler, with a zip-up black top and a slightly scaled texture. Halle Berry wore a leather crop top with notable cleavage and a corset look in Catwoman, but both the costume and the movie are commonly thought of as the worst, least faithful incarnation of Catwoman ever.
Moving to the bottom part, vinyl or leather leggings or skinny trousers would be perfect. It's that simple! With these two items you'll have the main base for your homemade Catwoman costume.
To complete the Catwoman costume, add the high-heeled black boots. The different Catwomen have worn knee-high or thigh-high boots with a shiny leather finish. If you are going to buy boots for the costume and are looking for ideas on how to wear them afterwards, here is a guide on how to wear knee-high boots.
If you don't want to wear heels, you can still get the character's stylized sexiness with wedges or platforms.
Let's get started with the accessories for your homemade Catwoman costume! If there's something that can't be missing it's the mask with the cat ears.
Catwoman's iconic mask is black, and it usually covers the top part of the face, only revealing her eyes, mouth and chin. You can either buy a Catwoman mask at a costume store or make it yourself at home with black fabric and following these steps:
- Take a piece of black fabric - it's best if it has a shiny leather finish - that is as least twice as long as the perimeter of your head.
- Fold the fabric once so the mask has two sides.
- Outline the shape of the mask with a white felt pen, leaving at least half an inch margin on both sides. Don't forget to create the shape of the cat's ears on the top part.
- Once drawn, sew the marked line by hand on with a sewing machine.
- On one of the mask's sides, draw two eyes in a slanted shape and cut out the holes with scissors.
- Add a bit of cotton wool in the ears so that they look more bulky - your homemade Catwoman mask is done!
The mask is usually a one-piece item, but Anne Hathaway's Catwoman mask in The Dark Knight Rises was made of separate parts and may be even easier to copy at home. Take enough black fabric - lace will be perfect - to wrap around your head, a bit like a sleeping mask. Cut out the holes for your eyes.
In the movie, Selina Kyle wears infrared goggles that she pushes up into her hair, which make them look like cat ears. You can do the same, or you can add cardboard or felt cat ears to a headband, as we explained in our how to make an easy black cat costume article. Done!
Another of the unmissable accessories to make your own Catwoman costume are black gloves. Preferably choose long opera gloves up to your elbow: if you want to give them a more feline look, we advise you to stick on some false nails on the tips of your fingers and paint them black to simulate cats' claws. Halle Berry's Catwoman had white claws, but honestly - they look terrible.
Some Catwoman costumes, but not all, also had a cat's tail. You can make your own with felt and wire, or you can simply skip it. Another optional accessory is a belt with pockets to keep the tools to commit all sorts of crimes (in an elegant way). Some Catwomen, such as Lee Merlwether and Eartha Kitt, also had a chunky metal necklace.
In order to steal and fight, Catwoman uses her physical skills as a gymnast but also a whip, which you can carry on your hip, and climbing spikes.
Last but not least, pay attention to makeup, although in this case it's pretty simple to do. The most important part is to mark the expression in your look by creating dramatic cat eyes with black eyeliner. The lines should be thick to get a slanted look in your eyes. If your mask also reveals your eyebrows, don't forget to shape them in an upwards arch.
Finally, you just need to apply intense or dark red lipstick to make your lips the center of attention of your seductive anti-heroine costume. In order to highlight the color, we advise you to outline your lips with red lip liner before you apply your makeup.
Now that you know how to make your own Catwoman costume, we invite you to discover other superhero costumes:
- How to make a Harley Quinn Costume for Halloween
- How to make a Princess Leia Costume
- How to make a Wonder Woman costume
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