Where fashion and fanboys collide

Fashionable Motif When museums promote blockbuster shows, they're usually referringto Picassos or Monets. The latest exhibition at New York'sMetropolitan Museum of Art is much closer to the original meaningof the term, and in this summer of big cartoonish blockbusters,Superheroes: Fashion & Fantasy, couldn't be more timely. The show features 70 outfits, mixing original character costumeswith technical athletic gear and runway looks, scattered along anarrow mirrored gallery that has a hall-of-mirrors funhouse effectthe Joker would love. The idea is to explore superhero imagery andits influence in fashion, the most literal example being bad-boyBelgian Bernard Wilhelm's melting Superman dress. To that end, the garments are grouped into eight thematicinstallations, such as The Graphic Body (Superman being the primeexample) or the reductive primary palette and stars-and-stripesshorthand of The Patriotic Body (Wonder Woman and Captain America). There's the requisite nod to Michelle Pfeiffer's oft-fetishizedCatwoman (a supervillain, of course) and her threadbare patchworkPVC catsuit strikes an appropriate centerfold pose, but no sign ofLee Merriwether, Eartha Kitt or Julie Newmar's far more fashionablefeline garb; nor are Wonder Woman's roots in S&M fantasy attireexplored. But like Christopher Reeves' original Superman unitard,Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman costume by Donfeld from the 1976 TVseries has pride of place among the heroes on display. Once rubyred, her satin polyester cape is now poignantly faded to pinkishlavender. And the primitive headpiece looks like tinfoil oncardboard, but it's still more awe-inspiring than the TheAerodynamic Body's technical suits, where Jean Paul Gaultier'soptical print unitards owe more to Olympic speedskating uniformsthan to The Flash (as do Rei Kawakubo's Fastkin racing suits forSpeedo, of which there are too many on display). Next, theyjuxtapose Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man outfit and athletic Spyderracing suits while nearby (no doubt in a nod to Giorgio Armani'ssponsorship of the exhibit) there are a couple outfits by theminimalist designer, including an ethereal net dress fromSpring/Summer 1990. It's all very entertaining, but a vaguelyarachnid motif and a cobwebby lace dress do not superhero fashionmake. In the Mutant section, a custom mannequin wearing Mystique'scostume from X-Men of painstakingly applied blue scales serves toremind of the supernatural physical specimen that is RebeccaRomjin. By the Post-Modern Body, the exhibit starts to feel like aThierry Mugler retrospective, there are so many of the avant-gardedesigner's erotic molded bustiers and breastplates on display.Alexander McQueen's grunge rompers accessorized with paintedfootball equipment have little to do with superheroes' Armored Body--but they're fun to look at. Balenciaga's armored leggings of lastyear and Pierre Cardin's beige armour fare better, but for trulyoriginal armored bodies, I would rather explore the Met's medievalwarrior collection. Conveniently, the superheroes exhibit emergesnear the Arms & Armour Court, and the 16th century etched steelarmour of Emperor Ferdinand I is more striking than any ofGalliano's hackneyed warrior punks. The accompanying book by the curator Andrew Bolton, Superheroes:Fashion and Fantasy (Yale University Press, $50) is heavy, with anembossed metal cardboard binding that is surely one of the ugliestcovers Yale has produced. But it improves on the exhibit itselfwith photos galore, and a witty essay by comics' ultimate fanboy,the Pulitzer-winning author Michael Chabon -- though seeingMugler's spectacularly elaborate firebird gown in the flesh makesthe exhibit worth the price of admission. On view in New York City until Sept. 1. $20.