Catsuit

Trade fair hosts in catsuits

The term catsuit is a composite of cat^[wp] and suit^[wp].

It is a one-piece, tight-fitting garment that almost completely surrounds the body. Unlike a leotard, a catsuit is ankle-long and covers the legs. There is also no crotch lining or breast support. Full body suits also cover the head and face. Catsuits are often used for costuming or masking the wearer, as sportswear or for blue screen^[wp] shots in the film industry.

Materials

Hergestellt werden diese Kleidungsstücke in der Regel aus elastischen Geweben. Übliches Faser­material ist Elastan, auch als Spandex oder Lycra bekannt. Des Weiteren sind Elastan-Misch­gewebe (z. B. Stretchspitze^[wp], Stretchsamt^[wp]) oder Nylon üblich. Seltener werden unelastische Gewebe, beschichtete Gewebe, Gummi, Leder oder Plastik­folien als Ausgangs­material verwendet. Ein übliches Beschichtungs­material ist PVC (Kunstleder^[wp], Lackgewebe). Als Gummi ist Natur­gummi (umgangs­sprachlich auch Latex) am meisten verbreitet. Synthetische Gummis (wie z. B. Neopren^[wp]) sind seltener vorzufinden, falls man Wasser­sport­anzüge nicht als Catsuits betrachtet.

Bianca Beauchamp^[wp] in a catsuit with Martin Perreault^[lw]

A woman wearing a black latex fetish catsuit and thigh-high boots.

Michelle Pfeiffer^[wp] as Catwoman in Batmans Return^[wp]

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A catsuit is a one-piece form-fitting garment^[wp] that covers the torso and the legs, and frequently the arms. They are usually made from stretchable material, such as lycra, chiffon^[wp], spandex (after 1959), latex, or velour^[wp], but may use less elastic materials, such as leather or PVC. Catsuits frequently close using a zipper at the front or back, or are pulled on over the neck opening.

Catsuits are regarded as outerwear^[wp] but not normally street wear^[wp].

Fetish use

Some people consider catsuits to be a fetish^[wp] item. Catsuits for fetish use are often made of latex or PVC where such a catsuit is typically highly shiny, tight fitting and may be (but is not exclusively) worn with a corset over the top of the suit. Other materials such as lycra, shiny wet look, or velvet are options for fetish wear too, with some lycra materials having animal print designs. Catsuits can have zippers on the front or rear for access, with some having zippers on the shoulders. Additional zippers can be placed in specific areas for access, if required. Typically a fetish catsuit will not have gloves or feet. Feet, if present, are typically form fitting like socks and the gloves will have individual fingers. Typically gloves and socks can be worn as additional accessories to a catsuit to give a whole body look, with some opting to add a hood as an option too. Hoods can also be incorporated in to the catsuit. Rarely will a catsuit incorporate boots or shoes, although it is possible. An option instead of gloves might be bondage mittens, which might have a D-ring at the top, and such catsuits can be used as straitjackets^[wp] in the context of bondage. More extreme options for catsuits have incorporated monoglove instead of sleeves and they can also be used for bondage. Catsuits may also have incorporated corset and/or neck corset, although these are typically added as accessories to complete a look.

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A catsuit is a skin-tight one-piece garment with sleeves and long legs, and sometimes with feet or gloves, sometimes with a hood and often with a polo neck^[wipi]. The name derives from its similarity to the costume worn by a pantomime cat.

Unlike a Unitard^[wp] , its use rarely involves sports, and it may be made of leather, rubber, PVC, or spandex. It is identical to a unitard in construction, but the term 'catsuit' tends to be preferred in erotic contexts.

A catsuit emphasises the shape of the wearer's body, especially the bottom, a woman's breasts and a man's male bulge. Some female catsuits have a long zip in the front, worn partly undone, so as to give the spectator the feeling that they could open the zip fully and access the wearer's breasts or crotch. (A suit with a long front zip is sometimes called a jumpsuit, although jumpsuits are rarely skin-tight.) Others may have zips at the crotch and over the breasts for ease of access.

Catsuits are often worn with thighboots. They are also often worn (especially by women) with a wide, tight belt to emphasise the figure.

Catsuits became well-known in American and British popular culture in the mid-1960s due to the Catwoman character (played first by Julie Newmar^[wp] then by Eartha Kitt^[wp]) in the "Batman" television show^[wp], and Lee Meriwether in the film based on that series. In Britain, there were also the Cathy Gale^[wp] and Emma Peel^[wp] characters from The Avengers^[wp] television show.

A catsuit with a polo neck but without legs is sometimes called a kittensuit, although such a garment is indistinguishable from a polo neck leotard.

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A catsuit is a close-fitting one-piece garment that covers the torso and the legs, and frequently the arms. Catsuits, which date from at least the 1940s, can be worn by both men and women, and, despite the name, do not generally have feline characteristics.

Related garments:

• Leotard - a skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. Usually entered through the neck. Often worn combined with tights.
• Unitard^[wp] - like a leotard but with long legs. Much like a catsuit.
• Bodysuit - like a leotard but has snaps or hooks at the crotch.
• Onesie^[saw] (or snapsuit) - bodysuits for infants and toddlers.
• Bodystocking - similar to a leotard or unitard, but worn as underwear (lingerie).
• Wrestling singlet - a one-piece, tight-fitting garment usually made of spandex, lycra, or nylon, used in amateur wrestling.
• Jumpsuit^[wp] - a one-piece garment with sleeves and legs, originating in skydiving. Not skin-tight.
• Boilersuit (coverall) - a one-piece garment with full-length sleeves and legs like a jumpsuit, but even less tight-fitting.
• Romper suit - a one-piece garment mostly for infants and toddlers.
• Drop-seat pajamas^[saw] (blanket sleepers, footed pajamas, Dr. Denton's) - a one-piece item of nightwear^[saw], with or without feet.
• One-piece swimsuit - for swimming.
• Wetsuit - usually made of foamed neoprene, for watersports.
• Drysuit - like a wetsuit but designed to prevent water entering.

Catsuits in mainstream

Catsuits were occasionally worn as a high fashion item at various times from the 1960s to the 1990s. During the 1970s and 1980s they were worn for aerobics and disco dancing. Around 1980 disco dance catsuits briefly became a street fashion item in the UK.

Athletes in sports such as speed skating, bobsled, winter triathlon, ski-racing, cycling and gymnastics wear garments that are similar to catsuits, but which are specifically geared to the needs of the sport involved. Also similar in appearance are wetsuits and drysuits used by scuba divers, and the speedsuits used by competitive swimmers before the more extreme forms of the suit were banned. Also, in tennis Serena Williams once wore a black catsuit during the 2002 US Open.

On stage, unitards and bodysuits worn by dancers, circus performers, pop singers and magicians are similar to catsuits.

In comics and their spin-off movies, catsuits are often worn by superheroes of both sexes. A famous example is Catwoman, the villainess of the Batman series^[wp].

Catsuits in BDSM and fetishism

A male bottom in a black zentai suit.

Some people consider catsuits to be a fetish item. Catsuits for fetish use are often made of latex or PVC where such a catsuit is typically highly shiny, tight fitting and may be (but is not exclusively) worn with a corset over the top of the suit. Other materials such as lycra, shiny wet look, or velvet are options for fetish wear too, with some lycra materials having animal print designs. Catsuits can have zips on the front, or rear for access with some having zips on the shoulders. Additional zips can be placed in specific areas for access, if required.

In BDSM, catsuits are worn both by tops (e.g. dominatrices) and bottoms. In popular culture, dominatrixes are so often portrayed as wearing catsuits that it has become their stereotypical costume.

Typically a fetish catsuit will not have gloves or feet. Feet, if present, are typically form fitting like socks and the gloves will have individual fingers. Typically gloves and socks can be worn as additional accessories to a catsuit to give a whole body look, with some opting to add a hood as an option too. Hoods can also be incorporated in to the catsuit. Rarely will a catsuit incorporate boot or shoe, although it is possible. An option instead of gloves might be bondage mittens, which might have a D-ring at the top, and such catsuits can be used as straitjackets in the context of bondage. More extreme options for catsuits have incorporated monoglove instead of sleeves and they can also be used for bondage. Catsuits may also have incorporated corset and/or neck corset, although these are typically added as accessories to complete a look.

Zentai

A zentai is a fetish garment, usually made of spandex, being a catsuit with both feet gloves and a hood which totally encloses the wearer. The name zentai comes from the Japanese word for "whole body".

Spanking catsuit

A spanking catsuit is a catsuit designed so that the wearer's bottom is uncovered. This makes it easier to spank the wearer, similar to a spank skirt^[saw].

See also

• Bodysuit
• Bondage suit
• Mermaid suit
• Punishment suit

External links

• Wikipedia has an article about Catsuit
• Wipipedia has an article about Catsuit
• Spanking Art Wiki has an article about Catsuit, Spandex fetishism

This article based on an article Catsuit (4 October 2013) from the free Encyklopedia Wipipedia. The Wipipedia article is published under GNU-License for free Documentation. In Wipipedia is a List of Authors available those who worked on the text before being incorporated in WikiMANNia.

This article based on an article Catsuit (21 January 2017) from the free Encyklopedia Spanking Art Wiki. The Spanking Art Wiki article is published under GNU-License for free Documentation. In Spanking Art Wiki is a List of Authors available those who worked on the text before being incorporated in WikiMANNia.