Friday, June 14, 2013

Why The Red Trunks?

Caught this interview with Zach Snyder on NPR today and learned something I never knew before:  why the red shorts on Superman?
For year's people have joked about Superman wearing his underwear on the outside rather than under the tights, but if Snyder is correct, the design is based on the garb worn by wrestlers and strongmen of the late 19th/early 20th century:


The body suit with contrasting trunks was common attire for strongmen and wrestlers during the area.  This makes sense as Jerry Siegal and Joe Shuster would have needed something to base the character design upon and, given that the story positioned Superman as the strongest man in the world,  what better costume than that worn during their youth by the men who proclaimed themselves the strongest men in the world?

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