The Evolution of Wonder Woman's Look

Wonder Woman has never been afraid to change up her look. We trace the evolution of her always-amazing comic-book style.

For more on the heroine, pick up Entertainment Weekly’s The Ultimate Guide to Wonder Woman, featuring the cast and creators of the new film and the character’s long history, on sale now.

Artist Harry G. Peter gifted William Moulton Marston’s warrior with her tiara, boots and bracelets. The red-white-blue-and-gold color scheme he chose for her ensemble — to represent her patriotism — has endured over the decades.

It didn’t take long for Wonder Woman to trade her flowing blue culottes for skin-tight shorts. Her boots also got a slight revamp, with the decorative white stripe down the center jettisoned in favor of a sleeker design.

As a nod to Diana’s Amazonian roots, she wore gladiator-style sandals, with straps crisscrossing her calves. (She got her boots back in 1965.) The hem of her shorts, however, kept getting shorter. Hot pants alert!

Diana goes mod! In the late ’60s Wonder Woman ditched her superpowers for martial arts, going undercover as Diana Prince. She cycled through various outfits, frequently opting to wear all-white.

After a long run as Diana Prince, the heroine returned to the Wonder Woman moniker—and the classic costume. (Gloria Steinem led the charge to restore Diana’s superpowers, putting the character on issue #1 of Ms. magazine.)

Jenette Kahn, DC’s first female president, had the breastplate redesigned on the character’s armor, giving Diana her own WW logoone that would become as instantly recognizable as those of her counterparts Superman and Batman.

Writer and artist George Pérez relaunched Wonder Woman in 1987, drawing the Amazon with a massive spray of jet-black curls and tweaking her costume to include a two-pointed tiara and silver bracelets.

Diana briefly relinquished the Wonder Woman title and costume to fellow Amazon Artemis. As a result, she donned attire that could perhaps best be described as bondage-biker daywear. (At least she still had white stars on her blue jacket.)

A relaunch thankfully took her back to basics. Tiara? Check. Spangled shorts? Check. Red-and-white boots? Check. There was just one major upgrade to her breastplate: It became a mash-up of the original eagle logo and the WW insignia.

Artist Jim Lee led a controversial redesign that put Diana in — gasp! — pants. Everything from her tiara to her boots got an update, including the intricate gauntlets that leave a W mark on any bad guy who dares cross her path.

The leggings were short-lived. Wonder Woman soon returned to her roots, with a costume in a darker color scheme and silver accents instead of gold. (Initial sketches did include pants, but D.C.’s artists stuck with the briefs.)

To coincide with Gal Gadot’s first onscreen appearance as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the character received a Greek-inspired makeover that replaced her shorts with a navy-blue skirt. The trim on her costume once again became gold.

For more on the heroine, pick up Entertainment Weekly’s The Ultimate Guide to Wonder Woman, featuring the cast and creators of the new film and the character’s long history, on sale now.