(because listing all the costumes of the Wasp would have taken forever)
Nowadays, Natalia "Natasha" Alianovna Romanova owes a lot of her popularity to her portrayal by Scarlett Johansson in the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, she's actually one of Marvel's oldest characters, dating all the way back to the Silver Age and debuting in Tales of Suspense #52 (1964).
Originally, the Black Widow was a Soviet spy with very little combat training. More of a femme fatale than a fighter, she would rely on her beauty to steal state secrets or manipulate others into doing so. For this reason, her original outfits were regular dresses, albeit glamorous and elegant, complete with jewellery and accessories. She was also a smoker, occasionally seen with a cigarette holder, and her hair was black instead of red.
A short time later, Stan evolved her into a proper super-villain. In Tales of Suspense #64 (1965) she comes back from Russia with her first costume, consisting of a low cut tight leather dress covering her chest, belly and pelvis, and held in place by a tight belt. Her arms, legs and the rest of her chest were covered in a fishnet. She also wore special boots and gloves allowing her to cling to surfaces, and what has been described as a pair of weaponized bracelets, capable of shooting a grappling line, gas and the special bolts that will take the name of her Widow's Bite. Finally, she was given a short, mid-back length cape that clasped together with a simple brooch sporting the letter B to identify her. She wasn't given a mask at first, but decided to wear one and emulate Hawkeye's, who was her paramour at the time.
Over time, this costume underwent some slight modifications, mainly depending on who got to draw it. The main difference was the colour scheme: the dress alternated between black, dark blue and violet, and so did the boots, bracelets, gloves and cape. The belt changed shape slightly, becoming more simple and streamlined. The main change was the fishnet, that at times would be colored in and occasionally would be transparent, showing the skin underneath. By this time, Natasha was closer to her current self and a proficient fighter, sniper and martial artist.
The next big change took place in Amazing Spider-Man #86 (1970). Not only did Natasha sport her iconic red haid for the first time, but she also decided to start over and designed her own new costume, which would then become her classic and most famous look. In her words, the new costume "may not be as fancy, but will be more in keeping with the swingy seventies!". Designed by John Romita Sr., it was a tight black bodysuit, later retconned to be made from a special fabric that protects her from extreme temperatures and small-arms fire. The bracelets became the only thing she kept from her previous costume, but their look was altered to make it look like they were made of powerlets for the Widow's Bite. She also added a small chain belt, carrying spare powerlets and a spare web-line. The colour of bracelets and belt originally was silver, but it eventually became yellow or gold. By this time, Natasha had broke up with Hawkeye and decided not to wear a mask anymore.
There is an interesting tidbit on this costume's origin. According to Agent of S.T.Y.LE.
Now, some folks will tell you that this Black Widow jumpsuit was a natural redesign because the UK show The Avengers was popular and everyone was trying to copy Emma Peel, an operative known for wearing catsuits from time to time. But that’s just coincidental timing. Artist John Romita Sr. didn’t base this design on Emma Peel at all. The Black Widow was to star in solo adventures in Amazing Adventures, so Marvel told Romita to design a new costume to debut in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man to help her publicity. He had been a fan of the Golden Age character Miss Fury, who wore a black bodysuit and cowl, and asked if it would be cool to redesign Black Widow along these lines. As you can see, he got the go-ahead. It wasn’t until later, when people asked, that he realized a similarity to Emma Peel’s attire.
As I mentioned, this is the Widow's most recognizable outfit, and for the most part it remained consistent over the years. A few small changes from time to time included the colour switching from black to dark blue and an hourglass-shaped buckle for the belt. The number and shape of the powerlets often fluctuated, and occasionally they were forgotten altogether.
It's only in Daredevil #187 (1982) that the Widow's costume was redesigned again, with the introduction of what is known as her grey outfit. Natasha, who by now had much shorter hair, ditched the belt and switched to a grey bodysuit with a black spider on the left side of her chest and a huge black widow on her back. This new costume also included a high collar.
As usual, there were a few changes over time. The collar and bracelets would come and go, a Batman-style utility belt was added, and like most Avengers for a time she wore a leather jacket over her costume with an Avengers logo as a kind of team look.
Towards the late '90s, the Widow changed costume again. This is known as her "Spidersuit" because it's a black bodysuit with red details reproducing the legs of a spider on her belly and thighs. The collar and spider symbols are gone, but the belt is back, only this time it's around her right thigh. The bracelets were more like small wrist cannons and would occasionally be red instead of gold. This costume didn't last very long and I don't think I've ever seen it in use, since it's from an era just before Heroes Reborn that I'm not fond of. In fact, it took me forever to find out that it debuted in Avengers Unplugged #3 (1996) of all places.
In recent years, the Widow has gone back to her classic look from the '70s, updated with a few details here and there, most notably a zipper on the front, from the neck to the belly. There has been the odd white costume to camouflage in the snow, and the belt/bracelets colour has alternated between gold and silver a few times, but the look has remained mostly consistent.
And that's all folks. There have been other Black Widows and a few movie/cartoon costumes, but lets keep it classics only for now. Special thanks to Letterpile, Agent of S.T.Y.L.E. and the Marvel Chronology Project for some of the info and pictures used in this article. Which one is your favourite look? Sound off in the comments below.
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