Authentic Superman Costume Fabric “DNA”: Extreme High Resolution Photography
June 4, 2009 by Jason DeBord
With my recent trip to Burbank, to compare “Super Hollywood” Superman costumes with confirmed authentic examples from the Warner Bros. archives, I had a very limited window of time with which to take photographs of the costumes and produce comparisons. While I did take over 700 digital photos, I did not get every shot I would have liked to have obtained.
- See: Superman Costume Comparative Analysis: Warner Bros. Archive, Authenticated vs. “Super Hollywood”
What I truly missed was a very high resolution close-up shot of the very unique, very custom specially produced fabric which was used to make these costumes. The nature of this fabric has been touched on countless times in past articles, the costumes were produced in the 70s under the supervision of Noel Howard by Bermans and Nathans, based on designs form Yvonne Blake, and made from a radical, specially formulated fabric by a single, now defunct weaving machine in Germany. This fabric is highly, highly unique in weave, texture, weight, color, and design. It is also very soft and flexible, and “catches light” in a very extraordinary manner.
In any event, following my trip, Brandon Alinger of The Prop Store of London – Los Angeles was kind enough to take a few of the photos that I needed for my records and archvies, including an extreme close-up of this remarkable fabric, which I believe shows detail and clairty which has never before been made available to the public. The following photos are of the Superman top made for wear by Margot Kidder as Lois Lane as seen in the “Donner Cut” of Superman II.
Below is a “raw” 425×425 crop of a photo at full resolution which illustrates some of the very unique properties of this material:
As a point of comparison, below is a close-up photo of one of the “Super Hollywood” costumes archived in prior articles (note that these photos are taken at different focal lengths and under different lighting conditions).
Below is a “raw” 425×425 crop of a photo at full resolution of the “Super Hollywood” material:
I am also pleased to provide a full 3456×2304 photo of the “S” emblem and chest area of the authentic Superman II top, courtesy of Brandon Alinger:
Click for Full Resolution 2600×1733 Version (1.69MB, Quality 60)
Below is a similar photo of one of the “Super Hollywood” costumes:
Click for Full Resolution 3456×2304 Version (817KB, Quality 60)
This article continues coverage of Superman costumes and costume components offered for sale publicly in the marketplace attributed to use in the Superman films of the 70s-80s starring Christopher Reeve and characterized as “original” and “authentic”. More details can be found under the Market Watch | Superman category.
Jason DeBord
