  Remember the Catwoman in that old Batman TV series? Of course you do - Julie Newmar in a tight, black Catsuit.
She only appeared in 6 episodes, but well over 30 years later, we're still feeling the heat - Batman, Robin, and all of us clenched-fisted Batfans, even those who, like me, weren't even born when these episodes frist aired. Her prowling, purring, seductive portrayal of a super-villainess who was always destined to occupy center stage in a million wet dreams is still something of a landmark. The equally lovely Eartha Kitt, her replacement, just didn't have the same smoldering, languorous mix of allure and threat. Michelle Pfeifer came closest, in an otherwise mixed film that most of us don't remember all that much about. Serious actress that she is, Ms. Pfeiffer attempted a deeper analysis of Catwoman : `There are feminist elements in Catwoman, and I do see her as a positive role model if you look at her metaphorically.
She's about empowerment - a character coming into her own. ' Be that as it may, what Pfeiffer's portrayal is most significant for, as far as this little essay is concerned, is that Catwoman finally got into leather. It's not too clear exactly what the Catsuit is made of in the comics and the TV Catwomen seem to have been wearing some indeterminate, shiny fabric, but we knew all along, I think, that it had to be leather. And Pfeiffer (or rather Tim Burton) finally gave us leather! These feline musings were brought on by the observation that nearly every action flick worth its salt these days, particularly if it has an SF or comic-book element, seems to feature at least one leather-clad ass-kicking hottie.
Matrix: Reloaded had Carrie Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith and Monica Belluci, X-Men: 2 saw Halle Berry, Famke Janssen and Kelly Hu doing the leather routine, Jennifer Garner sports leather in Daredevil and Kristanna Loken's Dominatrix is again decked out in a red leather outfit that she swipes from its rightful owner within the first few minutes of the movie. Chicks in leather are everywhere. I'm not complaining - far from it, in fact. And that's the whole point. There seems to be something intrinsically arousing about a woman in a tight, shiny leather costume.
It's right up there with black lace, schoolgirl uniforms and all the other odd, often undignified styles we like to garb our fantasy women in, before rapidly disrobing them. I won't even attempt to analyse what the magic of a chick in leather is all about. Frankly, the very thought gets me far too hot and bothered for that sort of rational thought... 
