Amber Love 09-MAR-2012 Time and again, the issue of sexism in comics addresses the costumes of female characters. Once in a while, a scantily clad Namor pops into the discussion but the headliner is almost always a tie between two of DC Comic’s heroines: POWER GIRL and STARFIRE.

To think that anyone is more bare than certain Emma Frost (Marvel) bikinis is saying something. Starfire’s new 52 roll out was not well-received. Today’s focus is on the superpowered clone of the Krypton family, Power Girl.

Since I’ve got a fondness for Power Girl, I tend to find myself defending her costume every single year. Amanda Conner, former PG artist and lover of cheesecake art, has gone on record as saying she embraced the “boob window” of the costume and her modifications to the design, in fact, enlarged that feature. She has said repeatedly that the cleavage serves as a great distraction in the confrontations with villains.

The famous window was written into the continuity as actually having a reason. PG explains that she was waiting to come up with her own logo like her Kryptonian cousin Superman but she never felt right in wearing the same one as him. Her costume has varied in belts, no belt, no boob window, and now alternate universe full length suit. Whatever lame excuse writers come up with for the boob window, none have ever actually said it’s there because it’s fashionable. Today I present you with real life images of how the cleavage keyhole is quite common in women’s couture.

A simple internet search for “white keyhole gown” returned thousands of images and few were “stripper couture.” Most were formal wear, celebrities on the red carpet, or runway photos. This tells me that Power Girl’s boob window is really not that unusual.

	Nicole Scherzinger wore this peep hole dress on X-FACTOR
	America's sweetheart Emma Stone looks lovely in this emerald Grecian style gown by Jason Wu.
	The shopping site Uniquely Vintage considers this gown a prom dress but looks like something Peej would wear to a formal function.
	Herve Leger designer Max Azria commonly uses the keyhole cleavage feature in designs. This second skin minidress is one example.
	Sometimes fashion tape fails even the smaller breasted bodies like actress AnnaLynne McCord but that doesn't stop her from being daring as a fashion icon.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.