Those costumes were designed like that for a reason. Superman and Batman and some other original superhero characters were all created in the 1930s and 40s, when most people didn't have a television in their homes, and would maybe only go to the movies once a year.
The primary form of visual entertainment was the circus. If you were in a city, there were usually a few set up year-round, or if you were in the country, there were traveling circuses that went from town to town.
One feature that every circus had was the strong man: the big, muscle-bound guy who could bend metal beams and things like that, and he would usually wear a really tight singlet made out of spandex or something similar to show off all of his muscles. It might seem silly, or even effeminate to us now, but in the 1940s, that was the pinnacle of masculinity. That was what every kid wanted to grow up to be.
Those costumes were designed like that for a reason. Superman and Batman and some other original superhero characters were all created in the 1930s and 40s, when most people didn't have a television in their homes, and would maybe only go to the movies once a year.
The primary form of visual entertainment was the circus. If you were in a city, there were usually a few set up year-round, or if you were in the country, there were traveling circuses that went from town to town.
One feature that every circus had was the strong man: the big, muscle-bound guy who could bend metal beams and things like that, and he would usually wear a really tight singlet made out of spandex or something similar to show off all of his muscles. It might seem silly, or even effeminate to us now, but in the 1940s, that was the pinnacle of masculinity. That was what every kid wanted to grow up to be.
That's what those costumes are based on.