Catwoman costume in The Dark Knight Rises

Anne Hathaway is playing Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan's new Batman movie. I don't know what I think of the casting of Anne Hathaway yet, as I haven't seen most of her movies, so I don't have any idea what she's capable of as an actress. I do know though that I don't really like her Catwoman costume in the movie.

It's really confusing to me that they went the direction they did with the costume, because of all the very different versions of Catwoman's costume from the comics and other media, there are definitely some designs that seem tailor-made for the style of Nolan's more realistic Batman world.

One of my problems with the costume is the thigh-high boots with the ridiculously tall heels. They bring to mind Selina's backstory in some of the comics in the 1980's where she was a prostitute, a characterization which I never found appealing whatsoever. A lot of Batman fans love it though, and many of them think it's perfect for the Nolan's movies because of how "dark and gritty" they are. Sure Nolan's movies are a bit dark and gritty, but I think people completely overstate just how dark and gritty they are. Making Selina Kyle a prostitute is just going overboard in my opinion. Besides the association with Selina's hooker backstory in the comics, I also just think the boots are just impractical. A pair of fashionable, yet sensible women's combat boots that go almost up to the knee would have looked great.

Speaking of impracticality, I also have a problem with the long hair. I know many versions of Catwoman over the years in the comics and on television have included her long hair, but it seems pretty silly having long hair if you're Catwoman. Wouldn't always be getting in the way? Wouldn't it be a huge weakness in physical altercations? Why not have a cowl to cover it up? Even with the cat ears. It really doesn't seem farfetched to me at all for Selina to take on a cat persona in response to Batman's bat persona. She loves toying with him, and generally sees their relationship as a game.

It also really baffles me that they gave her goggles, but not the goggles that seem the obvious choice to give her. When the Catwoman character and costume were revamped in 2001, she had a pair of goggles, which are very unique and distinctive. Since then, they've been a feature on many different versions of the costume, including in the comic Batman: Hush, the animated television show The Batman, and the video game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

Although these goggles have only been around for a little over a decade, they've become iconic. They're arguably the most iconic part of the Catwoman costume throughout all the different versions of it in the 72 years she's been around. They would have looked fantastic on a realistic and practical Nolan movie Catwoman.