In the 1970s, the Legion of Super-Heroes had two artists that helped redesign the team for the Bronze Age. Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell designed the bulk of the costumes that became almost iconic to the Legion.
Despite their now-dated aesthetic and the obvious ways it hasn't aged the best, these costumes reflected a change in the Legion that helped it transition into a more adventuresome and less campy era. Had the original Silver Age costumes stuck around, it would have seemed like the Legion was stuck, instead of growing up with its fans.
10 Tyroc's White, High-Collared Costume
Tyroc in the 1970s is a much-derided character. Artist Mike Grell designed him to be the worst possible stereotype that he was given. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't avoid designing a costume that worked aesthetically.
The costume is white, which instantly signifies that he's the good guy. The high collar, while out of proportion with the rest of the costume, creates a flow to Tyroc's hair. The bare legs and arms links him visually to many of the new Legionnaire costumes.
9 Cosmic Boy's Color Schemes Goes From Pink To Black
Cosmic Boy's Bronze Age costume is another look that is often considered one of the worst in the team's history. However, the costume is legendary in its revealing nature. It also emphasized an impressive heroic physique for the Legion's first leader.
Giving Cosmic Boy a look that signifies personal strength helps place him as one of the most powerful Legionnaires. Making it black takes away the stigma of having one of the recognizable pink costumes of the Silver Age. It also implies a connection with his girlfriend, Night Girl.
8 Princess Projectra's Red And Gold Ensemble
Princess Projectra was royalty on a world with a culture on par with medieval Europe. Her main '70s-era costume has a fine attention to detail with yellow or gold accenting the bright red costume and thigh-high boots. Even the lacing that holds the deep neckline together is part of that detail. Finally, though not part of her costume, her bright white, very full head of hair provided a great visual contrast to the flaming red of her outfit.
7 Karate Kid's Gi-Like Tunic
Before he adopted this high collared, white tunic costume, Karate Kid went through some lackluster costumes. The short sleeves show off his powerful arms. The white tunic resembles a gi better than his original orange costume ever did. This costume simply looks more like it belongs to a master of the martial arts.
While the high collar may seem impractical, it does add a heroic flair necessary for such a visible hero, often seen as weaker than his teammates. It continues over to the yellow accents in the tunic, making it seem like a costume rather than functional clothing.
6 Shrinking Violet Stands Out In A Green Jumpsuit
Shrinking Violet has one of the best Cockrum-designed costumes. It's often overlooked as the character was overshadowed so much during the first half of the decade. For being one of the "weaker" Legionnaires, Legion adventures were often better suited to the flashier and more physically powerful boys.
However, her costume makes use of green and black color scheme that stands out in a sea of red and blue costumes. The color green is so ingrained with Violet that it's significant that the only time that the original shrinking violet didn't wear green was when she was being impersonated. In the rebooted Legion, we didn't see her wear green except when she came under the thrall of the Emerald Eye.
5 Star Boy Literally Wears The Universe On His Sleeve
In the 1970s, Star Boy started wearing one of the best costumes in comics, not just in the Legion of Super-Heroes. Alex Ross loved it so much that he worked it, and the character, into a highly noticeable spot in Kingdom Come. Later, it was even written into the character's continuity.
Initially, the costume featured a deep v-neck. Quickly it was changed to a high collar which interacted well with the beard he later grew in the 1980s. Legion of 3 Worlds later retconned this costume into a wearable map of the multiverse.
4 Duo Damsel's Dual Costumes
In Superboy #193, the Legion stopped a war on Pasnic between two kingdoms represented by the colors orange and purple. The fact that the colors split when Duo Damsel does help the Legion's stories reflect truly futuristic technology.
Of course, it's incorporated into a costume, but the idea carried over into other versions of the Legion. It's not yet been revealed if the current Triplicate Girls can combine in a manner where their costumes become a merging of the three colors.
3 Phantom Girl's White Jumpsuit And Bell Bottoms
Phantom Girl's Cockrum-designed costume lasted until almost the end of the 1980s. It changed a little over the years, but the flared bell bottoms worked excellently in showing the effect of her powers. As mentioned with Tyroc, the white color is striking, and perfect for one of the more noble Legionnaires.
The belt that drapes across her hips served to be functional as an heirloom from her home planet Bgtzl. In Legion of Super-Heroes #281, she focuses on it to shift herself, Superboy, and Dawnstar to Bgtzl, which is something her powers allow her to do. During the New 52, she used this ability to permanently leave for Bgtzl.
2 Saturn Girl's Pink Bikini
Saturn Girl's "pink bikini" as it is commonly referred to is popular among fans. While she has not actually reverted to it or to its amount of coverage, she has seen costumes pay homage to it, especially in the threeboot Legion written by Jim Shooter. Other homages to it show up temporarily, such as Apparition's "Emerald Legion" in the rebooted Legion.
The "pink bikini" was actually designed by a fan. K. Haven Metzger was given credit for the design in Adventure Comics #403, where several other fan designs appeared. Metzger might be more recognizable as Kim Metzger, who was interviewed about it in 2014.
1 Lightning Lad
Lightning Lad's costume during the 1970s was so good that it became the iconic costume for the character. After it debuted, it saw only minor changes until it was temporarily retired when the character did in the "Five Years Later" Legion.
In Brian Micahel Bendis's current Legion, there's an updated version of the costume. It's lasted more than most every other Legionnaire's costume, and certainly more than any costume from the 1970s. It shows that not everything to come out of 1970s fashion was tacky and poorly-aged.