Proof a Catsuit Is the Ultimate Layering Staple

Name: Corset Bodysuit
Brand: Live the Process
Price: 188 USD

Styling tips to ensure your catsuit will not look like a Halloween costume.

Over the past few seasons, designers ranging from LaQuan Smith to Casey Cadwallader of Thierry Mugler have revived the catsuit with the help of their celebrity entourage, turning the ’80s workout/performance spandex concoction into a sexy wardrobe staple. High-profile fans, including Dua Lipa and Bella Hadid, have turned many heads on the carpet in their respective clingy creations.

Catsuits also peppered the recent collections of Saint Laurent, Prada, newcomer Maximilian Davis, and more in 2021. Simultaneously, Kim Kardashian in bubblegum pink Balenciaga, Alicia Keys in floral Richard Quinn, and Taylor Swift in a lace number from Sarah Regensburger have all helped the catsuit shed its campy Halloween connotation (or at least the Halloween portion of the descriptor).

Photo: Victor Virgile/ Getty

Photo: Victor Virgile/ Getty

Photo: Taylor Hill/ Getty

In contrast to these ostentatious runway iterations, the catsuit has also made an appearance in more achievable ensembles, as well. In 2020, Nicole Trunfio founded Bumpsuit, another brand with a cult celeb following, as a line of catsuits that caters to pregnant women’s changing bodies. Once the model turned entrepreneur was no longer pregnant, she couldn’t stop wearing her creations. If well constructed, catsuits can be extremely comfortable and, as exhibited in Trunfio’s ethos, are friends to bumps and body changes, in general. So comfortable, in fact, they’ve even become a popular workout staple among brands like Girlfriend Collective and Prism Squared.

Photo: Edward Berthelot/ Getty

For those intimidated to don this style in isolation, think of the stretchy one-piece instead as your ultimate layering tool. Show off as much or as little as you like. As street style stars paraded their versions around this past fashion week, many opted to wear a catsuit as the base layer for blazers, jackets, or coats, revealing only glimpses as Susie Lau showed us. (This is a great tactic when wearing louder printed versions.) You can also add a skirt atop yours, a tactic exhibited by both Maximilian Davis’s coordinating extra and a Totême runway still from a few years ago.