Harley was introduced in the animated series in the show Batman, and was later moved to the DC comics. If you’re an OG, you must have seen the evolution she has undergone to reach where she is now. From being a sidekick to being a villain and a crime fighter, it indeed has been a really long journey for Dr Harleen Quinzel. 

From wearing one-piece jumpsuits to being a true fashion icon. Over time, Harley’s outfit has changed to showcase her abilities, personality, and position in various shows, comics, and feature films. So come along as we take a look at the history of Harley Quinn’s outfits and how far she has come. 

Harley Quinn’s Original Outfit

Harley Quinn started from The Batman: Animated Series as Joker’s sidekick in 1992. She was launched in the episode Joker’s Favor. After a year, she made a debut in the comics Batman Adventures #12. Initially, her origination was uncovered in The Batman Adventures: Mad Love in 1994. She was in her traditional court jester one-piece, with her diamond accents, a black eye mask, and a jester hoodie. Most of her comic adventures show her in the same outfit but with variations. 

Her suit made up her look-up until 2011. She was seen in Batman: Harley Quinn (1999), and more comics were inspired by the animated series. She also wore the outfit in The Batman Adventures, Batman: The Adventure Continues, Harley Quinn and Gotham Girls. The jumpsuit look is iconic and makes comebacks sometimes. However, Harley is too fashionable and cannot own one outfit, hence the variety today. 

Harley Quinn’s Revamped Look in The Arkham Series

The Batman: Arkham video game came out in the year 2011. Starting the game was adapted into a comic series by Paul Dini and Carlos D’Anda. Harley Quinn went through a change, where her jester jumpsuit was replaced with pants and a black and red bodice, showing her dangerous side. The jester hoodie was removed, and she had blonde pigtails, which remained a staple in the future comics. 

Between the Arkham series, Injustice: Gods Among Us was released where Harley appears in a nurse outfit, where her hair is dyed in red and blue wraps. As the series progresses, she has low pigtails and blonde hair with red bows, but she always wears an eye mask. She has a red tunic with spikes on the shoulder, leggings and black fingerless gloves.  Later onwards, her hair has been dyed black and red, but she keeps the bows. Her clothes change to red and purple matching her leggings. Her looks represent that, with time she had adopted different aesthetics instead of sticking to just one. 

The New Look In DC’s 52

DC launched Harley Quinn from 2013 to 2016 completely revamping her look, making her more independent and allowing her to make a debut as a star. They got rid of the hood, but kept her signature black and red look. They even changed her pigtails to red and black.Later, she went back to being blonde and ended up getting pink and blue tipped pigtails. These years keep up with the colorful hair but provide Harley with a huge variety in her wardrobe.  

The 2013 Harley has different outfits apart from her standard outfit. She has a crazy outfit with ninja stars, a jester cap, a blue and red corset with ruffle on top. Ultimately, their aim is to make the look red and black, with a leather top, shorts to match, red and black long socks, and jacket. There’s protective helmet, a bell collar around her neck, and skates. She has pajamas, fancy coats that are feathered, swimsuits, and all of them match her typical colors. Through the variety, the creators want to highlight how unpredictable she is and acknwoledging her as equivalent of the DC’s Deadpool. 

Suicide Squad: Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn With a Modern Makeover 

Margot Robbie played Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad giving her a new default look in the comics. Her look includes a graphic top, shorts in different colors such as blue, pink, black, white, and red. She has two blonde pigtails with blue and pink tips and a lettered choker. A similar look is being used in the animated series by Harley Quinn as she rocks her look but in the red and black one that she has done previously. 

Her style that wasintroduced in DC Rebirth’s Harley Quinn Series was continued through the Frank Tieri run in 2017 and on Sam Humphires run in 2018. Sam took a rock approach to it before returning to the traditional look and added a jacket. Meanwhile, in the trailers for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey potray how the cinematic looks have caught up the concept in the comic where she was constantly experimenting making her character distinct from Joker. 

Harley Quinn: The Future

Recently, Harley has been seen with various costumes. In the Future State: Harley Quinn takes place during the Magistrate’s future during the takeover of Gotham. Harley is held by the Scarecrow to catch all the bad guys. Here she has cotton candy dyed hair cut short apart from the bangs she has. She is seen in a prison outfit in orange and also has another red and black outfit. She also has a croptop with a yellow star on it and her pant-style shorts with accents of some decorations. She also wears goggles, belts with pouches, a pair of mismatched gloves, and a spikey choker. 

Harley’s Bat Costume

The newest outfit in the Batman: White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn # 6 was written by Katana Collins and Sean Murphy. She’s back in one piece which is very similar to the jester outfit but in yellow, grey, and black. Her suit is identical to Batman’s palette, showing her new role in the Black Lebel. Instead of a jester hood, she has a standard hood. She also has an honor pet Lou, his collar that she wears, and a loose utility belt. She doesn’t have standard pigtails, which has been replaced with a shorter hairstyle. 

Bottom Line

Amongst all the outfits that has been changed over the course of time, three signature looks remain. Her traditional Harley Quinn outfit, the DC 52 change, and the casual Suicide Squad outfit. Other  variations are yet to come and her new outfits lean more towards less chaotic designs as she has been positioned as a crime-fighting heroine. Her style has always been playful and quite versatile matching her characters very well. As fans we cannot wait to see more of her!

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