Hazards & Liabilities In Hair, Costume, & Wardrobe

Clothes in General

• Belts can easily get snagged and hooked on things.
• Capes and scarves offer no strategic advantages when worn, and there are too many ways they can get caught in everything from elevators to your enemy's fist.
• Corsets, while they won't (or shouldn't) restrict breathing enough to be a problem for casual wear, can restrict breathing enough to be a problem in combat or any intense activity that would require heavy breathing.
• Gloves in general are good for protecting the hands - but are a potential hazard around some machines as they can get stuck in moving parts, resulting in lost fingers or arms.
• Lace will tear.
• Overly-loose clothing, tassels, laces, and pretty much anything that dangles or flaps around can get caught in things or hands.
• Falling on steel buttons hurts.
• Pantyhose will run, no exceptions. (On the other hand, fishnet stockings might tear, but they won't run.)
• Regular jeans are not good for those in possession of testicles. Legs apart at 30 degrees, and... ouch. Jeans in general will restrict movement - the tighter they are, the worse it will be.
• String bikini/spaghetti straps easily snap. (Straps can work - provided they're at least two inches wide and reinforced.)
• Thongs and underwire bras will cut into the wearer's skin.
• Skintight clothing, contrary to belief that it'll act like a second skin and thus be especially good for movement, will actually restrict movement unless made of a stretchy material. However, these kinds of materials tend not to be durable.

Textiles & Materials

• Black materials will heat up more than other materials, making them a potentially poor choice in warm weather (particularly with poorly-ventilated materials such as leather and imitation leathers.). Also, when it comes to blending in with the shadows, it's inferior to dark gray or navy.
• Leather, vinyl, latex, and velvet are very hot to wear. Vinyl, latex, and plastic can chafe the skin (especially around the breasts), as well as promote yeast infections. Furthermore, leather, vinyl, and plastic tends to creak when the wearer moves around in them, making them a bad choice if being quiet is an issue.
• Spandex/Lycra/elastane is very prone to taking damage - and being so close to your skin, will only rip and tear more as you move in it. A few nicks here and there, and your would-be superhero would be in xir skivvies. See: what happened to Gillian Cooke's bobsled suit at the World Championship in Switzerland.
• Acetate and acrylics will ignite if exposed to flame, and will not self-extinguish if removed. The melted material can stick to the skin - which means that when you're being treated for your injuries, the medics are going to have to cut away the skin the material has fused to.
• Polyester, nylon, and olefin will usually self-extinguish if removed from flame, but it will melt onto the skin.
• Cotton and linen will burn like paper (admittedly, better than getting dripped on).
• Wool will burn (slowly) if exposed to flame, but it will self-extinguish if removed from it. It's better at keeping one warm and dry in cold weather than polyester, but in warm environments its insulating properties can become a drawback.
• Silk burns very easily and won't self-extinguish if removed from flame.
• Metal on bare skin creates problems because:
  • The wearer will be spilling out of it with so much as a twitch.
  • It will heat up under the sun (or when exposed to any other heat source).
  • It will get cold when it's cold.
• Mail on bare skin, aside from the other problems metal poses, can chafe the skin (particularly in areas around the breasts and groin, if used there), as well as snag and pull on body hairs.

Armor & Combat Wear

• Anything leaves the abdomen and torso uncovered leaves vital organs open to injury. Any bare skin is open to unnecessary scrapes and cuts.

Hair & Beards

Long, loose hair can be caught in things, sometimes with fatal results. (Several years back in my area, a neighbor girl died when her long braid was caught in the rear tire of a four-wheeler, and her neck broke.) Others have been scalped by long hair caught in moving parts. Similarly, long hair makes for excellent grabbing material in combat. (Alexander the Great knew what he was doing when he made his men shave.) Also, hair is flammable.

Headgear

• Gambit's headgear may look cool in the X-Men comics, but in reality it would hinder movement and cause a sweat rash.
• Masks, that time-honored tradition of superheroes, can cause unnecessary sweating.
• Hair and horns on helmets provide additional grabbing points for the enemy.

Footwear

• High heels are a huge liability. First, there's the simple fact that they force the wearer into an unnatural posture, which throws off one's balance. Secondly, they make the wearer more unstable period, which can result in sprains and/or broken bones when a fall occurs. And of course, there's the simple fact that you can't run in them, the inevitable massive foot pain that will follow, and the fact that heels are prone to breaking.
• Crocs and flip-flops fall off extremely easily.
• Anything that doesn't support your ankles is less than ideal if you're fighting. Proper combat boots FTW.

Jewelry

• Metal of any kind becomes a hazard when working near heated materials, heat sources, or electricity. For example, a metal finger ring, if heated or electrified, will cause serious injury.
• Piercings can get ripped out of the flesh.
• Rings, bracelets, and watches can catch and hold dangerous chemicals to the skin, or provide harbors for bacteria.
• Necklaces, bracelets, watches, rings, etc. can get caught in machinery, potentially resulting in lost fingers and arms. Furthermore, bits of broken jewelry can cause damage to equipment and create possible fire hazards. And if that wasn't bad enough, bits of jewelry can be ejected from machines at lethal speeds.
• Also, if you punch someone while wearing a heavy ring, you'll likely break your finger.

Makeup

When you do strenuous physical activity for any longer than few minutes, you sweat. Unless you have really good sweatproof makeup, your foundation and whatnot will start getting into your eyes as soon as you start sweating - and it will sting and render you effectively blind.

Hand & Custom-Made Gear

Anything custom-made and/or made by hand will invariably end up being more expensive than something off the rack, and depending on the types of materials will used and the amount of detailing gone into it, the cost can go up pretty high. If the outfit needs repaired or replaced often (eg, because it belongs to a superhero or vigilante who frequently wears it in combat), that's going to be even more money spent. If your character has to pay for xir own outfits and isn't relatively wealthy, this could easily become painful to the wallet in a hurry. What's more, if your character makes and fixes xir own outfits, it'll not only cost money, but also time.