Reading certain posts claiming that "There's no justification for Catwoman to wear a cowl, there's no reason for her to do that" is getting pretty frustrating.
Are we being willfully unimaginative? If you listen to the certain posters in these threads, you might come away believing that the only acceptable reason for someone to wear a costume--ever, anywhere in the world--is if they're doing it for the exact reasons that Batman does. If those reasons don't apply, then it must be completely impossible to imagine any other reason for someone to wear a costume.
As I explained in another thread, not every character is like Bruce Wayne. Not everyone is a methodical practicality machine. It's diminishing and misguided to pretend that every character should behave as such. People like to play dress-up in the real world; is it really so difficult to conceive of someone who is eccentric and playful? You know, one of the defining attributes of Selina Kyle? Not everything in the world is about symbols and little radio receivers built into cowl ears. Not everyone thinks that way.
It also frustrates me to hear about how this is just a costume, and worrying about it is superficial. I don't know about you, but I think the difference in personality between a thief and a thief who dresses up like a cat to seduce Batman is pretty immense. Similarly, if Bruce Wayne put on a ski mask and started beating criminals up with a stick, that, too, would be a pretty extreme departure from his established personality.
Putting on costumes, and the reasons they choose to do so, is part of who these characters are. That's how they were built! The desire to explain and re-explain why they do these crazy things has woven the costumes into the foundations of these character for decades.
Or, consider the problem this way: if Selina Kyle had not dressed up like a cat in Batman Returns, would she be the same character that she was? Would her character arc be the same? The answer, of course, is no.
