10 Best Emma Frost Outfits In X-Men History, Ranked

Emma Frost is one of the few Marvel characters who routinely change her look; being the femme fetale that she is, Emma’s outfits are more than just clothes; it’s part of her act. Frost dresses in the way she does, not just to be self-expressive, but to lure her allies and enemies, especially men, into believing that she’s nothing less than the psychic, business-mogul, secret-society-leading mastermind she truly is.




While Frost is justifiably argued to be nothing more than eye candy for the male gaze, in her case that’s exactly the point. She is a defiant self-made woman who, after rejecting her father’s fortune due to his appalling abuse toward her older brother, saw men capitalizing on the unfair advantages society had given them.

Emma emphasizes her sexuality, primarily through her clothing, both for the power of her own expression and to gain leverage over those she’ll inevitably take advantage of. Emma’s many outfits are powerfully unique, so here are Emma Frost’s top ten outfits in X-Men history.


10 Black Queen (Dark Avengers / Uncanny X-Men: Utopia)

Designed By: Simone Bianchi & Marc Silvestri


Shedding her usual all-white look, Emma Frost momentarily took over the “Black Queen” moniker when she took leadership over the Dark X-Men during the Dark Reign storyline. As with the rest of the unlikely members of this new X-Men team, Emma, for the first time, fully brandishes the X mark on her costume, embracing her new X-Men persona. While the all-black look is definitely intimidating, which fully represents the tone of her team, the awkward all-consuming leathery black sheen somewhat swallows the hero who is known for making herself be seen.

Emma Frost’s X-Men from this era were nothing more than a dangerous militia and a cheap knockoff of the original team, both aspects reflected in Frost’s clothing. This outfit is tacky and out of character for Emma’s usual dress, fully expressing the point of where she was mentally at the time.


9 Hellfire Gala (2021)

Designed By: Russell Dauterman

Emma Frost in diamond form on the green carpet at the Hellfire Gala-1

Marvel’s first soirée into their now annual Met Gala-inspired event that sees heroes and villains alike show up dressed to the nines, the Hellfire Gala is Marvel’s most talked about event, allowing artists to fully flex their creative skills. In the event’s first year, Emma debuted a startlingly bare look, only made somewhat PG-13 by the unnoticeably tight bodysuit and the long flowy strands of diamond-encrusted strands that make up her “dress.” Truly, only Emma Frost doesn’t need a dress or jewelry to be the most dazzling star of the event.

What makes this bodysuit/dress combo so interesting is that it is designed to show off Emma, but not in the same way her normal clothing choices do. Her first Hellfire Gala outfit specifically highlights her most illustrious mutant ability, unapologetically showing off the part of herself that the world frequently tries to hide away.


8 Immortal X-Men

Designed By: Joshua “Sway” Swaby

Emma Frost using her telepathic powers, while wearing her Immortal X-Men costume-1

Certainly one of Emma’s most exposing looks, this stunningly minimal costume debuted shortly after 2023’s Hellfire Gala and the destruction of the mutant nation Krakoa. While this isn’t the full look that Emma takes on in the comics during this period, it strongly represents her emotional state at the time. With her Hellions gone, her school destroyed, Krakoa obliterated, and Charles Xavier and Magneto labeled traitors, Emma had everything she worked toward stripped from her in mere hours. Admittedly leaning much closer to skimpy than classy, this look is ultimately less representative of who she has grown to be.


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This outfit shows Emma at a point where she felt like her very being had been stripped of purpose; she may have survived, but her will did not. Unfortunately, this has somewhat remained the case, although she has learned to hide it well.

7 Phoenix Five (Avengers vs. X-Men)

Designed By: John Romita Jr.

Phoenix Five (Avengers vs. X-Men


One of Emma Frost’s most powerful outfits to date, this fit came about during the Avengers vs. X-Men event, which saw Emma, alongside, Magik, Colossus, Namor, and Cyclops, absorb the power of the Phoenix Force after it was split apart by Tony Stark. Fully abandoning the idea of “frost,” Emma became enveloped in an ethereal cosmic flame, carrying herself with the force of a mortal turned demigod. Outside the Phoenix-shaped one-piece she wears, the absolute best part of the entire look is the long wispy arm coverings that wave off of her like the wings of the Phoenix.

Fully abandoning the idea of “frost,” Emma became enveloped in an ethereal cosmic flame

With this costume, the reader was made to see Emma Frost as a powerful force of nature and not just a pretty face and figure. Even better is that this outfit doesn’t over impose itself on Emma’s wardrobe’s traditional markers, such as the thigh-high boots and long gloves.


6 Black Queen (All New X-Men)

Designed By: Stephane Roux

Emma Frost, in a black version of her costume, standing over a fallen Cyclops-1

Returning to another of Emma Frost’s “Black Queen” outfits, this outfit better represents the classic feel that Emma’s costumes are known for while still fully abandoning her normally all-white aesthetic for an appropriately needed all-black one. No longer being overwhelmed by the massive cloak, Emma fully stands on business in this outfit, retaining her dominant leadership of the X-Men. While subtle, one of the more interesting aspects of this outfit is the armor plating incorporated into her boots; this was a time of war, internally and externally, for the X-Men and Emma Frost came prepared.

DID YOU KNOW: Emma is considered an omega-level telepath, meaning her telepathic abilities have no known limits?


Her ideologies regarding human/mutant relations have always been muddy, but at this point, she had openly adopted Cyclops’s extremist behavior. Emma Frost was tired of the Avengers’ and the Inhumans’ constant failures to help protect mutantkind, and she fully intended to show them their place.

5 White Queen (Sins of Sinister)

Designed By: Stanley “Artgrem” Lau

Emma Frost lounges on her thrown made of diamond.

Fully embracing the elegance of the “White Queen,’ Emma serves a powerful combination of the specific aesthetics and tropes that most of her outfits pick and choose from. This is a version of Emma Frost that wants to be seen. Her overtly exposing looks are often used as a ploy to make her opponents believe that she’s weak. However, in this outfit, Emma demands the attention because she knows she deserves it. Emma Frost is the White Queen and fully intends to show off how strong her rule will be.


This specific cover art outfit was immediately followed by the Sins of Sinister event. While her in-comic costume looked quite a bit different, this look better acknowledges the full scope of who Emma is and who she became in Sinister’s reality. Emma Frost doesn’t need a crown to still be a queen.

4 Sinister Frost (Immoral X-Men)

Designed By: Mark Brooks

Emma Frost in one of her more extravagant costumes, with snow falling all around her (2)

An event that overtook every major X-Men title, Sins of Sinister saw the Marvel Universe taken over by Mr. Sinister after he used Moira MacTaggert to make a playground with the fate of the X-Men. This inspired look is practically Sinister’s complete costume but with the signature all-white flair that Emma’s traditional outfits are known for.


The full-metal armor, the flowing shredded cape, and the levitating crown of ice are absolutely perfect attributes that represent who Emma Frost really is; a powerful, near-indestructible, cold and calculated queen.

However, this is one of the few costumes that overpower her traditional aesthetics to employ that of another. Ultimately, like everyone else in this twisted reality, Emma had no true free will of her own and was considered just another one of Sinister’s play-toys.

3 Wedding Dress (Fall of X)

Designed By: Lucas Werneck

Cropped Invincible Iron Man cover featuring Emma Frost in her wedding dress-1


While their wedding was technically a farce for the public, done so in the wake of tragedy for mutantkind, Emma’s marriage with Tony Stark was secretly one of the happiest moments of her life. Adopting traditional elements of her normal outfits, including the wide neck covering, the subtle X, and the corset underneath, her wedding dress flows with a crystalline elegance that deserves nothing less than to be worn by Emma Frost. Symbolically powerful, the dress’s high-rise slit that allows her leg to pop out and show off her mutant powers is an especially powerful gesture given mutantkind’s recent tragedies.

As mentioned previously on this list, Emma’s outfits are often representations of who she is or what she is going through at any given moment. In a sense, while she uses her clothing to deceive others, her outfits ultimately betray what she is trying to hide.


2 Hellfire Gala (2022)

Designed By: Meghan Hetrick

Emma Frost poses in her 2022 Hellfire Gala dress.

Emma Frost’s second Hellfire Gala look, this dress employs strikingly new qualities to her look that aren’t often seen in her other outfits. The staggering geometric patterns cut into the chest and the cape of the dress resemble simple diamond shapes, a subtle play into her powers rather than her previous Hellfire Gala outfit that was made entirely of real diamonds. While a simple element, the gold accents are a beautiful pop of color to her outfit that highlights the geometric patterns of her dress that Emma will hopefully incorporate into her future costumes.


By this Hellfire Gala, Krakoa had already been established as a self-sustaining nation that had made massive enhancements in the medical and pharmaceutical industries; Emma Frost’s Hellfire Gala dress exudes the economically powerful status that the country she had helped build had just earned.

1 Hellfire Gala (2023)

Designed By: Kris Anka

Emma Frost shows off her 2023 Hellfire Gala outfit.

Emma’s absolute best outfit in her 45 years of comic appearances, is her newest Hellfire Gala fit. The new look, while a simple change, is a multi-layered outfit that changes the overall tone of the entire outfit as she strips down each layer throughout the event. Fully incorporating the staple elements of her previous costumes while bringing back the thickly furred neckline, which is usually adorned to her cloaks, this look both honors and accentuates every element that has become synonymous with Emma’s outfits. This powerful pantsuit combo truly shows off the strong-willed business mogul that Emma Frost truly is.


As each layer is removed, a new aspect of her character is revealed. While wearing the long coat, it looks as if she were the White Queen once again. While sporting the blazer underneath, Emma Frost looks more appropriate to her corporate and political status at the time.

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