Another set of costumes for DragonCon 2015. I don’t have any progress shots for this build, sorry, I was too consumed with preparing Edea.
I made Ryan’s BoJack horseman head mostly out of thick sheets of styrofoam that had been sitting in our shed for about a year. I think they came from a refrigerator or other appliance that we purchased, and at the time I thought to myself, I should save these for a future project. Good thinking. As a result the net cost of the head was just a few bucks.
Using an electric carving knife I cut cross-sections of the head in the shape I wanted. It took about 5 slices of the styrofoam to get it to the thickness I needed. The slices in the center of course I also cut out the inner cavity for Ryan’s massive head. I used a bicycle helmet to determine the shape of the cavity, cutting it to slightly smaller than the space needed for the helmet, so that I could then press the helmet into the cavity for a snug fit. I glued all the slices together using spray adhesive, then using my carving knife and some sandpaper sponges I did the rest of the shaping of the head. I cut out an eye hole and covered it in a few layers of brown tulle. Next I covered the whole head (except the eye slot of course) in papier-mâché to give a good surface for painting, and to protect the styrofoam. I cut styrofoam balls in half to make the eyes, and used a bit of paper clay to make the eyelids, and add some additional detail to the mouth. I used craft foam to make the ears, and then painted the whole thing with acrylics. A bit of faux-fur for the mane rounded it out.
The costume itself was just various clothes from goodwill.
For Princess Caroline the dress was a cheap green dress from Amazon, to which I added yellow fishes with fabric paint. It took about 2-3 coats of paint to get good coverage. I initially made little fishes from felt, but as the dress I purchased was a stretchy material, it ended up bunching a bit around the felt. Fabric paint worked quite well, though if doing it again I’d make more smaller fishes, rather than the few large ones I ended up painting. For the belt I modified a spandex running belt by cutting it open, making it a bit smaller to go around my waist instead of hips, and adding a buckle so I didn’t have to slide it on over my legs. Running belts are great for cosplay as they give you a little bit of storage for when you don’t have pockets. I also added a small clip for my DragonCon badge. The collar is some ribbon, craft foam, and a large piece of sequin.
I made the ears out of a few layers of pink felt, folded into triangles, then pinched together with a few stitches at the back to give them a pucker. I added a bit of edging just using black sharpie. I attached the ears to a cheap pink wig which I styled with hair spray and thinned fabric glue. Add in some pink tights, pink pumps, yellow sweater, pink gloves, and make-up to finish it off. The makeup I used was Mehron’s paradise line, which was a cake type make-up that requires a bit of moisture on the sponge. I didn’t like it as much as the cream type make-up I used for Kefka last year, but it did last most of the day.
