Princess Celestia Cosplay How-To

Hey all, 

Since I've gotten so many wonderful comments on my Princess Celestia cosplay, I thought I'd go ahead and give you the background on how it all came together. This is my favorite kind of cosplay - where all sorts of separate elements are gathered from all over and combined to create the finished costume. So much more fun and challenging than just running to Party City for a costume in a bag. Not that there's anything wrong with that - I give everyone props for dressing up regardless of how you got the costume - homemade, store bought, commissioned off Etsy, etc. In the past I've done all of the above. But for those who want a little added challenge this year, here's what I did for Princess Celestia. Most of this could be applied to any of the ponies, too! 

I didn't do any sewing for this costume, by the way. But you could totally make a dress from a pattern if you wanted to up the level even more! :) 

CROWN AND NECKLACE: 

I made these using a low-melt thermoplastic called Wonderflex. I cut out the pattern,then heated it to the shape I wanted. Then I added detailing with craft foam and Model Magic clay. (I had better luck with the craft foam.) Then I primed them with Gesso and then spray painted both with a metallic bronze paint. (It was not as shiny as I wanted. I need to investigate better metallic paints.)

Lastly I added the purple gems (which I found for a couple bucks off eBay) and the horn (also from eBay - and IT LIT UP!) By anchoring the horn INSIDE the crown, I didn't have a problem with it sliding off my head. Which I totally would have, otherwise, as it is pretty heavy. I think it looks more accurate and better anyway to have it in the crown. I'm just mentioning this cause I've seen many crowns/necklaces made out of craft foam, which is fine, but you'd need a lighter horn to pull that off. 

Also, if you prefer to make the horn instead of getting a light up one, you can use Model Magic for that, too. Lastly, I've sen some cosplays add LED lights to the gem parts. When I next upgrade this, I'm totally going to do this for the necklace. (Won't bother on the crown, seeing as I have the light up horn already.) 

WIG: From Arda wigs - a company that makes great costume wigs. This one is the Candy Striper Harmony wig. (It's currently out of stock but if you pre-order it, they usually get them in in a couple weeks.) www.arda-wigs.com

CORSET: Just a plain waist cincher. You can find them all over the internet. Don't need anything fancy. I chose this one cause it didn't have any fancy buckles and I could wear it UNDER a costume as well as over in the future. 

WHITE SHIRT: An underarmor type shirt I got at Kohls. It was the kind that wicked away sweat which is important with costumes!@ 

ARM BANDS - just some cheap gold arm bands I got off eBay. I want to upgrade these to armor before I wear this costume again. 

WINGS - made of craft foam and wire. They attached under the arms but I'm going to fix that and put a coat hanger between them so they can be attached by the corset instead. Too sweaty to have them under the arms and they don't always stay in place. 

CUTIE MARK - I got the plain wood sunshine at Michael's in their wood crafts section and painted it. Then we took a hook and drilled that in and hung it from a string on the corset. I had an idea that you could actually also stick one of those credit card holders onto the back of it so you could carry your ID and credit cards around without a purse. 

SKIRT - A hoop skirt and an over skirt that I had hanging around from previous costumes. 

SHOES - you can't see them here but they are strappy gold sandals. They looks great - like armored hooves, but my feet were dying by the end of the day. 

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!! ALL THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY!