10. Raver Rainbow Brite
Well, my Raver Rainbow had a skirt and not pants, and knee socks (a long skirt, though) and no visor, but since I did it out of my own head and just now found this one while Googling the concept, I’d say that’s fair.
9. Well, the dress was a la Velma Kelly but… not? (as played by Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago)
I wasn’t actually being Velma, as I’ve never been that sassy, but I had a dress similar to it for a Chicago-themed birthday party. Very very short. But it came in handy when we did a dance to the overture in my school’s Broadway revue that year. And I still have it in my costume box.
8. Polexia Aphrodisia (as played by Anna Paquin in Almost Famous)
Sadly not complete with a William Miller of my own, but. My mom made the dress for me (we altered a pattern). We went vintaging for the perfect hat, then right when “Tiny Dancer” came on the radio we spotted it. (We had to dye it pink, but.) We got the sunglasses online (and I almost cried when they broke). It was perfection. And I still have the dress in my costume box.
7. Maureen Johnson (as played by Idina Menzel in Rent)
Though my catsuit was styled after the one in the stage show, not a latex onesie. Mine had a vest and arm warmers and pants and the most epic cheap-ass pleather boots that have ever existed. Vinyl and pleather and ears and I waved my hair. The chips were not included. And I still have the whole thing in my costume box.
6. Kate (as played also by Idina Menzel in The Wild Party)
Easily the most obscure costume on here, and that’s saying something. None of these are costumes that could be appreciated by the masses. But here’s one, another flapper dress, that’s based (we modified a pattern again) on a dress worn by Idina in an obscure off-Broadway musical from 1999 that’s based on an obscure poem from the 1920s. Kate was my favorite because she was Idina, and she was a “semi-reformed hooker” (I do love me some hookers). And I still have the dress in my costume box.
5. Ilse Neumann (as played by Lauren Pritchard in Spring Awakening)
This one is worth telling the story of, because my friends and I arranged it so we had… half the cast. All the girls except for Thea, my parents were the adults, and a Melchior and a Moritz. And we took so many pictures it was unreal. And then I Photoshopped them all to hell. I had the green Ilse dress, too; we worked it. One of my friends then won the official Spring Awakening costume contest that year, too, so the entire cast got to see our scrapbook of dorky-ass in-my-living-room pictures. Apparently it was impressive. And I still have both outfits in my costume box.
4. Dr. Dakota Block (as played by Marley Shelton in Grindhouse)
The shirt was just something I found at Forever 21 (just the tank top, though). The lab coat I bought at school, then hand-embroidered her name on. The skirt I bought at a vintage store, then cut a slit up and re-hemmed. The syringes? Plastic drugstore ones that I then hand-painted. The eye makeup? Water-nonproof mascara and eyeliner that I then bought a spray bottle to water-streak. And I still have it all in my costume box.
3. Blind Mag (as played by Sarah Brightman in Repo! The Genetic Opera)
(Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate what a freakin’ hot 50 year old she is? Seriously?) This one was fun. This was my first experience with proper corsetry, and well worth it. My mom sewed the feathers onto said corset by hand, then helped me make a tulle bustle and a little skirt (’cause I wasn’t about to walk around in leather underwear). I found the boots and the fake eyelashes at Lucy In Disguise, Austin’s greatest costume shop and one of my favorite things in South Congress. And I still have it all (yes, even the eyelashes) in my costume box.
2. Drusilla (as played by Juliet Landau in Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
I just conveniently already happened to have a red-flowered corset-but-not top laying around, so that was easy. The skirt and shoes I used were black and not burgundy, I admit, but I had to work with what I could find. (And the skirt was cheap, so it worked out.) The burgundy velvet coat was the single luckiest vintage find ever (also cheap). The necklace and my Miss Edith were Goodwill finds. Actually, the skirt was, too. And the fingernails, well, I just worked that up myself (it is hard to give oneself a French manicure, but worth it). And I still have it all in my costume box (well, the top and the coat are in my closet hanging ’cause they’re worth using in real life, and Miss Edith is sitting on my dresser next to my lava lamp and in front of my Dollhouse comic poster, but hey).
1. Kaylee Frye (as played by Jewel Staite in Firefly and Serenity)
This is no secret, kids. Considering it was my first foray into “cosplay” and you’ve seen the picture. But, I will say (as I do every time I have subsequently watched “Objects in Space”) we did a damn good job. So the pants were just pants and the teddy bear patch was a teensy bit small and I was wearing combat boots like she does every other time ever. We still did an amazing job hand-applique-ing the lace and stuff onto the shirt (and hand-dyeing the lace). And I still have it all in my costume box/closet. And I intend to wear the teddy bear pants when next I’m on an airplane in a couple of weeks. And I intend to bust it all out again whenever I rutting well please.
–your fangirl heroine.
