Ariel

From when I was a little kid, I loved and identified with Ariel from Disney’s Little Mermaid.

Retrospectively, I’m not sure why - the spunk, maybe? I hope I wasn’t quite that obnoxious to my parents, though…

At any rate, the first Disney princess I had to cosplay was obviously Ariel. But in my contrary and obstinate nature (wait… maybe I AM like Ariel!), I couldn’t do the “traditional” version. So I went for the Village dress, one of my favorite Disney costumes.

Compare and contrast:

Credit to the Walt Disney Company

Well, I guess a lot of people have done this one.

This was my first ever con cosplay, and it was a great time and an excellent learning experience. I’m a big history buff and I studied costume history in some detail. So although my first goal is always duplicating the silhouette and design of the original character, I also tried to inject some “historical accuracy” into this cosplay. Let me tell you that unless it is crucial to the design, don’t bother with a real corset at Comic Con! And don’t do layers if you can help it. FAKE IT! There are ways to construct garments to give the appearance of layers, corsets, and any other design details you want, while still keeping it one piece with a zipper. Trust me, you will be glad you did that.

I will be tweaking, and in some areas remaking, this costume as part of my Mulligan series. I must have lost a little weight while in the process of making the original. As you can see from the image above, the corset isn’t exactly working hard at making a nice waist. So all that effort to make and wear a corset, and it didn’t even cinch in the waist! I can get another inch or two out of that and still use a zipper, so that’s the biggest change.

The wig could use a little more work, and I’d love to wire that bow so it stands up better. Finally, I think the notch in the front of the corset could be more defined. I just want to inch closer to the original in any way I can.

While we’re waiting for the “remodel” please enjoy these super cool pics from Serena Johnson and Dejuan from 3BlackGeeks: