Princess Bubblegum Cosplay!

On the weekend I attended Supanova Brisbane and on the Saturday I did my first proper cosplay :D I'd done steampunk before but not a cosplay. I dressed as Princess Bubblegum, in her lab coat obviously. I'd been looking for something reasonably simple mainly because I can't sew to save my life and I left it quite late to get started, about a month and a half before the expo.

The Princess Bubblegum look I replicated

The trickiest pieces were the wig and crown. The wig I got reasonably cheap ($30ish) on eBay, it wasn't really the colour I had wanted but it still worked well as it was pink and knee length. The crown I made from craft foam which was an exciting adventure in glue. It wasn't perfect but I don't think anyone else would really notice the imperfections. I got a basic circle skirt from eBay for $15, searching for belly dancing skirts often reveals a wealth of basic swishy skirts for all sorts of purposes. I also got the lab coat from ebay, I got the cheapest one (I think it was $20) that looked like it had some shape to it as PB's coat is quite flattering and I didn't want to be lost in a coat that looked like a sack. I did need to pin the back of the coat with a bobby pin or two to get the proper shape and the wig hid it rather well though it did get a little caught at one point :/

I decided I didn't want to make my skin pink like PB as most of the guides I found said that the pink would get everywhere and I thought it would be a bit disastrous with a white lab coat. I used some random pinky purple eyeshadow I had lying around (it has no brand on it all) to my entire upper eye area to help soften the harshness of my eyebrows and some Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds Liquid in lilac for the lips (left over from my year 10 leavers dinner I think, which means it is at about 10 years old… gross…).

The finished product

Close up of makeup in more natural light (with bonus crazy eyes)

The wig itself was actually quite heavy and I had to cover my head in bobby pins to stop it sliding backwards every two seconds. I found the crown helped it stay on quite a lot, and it very helpfully hid my hairline when the wig did slip back a bit. 

The main issue I had at the expo was heat, it was a 32 degree day in Brisbane and the exhibition halls were like giant ovens and while I was aware the lab coat might make me a bit warm (but protect me from the sun) I didn't realise that the wig would be the main factor in overheating me. I did only spend half the day in costume because I don't handle heat well but it was still lots of fun. Lots of people took photos with me (particularly kids in Finn costumes ^.^) and two people said I was the best PB there (it's quite a popular cosplay) so I think that means I get to claim some kind of victory :D

The wig did get rather tangled, it got caught on the pens in my pocket a lot and it was a breezy day and I kept standing in front of the giant fans in the exhibition hall so it got whipped around quite a bit. I got a bottle of detangler (the kind you use when you're a kid) from the supermarket and spent two hours brushing it back to its former glory. I normally have really short hair because I can't stand having to brush my hair for more than about ten seconds so it was super frustrating and sometimes the wig would fall off the hook I had it on and onto the brush and I'd say a lot of swear words. 

After two hours of brushing, almost finished

The detangler I used, I think the strawberry scent really adds to the wig 

Next time I use this cosplay I think I'll try a cooler clime, maybe Sydney Supanova in June. I also really wanted to make a Science the rat for my pocket but I really really suck at sewing so my attempt was a huge flop, I might have another go and see if I can learn from my mistakes :)