Cosplay – Halloween 2012 – Harley Quinn

In around September of 2012 my husband started playing Batman: Arkham Asylum on his Xbox 360 quite often. So when I brought up Halloween ideas he naturally suggested Harley Quinn or Poison Ivy as an option. In previous years I always wanted to dress up as Leeloo from The Fifth Element. So I debated upon which one to go with:

I found a costume of Harley Quinn online from Party City and figured I’d order it and give it a try. When it came in the mail I was very disappointed by the lack of quality. I paid $50 for something worth about $10, if that. I decided I’d recreate my own outfit based upon the cheaply made one.

(Best part is the picture is slightly different from what actually comes in the package!)

This project is where I rediscovered my love of cosplay and recreating outfits – so looking back, thank you Party City for your sub-par quality costume! I started by searching online for different angles of Harley’s outfit to get an idea of the exact details. I printed out a picture to work from:

I knew the hardest part would be the corset so I figured that was the best place to start. I’d never made one before and didn’t have any patterns for one so I took out a couple that I already had and tried to make my own pattern based upon those. I used tracing paper and a ruler to get everything as even as possible. For the fabric I used shiny red vinyl, which was actually easier to sew on the machine than I thought it would be. Here are the pieces after I cut the pattern out:

What is a corset without boning?! This was the first time I had ever used it and I have to say – I’m a fan! I love that it holds in your figure and keeps the garment fitted properly. Here is the inside of the finished product (I didn’t do a lining since it’s just a costume):

For the front I added an inside panel on both sides and added grommets on each panel so I could lace the ribbon through and tie it as tight as I needed:

I didn’t make the white school girl shirt from scratch or the bra. I went to the thrift store and bought a basic cute white button up and cut the front down super low to create a shelf-like look. I did sew the back and sides in a bit tighter so it would appear more snug underneath my corset. For the bra I bought a red push up and added purple fabric to one of the cups and to finish it off I added lace ribbon. Pretty simple!

the back:

For the choker, wrist cuffs and belt I used fake black leather (pleather). I added grommets to the belt, a belt buckle and velcro on the back. The choker closes by velcro and I added a smaller buckle to the front. The wrist cuffs also have velcro and I added some studs. The nurse’s hat has foam inside to keep it standing up and elastic bands on each side to put pig tails through.

The skirt is just white cotton fabric that I folded over and pleated. The waistband has elastic inside, it’s really comfortable to wear – too bad it has fake blood all over it or else I could wear it this spring! My husband did the blood part, he used fake blood from a halloween store.

The day of the Halloween parties I talked my husband into wearing a leotard Batman outfit – I love it!
(Yes I know Harley is Joker’s girl – but in an alternate universe old-school Batman can totally steal her!)

Here is a front shot:

Back shot:

Overall I made the corset, nurse’s hat, choker, wrist cuffs, arm warmers, leg warmers, skirt and belt myself. I love how it turned out and I had tons of compliments. I have to say making costumes and cosplay is so much fun!