I haven’t done a cosplay post in a while. This costume is the one I’ve designated as the “1 Anime Cosplay of the Year” costume for four reasons. 1-I made two anime cosplays last year within 6 months of each other and it was expensive even though I worked at a fabric store. 2-I skipped sci-fi cosplay last year because I did two costumes so close together. 3-I go to a lot of anime cons. Between 2-4 a year and that is hard to make a new cosplay for each one, especially since most of them are within three months of each other. And 4-School doesn’t allow me the time to make one with such frequency. I think I made 3 or 4 costumes total last year, it was a lot. Anyway, this is Sailor Iron Mouse for Sailor Moon.

Now, some people don’t know who she is because she is in Sailor Stars. They did not adapt Sailor Stars for American TV like the rest of the series because it was too complicated to make it friendly for American children. Particularly because the Sailor Stars themselves were men half the time and the other half the were scantily-clad and various other reasons. Iron Mouse is one of the villains in this series. I went back and forth last year trying to decide if I wanted to be her or Queen Nehellenia. Either way, I wanted to be a villain and I was going to need a wig. I think the two major deciding factors for Iron Mouse was that it required less fabric, I could buy cheaper fabric because it was white and black (And I had b&w fabric left over from the Meryl costume) and already had hot pants and gloves.

I started the costume over x-mas break and worked on it whenever I came home from school. So, this costume took a lot longer than it should have for that reason. And this costume had so many problems… I almost gave up and went as Meryl again. The top was a self drafted pattern made out of cotton and maybe gabardine. I actually am unsure, I remember the fabric was on the same aisle as gabardine. The top is also made with black double and single fold bias tape, the gloves and the ear puffs(bunny tails) were purchase at a local costume store, the original wigs and beads were bought at a costume store in Norman, the fur is a fake trim, the tights came from Wal-Mart and the boots (the best deal I found ever) I found for $16 on clearance at Tops and Bottoms. The boots were probably the easiest of the things I bought to find. I had a budget for the wig and a particular length I wanted because this has been the only time that I’ve designed a wig. I didn’t find a wig until almost 3 weeks away from the con and it took me 2 weeks to fix it. I found 2 glow in the dark wigs for $20. I trimmed one and tucked under the length and made a bob with hot glue. I took the 2nd wig and made 2 ponytails, set them aside and took the extra hair and added it to the bobbed wig because it had bald spots where the wig lace showed through. I added the ponytails and sewed on the beads as well as the ears which I made with felt. I had the hardest time finding white tights and I had trouble finding them in my size.

The costume was the hardest part. The lower half gave me so much trouble, I tried to make it poofy by making it like a bubble-skirt. I misjudged the size and it didn’t really poof. Then it was too big at the top where it attached to the bikini top half. I tried to create an elastic channel twice and it didn’t work. I took it apart and tried to add a petticoat, but that didn’t work. I attempted the elastic channel again and it finally worked.

My tail didn’t turn out quite right. It is composed of many pipe cleaners. Even though it didn’t turn out right, I got the look I was looking for.

The boots are interesting, they are knee high. I folded them over and created the trim piece to slip over the fold and cover it up. I attached it with double-sided tape so I could use the boots again for something else.

I like the end result. It was a fun costume and probably the most revealing thing I’ve ever worn in public. I think I was the only character that was from Stars. I plan to wear it to Izumicon in November. ^_^