Poison Ivy
Inspiration
I wanted to do a cosplay of an American comic book character. Up to this point, I'd only done my own characters. I wanted to try something that would be challenging for me (recreating someone else's vision) but that would be fun (doing my own version of it). I had some girlfriends who were up for doing a group thing - so we decided to do the old-school comic book ladies. I chose Poison Ivy, because I'm a big nature fan and sympathize with many environmental issues. In some ways, I think she's doing the right thing, maybe in the wrong way.
Production
Poison Ivy is mostly leaves. I created a super-bra out of two La Senza bras, and glued leaves on it. I made a bikini bottom and glued leaves on it. I took a nice pair of heels, painted them brown, and glued leaves on them. The hardest part were the arm/leg bands, where I created a vine-like framework with elastic and wire, and glued leaves on it. (Sensing a trend?)
The only revolutionary part of this costume is that I then painted the leaves, to make them more dynamic/theatrical/reflective of the real colours in ivy leaves.
Application
I wanted the makeup to be minimal and skin-coloured, not overly green. I'm cosplaying Ivy from when she started to really get control of her powers, the point at which she was less concerned with 'human things' but more capable of things like modifying the amount of chlorophyl in her skin.
Always do a test of your costume before the event. I did a photo test with the wigs (I'm wearing two) and tentative makeup. I still needed to make adjustments after that point, and I was glad I knew about them in advance.
I made major changes to the hair, as the wigs had way too many bangs, and I knew I'd end up with a bigger hair piece. (It wasn't completed at the time of the photo test.)
Her first public appearance
The costume was pretty comfortable to wear! I was pleasantly surprised. This costume was my entry into the Ottawa Comic Con 2014 Masquerade. I won an award at the Journeyman level for "Most detail oriented".
It took about 3 hours on the first day to put on the makeup, do my hair, and get all the leaves on and in the right place. Thanks to my well-designed pieces, I didn't need any glue to keep anything in place - it stayed right where it should, all day. Thanks to heavily hairspraying my makeup in place, it didn't move either. By 4pm when we were doing the judging, the only thing I had to touch up was my lips, and that barely.
I wore this costume on Saturday and Sunday. At the end of two days of wearing two wigs, giant false eyelashes and enough foundation to hide a beard, my face and eyes were very tired...
Photos by Richard Dufault Photography and Jason Walton.
