Harley Quinn Cosplays
Here are all my Harley costumes that are photographed.
Steampunk Harley Quinn
1st Place OES Betsy Ross-Levant Kentucky Derby Hat Contest
Most Unique, OES, Pond Chapter Easter Hat Contest
Runner Up Craftsmanship, FanWorld 2017
This is a concept that percolated and evolved much. It started as an idea for a Steampunk Sith to compliment my Steampunk Jedi that I started to use in June 2016. I made the short leap into turning it into a Steampunk Harley Quinn after deciding that I wanted my own version. I wanted to stand out from 600 Suicide Squad or Batman: The Animated Series variants. Nothing wrong with those – I have my own Suicide Squad version, as a matter of fact (just not with booty pants, my thighs aren’t ready for those yet). Its just when its a popular and easily accessible version, I wanted to stand out on my foray back into cosplay.
I debuted version 1.0 in February 2017. I replaced everything but the hat, mallet, and corset by April 2017.
Top Hat
I got the black top hat from Spencer’s for $25. It was the least bent up of the bunch. I prefer a low top hat and the next cheapest one I could find was on Amazon for $42. I wasn’t ready to spend that much in the event I messed it up ?
It was a little too big for my head after my hair was cut, so there is an elastic stay on the inside so it doesn’t slide down on me.
For the white panel, I used leftover satin from when I did Vampire Princess Miyu in 2003 and gorilla glued it to the front. It has a slight trapezoid shape so that it is smaller at the bottom and wider at the top.
I used scarlet bias tape for the trim. Yes, its different than red. Its brighter. I admittedly didn’t pay attention at first and so there is a little mixing of the two in this costume.
Hobby Lobby provided for most of the decorative bits. The thin gold cord trim, the jewels, and the feathers. The Harley diamond patch in this instance came from a local Hot Topic, the gears from a gear grab bag from Amazon, and the Joker card I printed out, colored up what I needed, and glued it to a piece of foam.
I was especially proud when Bob saw it and “got” it. It was Harley + Mad Hatter + Band nerd. Its always nice when the husband understands your influences.
The goggles I also got from Amazon. They came with a brushed bronze. I bought paint pens from Walmart and colored them in red & black.
I probably spent $50 or so on the hat. I wasn’t keeping track. If you’re looking to make your own, your costs will also vary depending on how you want to decorate it.
Wig
This was a cheap-o from Savers, no lie. There really weren’t a lot of great options at the time. Since I ended up bleaching my own hair, I never checked the contents. After I fried my hair, I pulled out the wig. Much to my dismay, it was a disaster and looked nothing like the picture on the bag. I put it on a Styrofoam head and re-styled it. Keeping low pigtails helped accommodate the hat. I put a dryer sheet in a spray bottle with water and used a big tooth comb to help with the fly-aways.
Now there are a lot of great options for wigs, depending on which style you want. I have wigs priced out from $15-$35, depending on the “look” I am going for.
I have actually since changed to the red/black wig and I think it looks better!
My Corset
Oh, how I love this corset. I had my eye on it for YEARS and always talked myself out of it because of the price. It’s available from Corset Story for $175 +shipping. I finally bought it when I dropped a little of the weight I had gained. It was the first piece I bought and by the time I finished the rest of the costume, it was too big. I had to buy 2 sizes down. The original size 26 is currently available for sale. I am asking for $125 +shipping. It’s in like new condition. Its for someone with a size 30 waist and gives a 3-4” reduction.
*Note Corset Story no longer carries this
The collar (sometimes pictured, sometimes not) I purchased from Hot Topic.
Fingerless Gloves
The fingerless gloves were inspired from a pair I saw on etsy. I wanted to do something a little different, but could not find the materials in the colors I wanted. So I went to plan B, which was to use different materials and make a different look. They’re made with duck canvas and bias tape. I added brass D rings and gears from Amazon. The D rings are sewn in so that they don’t move on me. It was trial and error for me to get them to fit to my liking. It was try three that worked ? No pattern, just free hand. although I saved a sort of cut out for myself. These match my gaiters better anyways!
In v1.0, I had gotten a pair of Rubie’s fingerless gloves off of Amazon. They are AWFUL! My arms are small, but the upper part was so tight and with zero stretch, they wouldn’t go all the way up! At first, I took off the elastic and replaced it with bias tape, but even though they fit better, they were still horrible. I ended up cutting out the diamond etching for my budget Bombshell Harley Quinn bra.
My ring finger has Harley’s diamond tattooed on for real. It’s there in place of a wedding band.
Skirt and Bustle
The skirt is two pieces. The main skirt is from a pattern I bought on etsy. Because the image only showed it already tucked in a corset, I was unsure where its waist was and made it too big, but was able to hem it in at the backside. I had to do a second take in when I dropped another 10 pounds. I made a pocket in the front to accommodate my phone, although it’s a tight fit once the corset is in place. There are 2 materials – polyester for the top and black denim with a pattern for the bottom. The various decorative pieces are mostly from Hobby Lobby, gear pieces are from Amazon, Harley patch from Hot Topic. I had to play a little to figure out the lift I wanted for the front of the skirt. As I’m getting my confidence back, Ive hiked it up a little more
The “bustle” is from a simplicity pattern with the denim material and a wide ribbon to tie at the waist.
Neither were too difficult for this novice to make. I made small mistakes here and there, but always found a way to work it out. As far as cost, yeah it was probably a LOT more than I intended. Easily over $50, probably closer to $80-100. But I did do it on my own and I am so insanely proud of myself for it.
My v1.0 skirt attempt was off a tutorial I found online that did not turn out quite how it should, due to the possessed sewing machine I had. It was made of satin. Its still a cute style and I may make another try at it in the future.
Tights were from Hot Topic. They were on sale for $13. I first tried a pair from Amazon, but they came in DARK GREY and red. GROSS!
Gaiters
I purchased the pattern off of etsy for $5. I used duck canvas from Jo-Ann’s, bias tape from Jo-Ann’s or Hobby Lobby, hair ties, and buttons I found on Amazon. It took a fair amount of trial and error to get the size I needed and to place the buttons accordingly. I used elastic on the bottom to hold to my shoes. The Harley diamonds were purchased off a patch maker on Amazon since I couldn’t find any more at Hot Topic.
My shoes are patent leather band shoes, because I’m a bandnerd. Although these aren’t my OG marching shoes – I kinda beat those down in high school. These are Dinkles I found at Savers for $4
Mallet
Mallet is from Spirit Halloween and was $20
Make up
My make up varies as I am still working on a look I like and I’m also not that great at it. Originally I really wanted to go with a paler natural look….but the problem is, I’m already the whitest girl without being albino on the planet, so I couldn’t simply use a lighter foundation. I was directed to a white foundation from Manic Panic. It’s what really is one shade lighter for my foundation needs -_-* Go Team White Girl! I wasn’t 100% thrilled with it, so now I have one from L.A. Girl and so far I like it better.
NoFlutter’s Fantasy Harley Quinn
1st Place, Think Geek Buffalo’s Costume & Cosplay Halloween Contest
Most Creative, OES SiStar’s Halloween/Birthday Party
I swore no new costumes that required a chunk of time to do this year. I was capping myself and making plans for next year, when winter hits.
But then I saw this from NoFlutter and fell deep in love. I just HAD to do it. (Side note, this Harley actually seems to have my body type – small waist, large thighs….sadly, I do not have the large chest lol)
You can see why I need to do it right???
Except…
Seriously.
What I do have is a ton of patterns, lots of fabric and notions Ive been squatting on for years, 5 paper clips, and a rubber band. My cosplay style: MacGyver.
The wig is the same one I used for my Bombshell Harley. The mask I bought at Fanworld, from a lovely vendor who had it behind his table and knew “I was the right one for it” lol. The fabric is duck canvas from when I made the gaiters and fingerless gloves for Steampunk Harley Quinn – I had enough left to make all the pieces minus the sleeves on the jacket/shrug. If I hadn’t, I probably would have held off on making this.
The bodice is modified from Simplicity pattern 2172. I made the cut outs smaller because I wasn’t sure how much it would compromise the integrity of the bodice design. Having completed it, I probably could have gone bigger, but honestly, who wants to peek at my pasty white midsection?
I freehanded the coat tails. My embellishments don’t quite match the drawing, but they came in huge multipacks I needed to use up and quite frankly, I need an intervention when it comes to acrylic gems. I got them from All Star Co
The neck corset I took a guess at looking at corset patterns. Its freehanded and I only used one piece of bias tape for the trim – go me! Same with the gauntlets and the briefs – all freehanded. That’s an accomplishment for me!
The shrug/jacket is combination of 2 patterns. The main shrug is from Simplicity 1091. I used the “A” variant. I swapped in the sleeves from McCall’s M7373. I even added in an applique to the back.
The greaves and the sabaton’s are where I get really creative, as you cannot tell what the outfit should be from the upper knee downward. I decided to make it “armor” to keep with the fantasy theme and I was able to get easy how to guides from Storm The Castle. They did not come out perfect, but I think they came out good enough for my purposes? Certainly good enough for my first time. The sabaton are wrapped around my black converse, for comfort
DH GRACIOUSLY gave up a weekend in his work area so that I could do this…”You can have it for the weekend”… Sunday afternoon: “You out yet?” -_-***
For the leggings, I could not find material like the one in the image. So to save time and money, I bought a pair off of Amazon and glued gems down the sides. Remember, intervention. Not perfectly straight, as its hard to gauge looking down while wearing the leggings and I had to wear them so I knew how it stretched.
The arm bracers I freehanded. I used cardboard from my cereal box, craft foam, zip ties, and hot glue to draw designs (not very well…the glue gun is terrible lol), then spray painted. The cord is left over from when I made the hat for Steampunk Harley.
Hopefully, I have done the outfit justice. If I had to put an estimate on costs, assuming I had to get all of the materials new, it would be 100-140 depending if I was able to hit sales and coupons. Im not counting the mask and wig
“Budget” Bombshell Harley Quinn
This was a costume I have been wanting to do for awhile and it was on the backburner a little bit. I had the internal discussion of did I want to be accurate or more “in the spirit of.” I went with the latter because I wasn’t going to pay $80+ for the jacket. I decided to go low budget to help others with low cost ideas.
With this costume, I did a fair amount of upcycling and my typical Amazon shopping.
The wig I purchased on Amazon for $21. I wanted a bouncy look for the hair. Now, if I hadn’t fried my hair in December, I would be using my real hair and thereby out $0 -_-*
The goggles were a four pack on Amazon for $20. I bought them because they had different looks and I have upcoming uses for the other ones. So for this costume, $5.
I got the white foundation off of Amazon for $4.50 as an add on item. I wasn’t happy with the manic panic one, as it looks pretty gritty and doesn’t finish blending in. Of course, I am horrible at make up, so maybe there was something I’m missing?
The bra is one I got on sale at Victoria’s Secret for $20. You can use an old bra you already have or buy a cheap one else where to cut down costs. I used scrap satin to make it black and red. It was tricky covering the bra because of the 3D-ness of the bra. I have seams to make the fabric flat and glued it to the bra. I disguised them by cutting out the diamonds from the awful fingerless gloves from Amazon (hint: you would have to be a toothpick to fit them comfortably) and gluing them over the seams, since that’s about where they went on the comic version anyways. I really wanted a beautiful custom bra off of etsy, but I wasn’t going to pay $80 for it at the moment ;_;
For the jacket, I used my authentic Ike jacket from WW2 that I bought from a thrift store for $10 about 20 years ago. Yes, I hang on to things that long.
My red gloves were from Party City for my Bombshell Batwoman, upcycled.
The shorts were a black pair I had languishing in the dresser. Probably thrifted for $3-5. Every picture I see has her shorts a different color, so if you have olive, black or jean shorts, I think you’ll be just fine.
The rubber belt I bought off of Amazon for $15. Its a cheapy rubber and was a little mushed in packaging. I propped open the worst pocket with my business card box and gorilla glued it back into place. I bought it because it bright yellow and has real pockets. Its not going to hold my phone, but will hold business cards, cash, and other small things. I fit my set of car keys fine in one.
The tights I got off Amazon for $11 and the white socks were crew socks I already had. I could have saved money and used my kilt hose, but I want the diamonds on them like the comic. Unfortunately, despite having large thighs, these would slide right down. Next time, I am using the kilt hose.
The boots are jungle boots I already had from when I was in JrROTC in high school. I thought about getting brown boots, but decided to keep the costs down. I also was considering my CAT steel toe boots since they had a lower profile, but I decided I didn’t want to replace the Grumpy Bear shoelaces
Over all, I spent under $70 to fill in the pieces to make this. However, the only thing I really *needed* was the belt. I could have used an older bra to cover or tried to do something with the not-so-great wig I already have. This would have saved me an additional $50 or so. However, I look at it as investing in future costumes/photoshoots.
My point in the costume was to show that you can out together a decent costume by upcycling and finding low cost ready made objects. I freely admit I can’t sew a lot of things and putting this costume together reminds me of my early costuming days. I don’t want people to NOT cosplay because they don’t know how to sew or can’t afford to commission someone else.
Heck, I even outright bought my upcoming costume because after factoring in cost, time, figuring out how to sew new fabric, and the fact that it looks way better than I would have done, it was a value.
Injustice 2 Harley Quinn v.1
I admit it. I cheated. I bought this one. I had every intention of making it. I bought heavy duty needles and a footer for the material, I was speccing out material costs, I had a usable pattern to get the jacket and the tight pants with…
Then I saw this one from XCoser, although thru one of their Amazon portals when I did a search on a whim. I decided that for the cost, it was way better than what I would have done. No shame at buying it, I know my limits. I also picked up a wig from them that matched the statue DH bought. Sometimes the proper site runs sales, so its worth to check both sites.
So lets talk about the fit lol
I ordered a medium, because even though the measurements would have placed me in a small, I hesitated because 1) it is from China and many things tend to run small and 2) I have big thighs and hips despite a small waist and ribcage.
Oh man the pants jussst fit. Now, I admit, when it came in the mail and I tried it on it was probably the hottest day of the summer and I was probably a bit bloated from it. My thighs looked HUGE LOLOL So, I made a promise to slim those down (as of this writing, they are down 2 inches!). There is NO way I would have squeezed into the small! (As an aside, besides
thinking the costume is awesome, I liked this Harley rendition because she has a similar build to me, at least when looking at the statue at home)
The TOP OTOH was a different story. The bodice was WAY too loose. I needed a “helper” bra to make it look right (no complaining, I look great with it). However, looking at the proportions, it is not long enough when I compare it to my reference and as a result, the waist cincher part is too long. The bottom part looks a little messy, because the bodice does not peek blow the cincher much. You can actually see the statue I use for reference at the bottom of this write up. This costume looks to expose more of the midriff than in the character design. It also doesn’t help that I have a short waist.
First, I tried setting the cincher higher, but it didn’t look right. The model on the site wears it like that. But like I said, it didn’t look right on me. Instead, I folded it in half. I lose the red piping along the bottom, but it looks exactly proportional on me now.
The wig was also from XCoser. This one came out of the bag a lot messier than the one I use for Bombshell Harley and the tails look to be a lot longer and wavier than the product image.
My goggles are from Amazon <3 and I reused the same ones from Bombshell Harley Quinn.
The tactical gloves I also got via Amazon
The pistols are Nerf that I also got from Amazon. They are also are at Walmart, but I caught them on a Prime Day Special.
Boots – Oh the boots! I had a pair of boots I bought many years ago when the Tomb Raider movie came out and would have been perfect for this. HOWEVER, I came across these boots from New Rock Online and it was LOVE at first sight! <3
I also use this as a base for Arkham City. I switch my pigtails, put on arm cuffs, and wear a different corset – viola!
Suicide Squad Comic Book Version Harley Quinn
I thought I would go with this one for a little variety You don’t see too many of this version out there.
I made the corset from modifying Simplicity New Look Pattern 6480. I know the actual corset is much shorter, but I wanted my pooch sucked in.
The shorts are from my movie HQ and I bought it off of Amazon for $7
The wig is from XCoser
The frilled collar was on clearance at Spirit Halloween for $5, the mallet was from Spirit as well for about $20, and the cape was on Amazon for $4.
I used the McCall’s pattern for the stockings, but the XL was too small for my thighs, so I had to severely modify it. I used a pattern for another simplicity pattern for the gauntlets.
The shoes are Chinese slippers my BFF bought me back when we did our Ranma 1/2 group. One pair was red and the other black. I covered the black one with the blue material.
The pistol belt is from Amazon and its also used in my Black Widow costume.
HQ pistol I bought from Etsy and painted it myself.
The material was from Ya-Ya Han’s line at Jo-Anne’s
Holiday Harley Quinn
I saw this costume on a statue on Amazon earlier this year and I knew I wanted to do it sometime. Sometime as in I didn’t really believe I would actually get around to making it LOL
Now one of my favorite cosplay shops has it, but 1) I didn’t care for how it looked 2) Itd be about a month before I saw it and 3) I didn’t want to pay $89-105 + shipping for it.
So, I trollied over to Jo-ann Fabrics. My first choice for a bodysuit pattern didn’t exist there, so I modified Simplicity 8435 instead.
I bought red and black spandex with my magic 50% off coupons, plus 20% off overall. I also bought a yard of plush for the fur. It was MUCH cheaper to buy that versus several yards of trim. It was difficult as the fur has no stretch. I had to make sure it was the right sizes when I made my for linings.
So guess who never worked with spandex or made boot covers before? This girl LOL
Guess who got the hang of it by the time she was finished? LOL
I attached velcro to the bottom as snaps, because I ran out of time. After some fussing, it stays. Ill probably add another section for reinforcement.
I free handed the hat and stuffed it to keep its shape. It doesn’t stay up too well, but is still cute,
The belled collar I found on Amazon, after serious digging. I didn’t know it really existed as a commercial product, but there it was. It was almost as much for that one item as it was for the rest of the outfit.
Fabrics probably ran me around $20 after sales and coupons. I probably spend a total of 3 days working on in sporadically.
The wig I got at Hot Topic. It had a BOGO deal on old cosplay items, so technically, this was my freebie. Its a long wig that I put in low pigtails.
Even though I did the trim the exact same around the legs, the black side is being a butt munch and Ill have to revisit it if I wear this again.
Helper bra gave me cleavage >_> Was it too much? :O
Harley Potter
This is another costume that was pieced together from various places, versus making them. Although some items like my kilt aren’t cheap, it IS upcycled.
This is our castle wall set at Queen City Pinups. Bob made it a Witch’s Apothecary for Halloween.
Ive been chomping at the bit for this one. I was hoping to do it a month ago.
My wig is from XCoser
The sweater is from Hot Topic. I also have coat not shown in this image from there that I got on a BOGO deal.
The headband, tie, and socks are from Spirit Halloween
The kilt is from Stumptown Kilts
The shirt was from a thrift store and the shoes probably were too
The wand was purchased from Think Geek
Arkham Asylum
Total cheat. I bought the cheap-o Secret Wishes off eBay for $25. It is not great LOL. I found the mask and hat it came with unusable and swapped them out. The white fabric is thin and the red rubs off on the white. Great for pix…not great for all day wear.
Arkham Knight Harley Quinn
I got the skirt, top, and stockings at Hot Topic. It was not 100% accurate, so I added the shrug and modded the harness. Mallet from Spirit and wig from XCoser. I took my jungle boots and painted one red. Made arm covers and reused a ruffle pack from Spirit