Just as I was beginning to wonder what Disney princess costume to DIY this Halloween, Adore Me reached out and asked if I’d like to create a costume around one of their bras or corsets. UM, YES PLEASE! Of course my first thought was Ariel/The Little Mermaid, but since it’s been done so many times I put my thinking cap on and stepped away from the princess party and into the video game world.
This, of course, with the help of my husband, who loves to tell me which comic book character I look like as often as they’re drawn, immediately mentioned Harley Quinn, Joker’s psychotic accomplice and girlfriend in the Batman series. However, the first Harley Quinn character that came to mind was the new version that Margot Robbie will be playing in the coming Suicide Squad movie out next year and her t-shirt covers her bra.
He assured me there was a far better Harley Quinn character option from the latest Batman video game called Arkham Knight. AND HE WAS RIGHT! Not only is she blonde with side bang, she kind of looks like me… or well actually, I kind of look like her {I hate when he’s right!}. And while this does make a costume far easier to pull off, the fact that I resemble a psychotic comic killer, is maybe a bit frightening, to say the least ;p.
But I went with it, BECAUSE YOU KNOW I LOVE DRESSING UP FOR HALLOWEEN and DIYing costumes to share, so Adore Me sent over a few black corsets to work with which really were the perfect base for Harley Quinn’s look.
My Harley Quinn Inspiration…
Adore.me is having a SUPER FUN Halloween costume competition called the Creative Cups Challenge {#CreativeCupsChallenge} where YOU get your DIY on and create a bra costume of your choice and post it on Instagram with #CreativeCupsChallenge and tag @adoremeoffical.
Simply by submitting your DIY, you enter to win the grand prize of $500 to shop AdoreMe.com PLUS $200 to Michaels.com!!! IN ADDITION, the 2 top voted costume entries will each win $150 to AdoreMe.com! They’ll announce the winners 10/19/2015 so GOOD LUCK!!!
But before you get sewing, check out Adore.me’s sexy Halloween costume collection for a little more inspiration.
* Now Onto My Harley Quinn Costume Tutorial *
Pieces I began with as a base for my costume…
- Black ‘Kylie’ corset with quilted detail in the front c/o Adore.me.
- Oversized white button down shirt {pulled from my husband’s closet}
- Black mini ruffled skirt {randomly saved from around 2003, wherein it was my favorite skirt to wear on the regular}
- White crinoline + black crinoline… the costume only calls for a white lace crinoline, but I liked the extra added fluffiness AND COVERAGE adding the black one beneath them all.
What You’ll Need // DIY Harley Quinn Corset…
- Black corset with quilted detail in the front.
- If you’re going to stick with red and black only, then you only need red, otherwise, red + blue satin/poly fabric.
- White lace trim.
- Needle/Thread in matching hues.
Steps…
Grab your white lace trim and begin hand-stitching it to the under side of your corset beginning at any of the ends. Mine has a handy zipper up the size, so I began there.
When it comes to the back/lace up area, you can either stop and begin your lace again, though it will leave a gap OR allow a few inches of lace to almost hang down, knot your thread and begin again on the opposite side without cutting your lace. This way your lace will gather with your corset when you tighten it and you won’t have a space in between without lace. Finish at the zipper size or wherever you began and make sure your lace overlaps so there aren’t any gaps.
Remove all extra black ribbons and bows and tidy up the front of your corset… With the lace, it will look like this
Grab either your blue or red satin and cut a rectangle out about 12″ x 6″ {depending on your cup size, this will be larger or smaller… but better to begin with too much than run out and have to start over again!}
Center it over your cups, fold the bottom under and carefully run a stitch along the bottom, following the natural line of the corset and keeping most of the thread hidden on the under side.
You will see “some” pinch marks, but since this is a costume, it’s totally acceptable in my opinion 😉
Beginning at the center of your BUST on the cup, tightly fold your fabric over and stitch in place on the inside of the cup as far down as you need to. Finish the opposite end but folding your fabric under and hand-stitching it in place.
Cut two long strips, one in each color for the piping. If you have ribbon or actual piping and skillz, you can opt for that, I simply folded my fabric over and stitched it over the tops of each cup and down the sides, making sure all ends were folded over as I stitch into place as you go. This will hide all unfinished edges and keep it from fraying.
Again, you will notice some pinching where the stitches are but AGAIN, because it’s a costume, I’m okay with it.
Your completed corset will look like this…
Other Costume Details…
Next week I’ll be posting full DIY step-by-step tutorials on the separate parts of this Harley Quinn costume because there are too many to fit all in one post. I’ll include the rad leather harness DIY + fun hair and makeup tutorials as well!
And… Voila! Harley Quinn!
Have Fun!!!
* Find all my DIY Halloween Costumes here
Don’t forget to submit your DIY bra costumes via Instagram with #CreativeCupsChallenge and tag @adoremeoffical for a chance to WIN BIG!
Adore Me has a VIP membership in which you get one set of your choice every month for $39.95. The perks? Your first VIP set is $24.95, every 6th set is free, and you get exclusive access to sales. Plus, you can get any set at any time for $10 off the “Pay as you go” price – Pay as you go is the option you can choose if you just want to buy one set and not enroll in membership.
They also have a Wide selection of sizes from petite to plus (32A – 42 G)!
This post was brought to you by Adore.me. All opinions & DIYs are my own
