Comics Catwoman

About a week ago I finally got cracking on my catwoman costume for Dragon*Con. I've had the whip and goggles sitting around for months, but was too busy finishing some wings for another con (which I can't even bring to D*con because they're too big).
Here's what I am aiming toward:



And here's where I am so far...

I got some motorcycle goggles because I liked the lens shape and color. I made the catseye wings out of green upholstery foam (I have a lot of scraps of it from my wings, so I am using it for everything). I covered the foam in tape to hold and shape it even more. Then I plastidip sprayed it.



It was fairly lumpy, so I did some patches of epoxy, then re-sprayed.



Still wasn't smooth enough for my liking, one of the sides had a lot of air bubble pinpricks, even though I sprayed the whole thing the exact same way, and at the same time. So I have coated it all in epoxy and sanded with my new dremel (no more borrowing, yay!). I probably should've sanded by hand, but I just want to use the dremel for everything right now.
I am intending to either give it some layers of clear gloss spray or another coat of epoxy.


The first zipper I put in turned out to be too short. Then I got a longer zipper and put it on perfectly. Unfortunately I decided I wanted to redo the collar, it scratched a bit under my chin, and since I plan to wear this zipped up, I can't deal with that. So attempt three on the zipper, I made the stupid mistake of pinning while standing. The fabric got pinned and sewn slightly stretched and I ended up with a wobbly zipper.


So, I took the zipper off. It is sitting pinned on my floor right now. Hopefully the fourth time is the last for this zipper fiasco.



Left to do on the suit:

• finish zipper
• add sleeves
• fit to myself with shapewear on
• serge seams

And then the hood:

Without ears.



Also, you can see how annoyingly lumpy the goggles were before the epoxy. The little buckles are luggage tag holders. I got a bag of a couple hundred of them at a thrift store years ago for $4, best score ever, I use them often.




For the ears, I cut the shape out of my green foam scraps, then covered them in electrical tape to make them a little less squishy. Then covered them with fabric. I used hot glue to keep the fabric in the inner part of the ear.


Here the ears are just pinned on. I just wanted to see what it would look like with the goggles, too.


Here are the ears stitched on. As annoying as they were to sew on, I think I might redo them, I am not quite happy with them. They're not quite even and I think I want them to go down farther. From some angles they look awesome, but from some, like this picture, they look weird and goofy.

So, off to work on the zipper and sleeves. Thanks for looking.

Looks great so far! Adam Hughes' Catwoman is pretty definitive, so you're basing it off of a perfect source. Keep up the good work!

mattkelly said:

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Looks great so far! Adam Hughes' Catwoman is pretty definitive, so you're basing it off of a perfect source. Keep up the good work!

I specifically chose the Adam Hughes version because she's modeled after Audrey Hepburn. I love his art.


Daily progress:
I goofed off most of the day, but I did get the zipper and sleeves done. I need to do some minor tweaking and such, finish the sleeves and ankles, but I can see the finish line.



This shot is with a corset, but I think I'll switch to boneless shapewear before final fittings because it bothers me that you can see the lines of the boning and the bottom gives my hips extra bumps.
Any recommendations on shaping underclothes?

Looking great and absolutely love this take on Catwoman:-) Can't wait to see you bring her to life at Dragoncon! See you there!

Looks like you're making some good progress! Are you coming to any of the superhero photoshoots at D*C? (I direct the Giant DC Universe one.)

Shellhead said:

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Looking great and absolutely love this take on Catwoman:-) Can't wait to see you bring her to life at Dragoncon! See you there!

Heya, Mr. Drinkin' It!
Can't wait to see your western Joker, and, you know, you!

loganallenwolf said:

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Looks like you're making some good progress! Are you coming to any of the superhero photoshoots at D*C? (I direct the Giant DC Universe one.)

I am going to some of them. I put them on my schedule, at least.


Update:
Finished the suit but I couldn't find my camera while my friend was over, so I only got a pathetic and dark camera phone picture which I am not even going to waste space posting.
I am redoing the ears, they looked derpy to me, even though my friends said they looked fine.
I am almost finished with the goggles and I found my camera, so I can share that.



I sort of rushed the resin application, it was starting to rain. Even though it's not super smooth, the shine makes them look great.



All that is left for the goggles is some white mesh to make the red of the lenses pop. There was a logo on the side of the goggle strap that would not come off, so I painted it with acrylic into a vaguely cat-like shape then coated it in resin. May not be the best method, but it worked, it still looks like a logo, but very nondescript and easily overlooked.

I was originally going to wear some knock-off New Rock boots with this, but I decided to switch to my combat boots that I am bringing for Greaser Batgirl so that I am not bringing multiple pairs of boots.

The Artiste as always! The goggles rock!

Looks awesome! The green foam inside of the ears is genius--I need to make a new cowl and had pondered about how I was going to do the ears. And I love those goggles!

DamnItSasha said:

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I specifically chose the Adam Hughes version because she's modeled after Audrey Hepburn. I love his art.

This shot is with a corset, but I think I'll switch to boneless shapewear before final fittings because it bothers me that you can see the lines of the boning and the bottom gives my hips extra bumps.
Any recommendations on shaping underclothes?

One thing I've done in the past (I don't know how hesitant you might be to temporarily alter a corset) is hand-stitch felt over the body of the corset to hide the boning - and extend the felt pieces slightly beyond the bust and hip "ridge" lines, to smooth out its appearance. The ends were left raw with pinking shears, but in your case even that might show through that shiny black. I basically just padded the corset.

I think though that a long spandex body piece might be best if you want absolutely no lines/seams showing. You can look into dancewear - ballet dancers have spandex belts that draw in the waistline, worn underneith another spandex bodyliner. You could essentially create your own version of this, too.

Shellhead-
Thanks!

The Senator-
It kept the ears very nicely shaped and it helps me justify saving all these foam scraps every time I find a use for them. Only problem is keeping them even.

Freya Willia-
I ended up getting a small elastic girdle from a wig shop for like $4. It rolls up on my curves, but then I figured out that if I tuck the top under my bra and pull the waistband of my compression shorts up to my waist over it, it keeps it smooth. I should probably test this for longer than a 2 minute test run while standing still, but I think I've got this.
My other idea was to use stretchy fabric, non-stretchy interfacing, and some velcro to make something that works like my chest binder.

This costume is officially done. I will post pictures after Dragon Con of the whole thing, since I doubt I will get a chance to take pictures of the whole thing before then.


Much happier with the new ears. Even my buddies that said the old ears were fine agree that these are much better.

The weekend went by way too quickly!
I am just so glad we saw you!!
You looked amazing!
Hah! I also got my wish!

Thanks for the pic, Shellhead! I miss you guys.

Okay, so finally updating. I promised pictures, so I will give you pictures. I didn't really get any good pictures of the costume, but I had a lot of fun wearing it and got some fun ones to share instead (and really, that's fine for now).



Catwoman and Justice Riders Wonder Woman hung out most of the con. Yeah, they're buds. (Best friend, Tiffany, who I have not seen in a year)


But who can resist claw fights?

I mostly spent the con hugging old friends...



And making new friends. Craigpool and I are totally teaming up for some costumes next year.


And you can see me screaming at Greaser Batman Josh's butt in some music video. My friends keep sending me .gifs of it...

Hey, it could be worse.


I count this costume a success, a lot of people recognized it as the Adam Hughes version and nobody told me I was a train wreck. Also, this was totally a gateway costume to comics costuming for me. So yeah, starting a lady Bucky now.

Thanks to everyone I met for being awesome! See you next year at con.

Thanks for screaming at my butt . your costume was awesome !!!!!!