Stephanie Brown Batgirl Costume

Hey guys! This is my most recent costume project that I am doing for comicpalooza this weekend.

I bought the bodysuit as a base (it was all black), and I also bought the boots, gloves, and waist belt. Everything else was made by me!


There are a few pictures of the work in progress below. The one with all the posters in the background is the most recent.

The cowl is made of foam that I poured into a mold. I basically followed the same process as on FaceOff.

I sewed the purple panels on (and thankfully didn't mess up too much). I sewed the cape as well.

If you have any questions feel free to ask! ^_^

Nice work.
Any details on the cowl production? I might steal ideas for my IM shoulder bells.

Nice work, seems clean.

Yep, looks great. Love it

Great job, I saw one of those belts at the Salvation Army, should've snagged it.
That's awesome, you "poured" foam into a mold? What type if I may.

theblueraja said:

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Nice work.
Any details on the cowl production? I might steal ideas for my IM shoulder bells.

I made a lifecast of my face (well, my dad did the actual casting part. I did the sitting still part :P ). Then I scultped the cowl onto my lifecast with plasticene. Then I made a negative mold with silicone rubber (it takes pretty much all day), and a plastipaste hard shell for the mold. Then I poured the foam mix into the mold and put the lifecast in before it foamed a lot (don't forget mold release!), and out came a cowl a few hours later!

crabra comander said:

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Great job, I saw one of those belts at the Salvation Army, should've snagged it.
That's awesome, you "poured" foam into a mold? What type if I may.

I think it was a polyurethane foam. It has a shore hardness of 25 (17 also works) and I bought the stuff from smooth on. I got 2 cowls from one bottle.

It comes in 2 bottles and you have to mix parts A and B (depending on what you're working with either by volume or mass) then pour the mix in. It's a really fast process, like 3 minutes to stir, pour, and get the lifecast in the mold.

It looks great. The purple paneling looks very clean. I don't see any mistakes or off lines in the pics you provided. The first thing I noticed was the utility belt. Did you make all the pouches, or did you find a fully assembled belt?

Also, in the first pic, the cowl looks like it fully wraps around your head. Does it? I would think a full cowl would interfere w/your hair. Did you make the back of the neck higher up to let your hair sit comfortably?

TheNickFox said:

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Looks very clean indeed. Great job on the build.

Any plans for any additions in the future? I'm not a big DC guy, but I feel like I've seen a picture of this suit with a secondary utility belt on her leg. (utility garter?) That d be cool to see.

-Nick

I do actually have it on in the picture where I'm turned sideways, but you just can't see it. I made that one out of elastic and foam, and I just turned the wrong way for the photo. I'll get a picture of it soon

iamthenight said:

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I do actually have it on in the picture where I'm turned sideways, but you just can't see it. I made that one out of elastic and foam, and I just turned the wrong way for the photo. I'll get a picture of it soon

Oh! I see the little glimmer of yellow there now! Nevermind, looks like you thought of everything.

Where did you get your base body suit from?

-Nick

Dozer3677 said:

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It looks great. The purple paneling looks very clean. I don't see any mistakes or off lines in the pics you provided. The first thing I noticed was the utility belt. Did you make all the pouches, or did you find a fully assembled belt?

Also, in the first pic, the cowl looks like it fully wraps around your head. Does it? I would think a full cowl would interfere w/your hair. Did you make the back of the neck higher up to let your hair sit comfortably?

Thank you! Most of the mistakes are in the underarms, but are fairly well hidden by the cape.

The cowl doesn't wrap around my head fully. It actually cuts off right behind my ears, and sits far enough back on my head that it doesn't fall forward. The cowl was supposed to have a bit that went around the chin to keep it in place, but that would. not. cast. (I tried 3 times, 3 different ways). Also, the back of my neck is totally open.

I bought the belt for my waist online, but I made the one on my leg (which you can't see) out of elastic, foam, and a bra hook/eyelet thing for easy removal.

TheNickFox said:

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Oh! I see the little glimmer of yellow there now! Nevermind, looks like you thought of everything.

Where did you get your base body suit from?

-Nick

Thanks! The only thing I'm missing is weaponry lol.

I bought it from this really weird website based in china O.o they have all sorts of weird stuff. It was something like milanoo.com and the suit was about 20 bucks and the shipping was like 15. My friend got one too, so we split shipping.

Looks great

excellent!

iamthenight said:

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Thank you! Most of the mistakes are in the underarms, but are fairly well hidden by the cape.

The cowl doesn't wrap around my head fully. It actually cuts off right behind my ears, and sits far enough back on my head that it doesn't fall forward. The cowl was supposed to have a bit that went around the chin to keep it in place, but that would. not. cast. (I tried 3 times, 3 different ways). Also, the back of my neck is totally open..

You could attempt to cover the cowl in the same material you used for your cape; this way the back area could be covered. You'd have to work in the little V slit in the back she has to let her hair out in the comics though.
Dunno if you have the time before your Con, but it could be something to have on the table. There's a good amount of experiment going on now with hardshells under cloth cowls.

kidUltron said:

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You could attempt to cover the cowl in the same material you used for your cape; this way the back area could be covered. You'd have to work in the little V slit in the back she has to let her hair out in the comics though.
Dunno if you have the time before your Con, but it could be something to have on the table. There's a good amount of experiment going on now with hardshells under cloth cowls.

It's really hot where I live. (it's supposed to be 90 degrees this weekend) I have the cowl open in the back mainly so I don't die of heat exhaustion. Maybe if I go to a con in the winter, I'll do something like that!

The con I'm going to is Comicpalooza in Houston. If you live close by, I'd highly recommend checking it out!

iamthenight said:

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Thank you! Most of the mistakes are in the underarms, but are fairly well hidden by the cape.

The cowl doesn't wrap around my head fully. It actually cuts off right behind my ears, and sits far enough back on my head that it doesn't fall forward. The cowl was supposed to have a bit that went around the chin to keep it in place, but that would. not. cast. (I tried 3 times, 3 different ways). Also, the back of my neck is totally open.

I bought the belt for my waist online, but I made the one on my leg (which you can't see) out of elastic, foam, and a bra hook/eyelet thing for easy removal.

Either way, it looks great. And w/the heat like you mentioned, it is a good idea. Long hair+hotness=yuck. But I asked because in your pictures, you cannot at all tell if it wraps fully or not. It looks like it does which IMO looks great. It looks complete, and also fully functions to your needs. And nice idea for the garter. Hooks>Velcro.

Only thing missing is some bat friends to get some pictures with. Have fun at the convention. Your Batgirl looks really great.

kidUltron said:

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You could attempt to cover the cowl in the same material you used for your cape; this way the back area could be covered. You'd have to work in the little V slit in the back she has to let her hair out in the comics though.

That is a really good idea. And it probably helps w/heat escape/makes it more breathable. Helps to look complete, but also helps w/over heating. Somewhat like an under armour material.

You look awesome!

you seem extremely happy in the suit haha... great job! Looks amazing!

iamthenight said:

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It's really hot where I live. (it's supposed to be 90 degrees this weekend) I have the cowl open in the back mainly so I don't die of heat exhaustion. Maybe if I go to a con in the winter, I'll do something like that!

The con I'm going to is Comicpalooza in Houston. If you live close by, I'd highly recommend checking it out!

Dozer3677 said:

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That is a really good idea. And it probably helps w/heat escape/makes it more breathable. Helps to look complete, but also helps w/over heating. Somewhat like an under armour material.

Basically a Wicking (I feel I'm spelling this wrong) Spandex like Coolmax Lycra would be good because like UnderArmor's HeatGear (which is AMAZING) it's meant to manage your body's moisture to help keep you cool... and help keep suit sweating under control.
If you're tempted to give it a shot I'd go for something like that.

I definitely hear you on the heat though, I've got AL Phoenix Fest this weekend and its supposed to average around 96 >_<! If DragonCon is in your cards though I'd absolutely recommend looking into some form of Heatgear style undergarments for the suit. Atlanta is a beast in September. It's either 98 or in rare occurrences 50 (for 24 hours, then its 98 again) and the Gotham and DC shoots are usually outside.

It looks great! This is my favorite Batgirl suit design.

Nice job, it looks great!

these are some pics of the mold making process. enjoy