Rainbow Dash cosplay repairs

My very first cosplay needs some love before it can be dusted off again.  My friends Ayla of Antipode Geek Belly Dance and Glitterforge wanted to do a group cosplay for ConnectiCon 2012.  We decided to go as characters from My Little Pony.  Glitterforge went as Shining Armor, Ayla as Twilight Sparkle, and I went as Rainbow Dash.  Merika, Ayla's sister (and a domo), made us these fantastic cloaks with our cutie marks!  So totally awesome!

Cutie Mark cloaks made by Merika!

Having not worn the cosplay since then, all the stuff was thrown on a shelf after last year's convention.  Literally.  Was not even thrown in the wash (I know, right? Eww).

Does washing count as costume repair?  Probably not.  Hygienic, yes.  I didn't plan too terribly well on making this easy to wash.  The wings were sewn directly onto the hoodie.  I had to cut all the stitches to stick into the wash. 

Rainbow Dash wings - with cute visible stitching around the edges

As for the skirt, my concern here was that the cutie mark colors would bleed.  The cutie mark was made from felt, and the bottom (blue) layer hand-sewn onto the skirt. The yellow and red lightning bolts as well as the white cloud were tacked on with Elmer's adhesive spray.  I got lazy and only removed the bolts and clouds before washing and seemed to have no issues (phew!).

I also picked up a pair of butt shorts months ago for this cosplay (and am still working up the courage to wear them publicly).  I made even tinier felt cutie marks for the shorts --- and let me tell you, it is darn hard to cut things that small when your scissors are dull!

Cutie mark skirt and shorts after washing and repairs

I left the wig repairs until last.  After 2 days of con wear, the poor thing has lost some of its shape, especially toward the "roots".  Wigs are definitely a struggle point for me... I ran into similar issues on my Rydia costume.  Totally open to suggestions if anyone out there has some good advice! 

Rainbow Dash cosplay wig - before and after styling

Rydia Wig

I've saved the details on the best cosplay pieces for last: Rydia's dress, circlet, and her hairdo.  Ok, I didn't really save them on purpose... they were the last pieces to be constructed.  But!---you do have to admit, the wig and main clothing are essential to a successful cosplay.

Let's start with the wig first.  I spent several hours trying to search for the right wig.  Most of the options were just simply waaaaay too green.  Super green.  Neon green.  Totally-not-right-for-this-version-of-Rydia-green.  Must...have...gorgeous... sea form green.  A-ha! There we go!

I found this "mint green" curly cosplay wig on Amazon for $30.  It looked pretty good when it arrived---but I am by no means any sort of wig expert.  The curls are more gorgeous in reality than the photo above, which just doesn't do them justice.  I was loathe to trim them off ;_; but...sacrifices must be made for the sake of accurate cosplay!  Ganbatte, Elathera!

Here you can see what it looked like after styling.  I did keep a slight bit of the original curl at the bottom.  I also attempted to use layers in the back.  The Styrofoam head is sitting on top of an empty wine bottle to keep the lengths nice for storage.

I used got2Bglued hair spray to hold everything in place.  It held up ok the first day of ConnectiCon in the air conditioning.  However, after wandering around in 90 degree weather, it did not hold up as well the next day.  I think one of the problems is that I do not use enough hairspray on the roots---the tips keep their general shape, but the lock of hair itself falls out of place.  If anyone has advice for me, I am all ears!  I never use hairspray on my own hair (or pins, or curlers, etc etc), so this totally foreign territory.