Miraculous Ladybug Cosplay at HVFF
Anika has worked on a Miraculous Ladybug cosplay for awhile. She knew that she wanted to bring Miraculous Ladybug to life. Along the way, we had a few missteps, but the effect at Heroes and Villains Fanfest in San Jose, California, was worth all the effort! Fans delighted in seeing her.
Our first attempt was to paint our own spots on a red bodysuit. This involved marking spaces with a sharpie, because the spots aren’t random at all. Then using a small embroidery hoop to hold the fabric steady while painting. The problem was that one smudge caused massive issues. And even though we chose fabric paint, it got progressively more stiff as she added spots. We realized that we had to scrap the first plan.
So we bought a ready-made bodysuit. We needed to play to our strengths. Our strengths are innovations. For Ladybug’s hair ribbons, which need to stick out as though in motion, Anika folded a ribbon in half and sewed a pipe cleaner in the ribbon so it could arch and stay that way.
The mask was a bit of a puzzle. The one that came with the bodysuit didn’t fit her idea. We spent ages looking for a red mask that we could paint with black spots. After a few weeks of searching, we couldn’t find anything in the right shade and shape. We hit upon a novel idea. What if we bought a black mask, and painted red around the spots? We had red fabric paint left from the doomed repairs on the first bodysuit. It was worth a try. And sure enough, it worked! She painted a few layers of red to make it vibrant with no black showing through from underneath. The effect looked exactly like Ladybug.
The last puzzle was her feet. We knew the floor would be cement, which would be a) cold, and b) slippery. We solved the cold by wearing thick socks and slipping shoe inserts into the feet. The slipping was a bigger challenge. We thought we could buy some black leather such as used for slippers, but we couldn’t find anything in our price range. We consider puff paint for texture but worried that it would be uncomfortable. Finally, we found fabric intended for sewing children’s pajamas. She traced her foot, cut the shape, and sewed to the feet of the bodysuit.
We do this thing every time where we feel like we have “so much time” only to realize, “oh my goodness, it has to be finished tomorrow.” We’re going to paint the feet for next time, though you can’t see them when she’s standing anyway.
The reactions to her cosplay were the best. So many fans loved seeing Ladybug come to life!
We have plans for a photoshoot featuring the outfit. We have a blue wig as well to bring an extra realism to the cosplay. We didn’t bring the wig since we drove 2 hours to the convention and she knew that it wouldn’t be comfortable all day long. I’m excited for a photoshoot.
As an added fun feature, we made a quick Cat Noir outfit for Jessica. Anika cut black felt, sewed pipe cleaners around the edges, and glued onto clips for the ears. She threaded a black ribbon through a giant jingle bell for the collar. It was funny because, when the bell was in the cosplay bag, we jingled everywhere we walked :). Jessica also had a long black tail. We realized that we need to make his black staff.
Cosplay is fun to create and share. We’re inspired :)
Be Miraculous out there!
