Starbucks Siren Costume

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The concept for my 2023 Halloween costume was the Starbucks siren, as seen in their logo (although taking some artistic license to wear clothing from the waist up and not doing gymnastics, so we're not going for 100% accuracy).

Image from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/starbucks-logo-evolution-tale-design-history-kaizen-tech-global

My starting point was the leggings from my Amabie costume and a green bodice I got a million years ago (intending to make a Poison Ivy, although that has yet to happen).

Phase 1: Bodice

The first step was to add scales to the bodice to match the leggings as much as possible. I used my scan of the leggings from Amabie to make shapes to send to the Cricut to cut out of fabric.

I wasn't convinced that sticky vinyl would stay put on the satin, so I ended up backing some polyster with fusable interfacing for durability and hand sewed it on. This was a beast of a project, but it was the best way I could think to do it. Vinyl wouldn't have been sticky enough, drawing it straight on by hand would end in wobbly lines, and I was afraid a thicker fabric would be too obviously different from the leggings. If I make any repairs/updates, I think I'll redo these scales with a thicker fabric to skip the interfacing and with the pattern at a slightly larger size (to match the scales as they appear when worn rather than un-stretched on the scanner).

Phase 2: Sleeves

I found a really exciting pattern for a fabric scaled bolero on Etsy, but even my practice jacket failed – the neck is floppy and uneven, there are possibly two left sleeves and one is almost certainly on backward. 

Adding in the scales would have been time consuming even if I had nailed the test run, so in the interest of getting the whole thing done before Halloween I scrapped the idea of making a custom jacket and bought some sleeves from a fast fashion clothing site online. I made a valiant attempt to add a scale pattern in the same way I put it on the bodice, but even though one shoulder looked great in first placement, I just couldn't make it work on the other side and scrapped that idea as well.

I gave myself two options – white with fins at the wrists and more me-colored with nothing fancy at the cuffs.

Phase 3: Crown

As with everything, it starts with a sketch.

I printed a silhouette to test the sizing on the wig, and when I was satisfied with it, I cut out two of those shapes from thin craft foam. I used a plastic jig to bend some wire to glue in between and give it some good structure so the star wouldn't accidentally rip off and placed some magnets inside as well. The idea was to put corresponding magnets into the wig (from Arda Wigs) so the crown didn't need to be on any kind of headband or clip and would end up in exactly the same place every time I put it on even if I didn't have a mirror.

And then I made some revisions. 

First, the magnets were not strong enough to have any affect through a layer of foam, so they ended up being super glued to the inside of the crown on the outside of the foam. Second, the point of the magnets is to attach to the wig, but I just could not manage sewing four magnets at regular intervals into the wig, so three ended up being the magic number.

Phase 4: Coffee cup purse

Not a necessity, but helpful for holding my stuff and to help people identify what the costume is. Totally made the pattern up based on looking at photos of coffee cups with lids online, it's more box-like than cylindrical so it lies more flat against my side, and I included a slide-in pocket for my phone on the back.