HOW IT WAS MADE: Rose Quartz Cosplay (2016/2017)

Photographer: Magical Girl Studios

Many moons ago I was compelled to build a Rose Quartz cosplay out of pure spite to someone who didn't want me to cosplay her. However, from start to finish it ended up being a project of love and learning that taught me so much about crafting and a bit about myself as well.

I began with a minimal amount of materials: a matte white fabric for the bodice with a shimmery white lining, and three shades of pink (a few yards, but still not nearly enough) for the skirt. All of the pink was in costume satin, which I would soon learn is the actual worst and no one should ever use it. I was also originally planning on attempting the sword, but that fell to the wayside and never even got started. To be completely honest, I don't even remember what happened with the materials bought for that accessory.

I got really lucky and found these Spirit: Halloween Store brand platforms at a thrift store literally, like ten minutes before I was going to go to Walmart to find materials for cheap DIY platforms (So many flip flop tutorials, SO MANY). Tall shoes were a must, as I'm definitely not the giant that Rose is at my 5'4" self.

I ordered a cheap, three layer petticoat to use as a base for what would end up being the fluffiest petticoat in existence. Using 10 yards of crinoline that I got at Walmart (I hadn't yet discovered the wonder that is JoAnn's at this point) I flipped the skirt upside down and hand sewed (that fabric does not lend itself to easy sewing machine use) on two extra layers to each tier, making it a 9 layer petticoat. 

I got some super helpful assistance from the dashing Silas with the skirt build! Our first idea was to pin the pink layers directly to the outermost petticoat layer. We discovered at this point that I did not have NEARLY enough fabric for the middle layer (I have since adopted a "too much fabric is better than too little fabric" mentality, lol). After a trip to the store to grab more middle pink, he helped me pin the layers onto our base. Instead of using the petticoat like we'd originally planned, we took apart an old cosplay of Silas' (gorgeous queen serenity! Still sad to see it go) and used the skirt as a base! I wanted a bit of a train to get that really OOMPHED bustle/booty that Rose has, as I do not have a booty to speak of. The train of the base skirt was still a bit long and poked out under the pink so we trimmed that and pinned it up to be hemmed!

The wig was kind of a journey. I started out with a single wig from amazon that had the kind of hair part I was looking for between the bangs and the rest. When that arrived I decided it didn't have as much volume as I wanted then ordered at first one, then three addition wigs in the same color but a different style that I cut the tracks out of then sewed them into the base wig. It ended up super large but so so so heavy, and if I remade this wig I would probably instead us foam padding to create that extra volume without the extra weight.

To style the wig into something more Rose-like, I can proudly say I was among the first to play with combining both drill curls and regular curls. I'd researched how other cosplayers that done their beforehand and what I'd seen at the time was that everyone either went only regular or only drill but neither looked quite like what I wanted so I decided to combine the two by making drills that attached to the wig base while curling said wig base using SO MANY curlers and steam~ 

It turned out kind of perfect and I was quite satisfied with it. It was also my first time making drill curls, and maaaaaan, what a mess!

For the bodice, I started with a white corset as a base (if I remember correctly, the corset itself was a gift from Silas for the project). Being that it was a strapless gown, I knew that I HAD to have support, there was absolutely no other option on that front. I know my body, and my body doesn't do strapless without a little help~ I used the corset to help pattern out the panels for the bodice, which I then attached directly to said corset after sewing the front clasps shut. I HIGHLY suggest that those looking to emulate this buy a corset with steel boning at the minimum. I ended wearing an extra, more quality corset underneath because the plastic boning was quite flimsy after a while.

Using the corset presented a new puzzle to solve: the star. Now, most Rose Quartz cosplays utilized either a gold, or a flesh toned patch for the star over her stomach. I had my heart set on doing an actual cutout though. The first big hurtle was the shape. With no structure, the cutout was at risk of pulling and distorting the shape. I navigated this by making a metal star frame that I sewed directly into the bodice.

The next hurdle was the "stomach". Obviously, using my own was out of the question, as there was a corset in the way. I experimented with fabric, paint, and even wax, but nothing looked quite right. Eventually I found one of those faux pregnancy bellies made of silicone that really gave that flesh-y feel of an actual stomach. I bought the smallest size and sewed it directly to the corset underneath the bodice. I got the smallest size because I wasn't planning on cosplaying pregnant Rose. I just needed something that looked like my own stomach. 

I actually found out later that there was another cosplayer at the convention I debuted Rose at who was VERY upset about my use of a fake stomach. They'd essentially viewed it as the plus size equivalent of blackfacing, despite the fact that I, myself, am plus size and that between the corset and shoes I actually looked thinner in cosplay than out of it. Oh well, what is there to do about it now?

The next step was the Gem. This piece was actually pretty easy to figure out using a combination of card board, Hot glue, nail polish, and Modge Podge. Anyone who's every tried to glue anything to silicone can tell you it's near impossible without specialized glue, so instead I sewed in a small velcro patch and glued the other half to the gem, thus allowing me to dramatically rip it off and yell "I wanna be human" whenever the impulse arose.

At this point, the only thing I was truly dissatisfied with were the skirt tiers. The fabric was atrocious and the way they lay flat gave the skirt no shape at all. I considered manually cutting it into the scallop shapes from the cartoon, but there wasn't enough fabric to even pull that off, so in the week and a half before con I just straight up went ahead and cut off all of the layers and replaced them with yards upon yards of softly pleated cotton that looked so much nicer and more dynamic. The more muted colored matched the wig better as well, and this was the version of Rose that I debuted at Senshi Con 2016, where I competed in the cosplay contest and got third place in the western category~

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After this point, there were some small changes. I found taller shoes, got a wider hoop skirt, and remade the bodice before wearing Rose Quartz one more time at Senshi Con 2017.

Rose ended up truly being a labor of love, and to this day she is one of the cosplays that I felt the most confident in. She was sold last year after having spend literal years in storage, but I've still got plans for different AU designs that I'm excited about. I'll need to redo her wig soon if I want to continue with the trend, but it's still so cool to be able to see where it all started!

Keep and eye out for more "How It Was Made" posts soon!

-Alexei