Carbon Costume

Misunderstood and bullied since childhood, blue-skinned shapeshifter Mystique (played onscreen by Jennifer Lawrence and Rebecca Romijn) truly understands anti-mutant oppression. Her early experiences of mistreatment shaped her stance in the fight for mutant equality — or even dominance, as her leader, Magneto, gravitates towards.

Mystique is easily remembered for her onscreen appearances wearing only the strategically-placed blue scales she was born with (requiring Rebecca Romijn to spend hours in the makeup room), but comic book portrayals have been slightly more favorable to cosplayers attending family-friendly venues. You could buy the blue jumpsuit and stop there, but I’ve included some additional garments which draw inspiration from my personal favorite Mystique look from the retro X-Men arcade game.

Susie Carmichael (voiced by Cree Summer) is a recurring character from the Nickelodeon shows Rugrats and All Grown Up!  Susie possesses a strong sense of self and what is right, which often puts her at odds with Angelica Pickles, though the two girls are usually friends.  To recreate Susie’s original outfit, painting the abstract flowers using purple fabric paint onto a yellow dress is the best way to achieve the iconic look, though you can also use a yellow dress with any floral pattern.  Susie wears a number of different outfits in the All Grown Up! series, but she often sports cropped shirts and wide leg jeans.

Athena Cykes works for famed Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright at the Wright Anything Agency. A childhood trauma led her to a career in law. With her sensitive hearing and training in Europe as an analytical psychologist, she’s especially skilled at picking up on witnesses’ vocal tells, which she uses to her advantage in the court room.

In Tangled, Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) is the rightful princess of the kingdom of Corona, but she is stolen by Mother Gothel as an infant because of her hair’s magical powers.  Locked away in a tower for most of her life, Rapunzel’s closest companion is a chameleon named Pascal.  Rapunzel is effervescent and excited by all that life has to offer, especially once she escapes from her imprisonment.  Rapunzel wears a pink and purple skirt with a corseted top, and of course has extremely long, flowing blonde hair throughout most of the film.  Her look can be recreated in a number of ways, by layering different pieces, or simply using a Renaissance corset dress, depending on how much time you wish to spend working on it.  You could take it to the next level by using a gold fabric paint to add filigree details to the skirt and corseted top.

In Eddsworld, Matt Hargreaves is recognized by his ginger hair and square chin. Matt is obsessed with his looks, and wears either a black or purple hoodie, a green overcoat, blue jeans, and black shoes. Sometimes he wears a black tee with “I ♥ M@” written on it. He is the animated counterpart to creator Edd Gould’s real-life friend.

Komari Koshigaya wants to be recognized as a mature person. She is a smart girl, but doesn’t like that some of the younger girls look older than her. However, Komari still takes care of the younger girls around her in their countryside. Komari spends time with her little sister Natsumi, and her friends, Hotaru and Renge, in Non Non Biyori Repeat.

Yubaba is the main antagonist in Spirited Away, an animated film created by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. She is the owner and employer of the Bathhouse. She tricks the bathhouse workers by stealing their names and only freeing them if they can remember it. Some of her other powers include fire breathing and flying. Compared to her identical twin, Zeniba, she’s considered the evil one. Our protagonist, Chihiro, finds her much more intimidating. Yubaba is extremely overbearing, but she can be seen as a doting mother to her giant baby, Boh. She embodies greed because she obsesses over gold, valuing money more than her own family.

Most Regalia / Shinki (weapon-sidekick-people) belong to one master alone, but Nora’s developed a reputation as “The Stray.” Yato is one of many to have utilized Nora’s weapon form, but has since, to her ire, acquired a Regalia of his own. (Keeping a Regalia to himself is an entirely different challenge, given Yato’s careless, narcissistic personality, but that’s really not Nora’s problem.) Suffice to say, she gets jealous easily, yet is undeterred by others’ conflicts of interest.

Nora / The Stray wears her kimono folded the way of a corpse, and wears a hitaikakushi on her head like the ghosts of old Japanese mythology. We can recreate this ghostly headdress using a white headband and a small, folded cloth napkin, since it’s not something readily available, given its taboo nature. Additionally, we’ve used a large, striped shawl-scarf in place of the traditional obi sash worn around the waist of a kimono.