Carbon Costume

Janis Sarkasian is a character in the Mean Girls musical. Similar to the movie, she is Damian’s best friend who marches to the beat of her own drum. Artsy and rebellious, she doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her. This sentiment is the main point of her song, “I’d Rather Be Me.” When Cady Heron arrives as the new student, Janis and Damian take her under their wing to seek vengeance on Regina George. Janis warns Cady not to be deceived by Regina’s niceness, as per her own experience. The only changes from the movie include the last name (Ian to Sarkasian) as well as her sexuality. Barett Wilbert Weed, who originated the role on Broadway, has confirmed that in her portrayal, Janis is a lesbian. This costume guide features a denim jacket to use as a base. Follow this tutorial,  where Ellis Claire Perlman will teach you how to paint and decorate your jacket to make it stage accurate. To achieve her punk makeup look, follow this tutorial by popular musical theater Youtuber Katherine Steele.

Noodle (voiced currently by Haruka Abe) is the mysterious lead guitarist of the virtual band, Gorillaz. As a small child, she introduced herself with the one word that became her band stage name, and joined Gorillaz after the unceremonious departure of their prior guitarist. Since the band’s 1998 formation, Noodle has grown up and gone through several aesthetic phases. Now age 29, she sports dark bluish hair and a punky fashion sense.

For this costume, I’ve combined two outfits, one from character concept art and another from the “Saturnz Barz” music video, where she wears an unusual pair of sunglasses. We suggest buying two pairs of inexpensive sunglasses and switching out one of the lenses.

Lirael is the only young woman in her commune, the Clayr, who has not yet manifested her people’s ability of clairvoyance. As she gets older, she comes into her own as an assistant librarian, proudly wearing the red robes of her position. (The library, full of books on magic, empowers her with other skills.) Given the lack of acceptance from her peers, Lirael and her magical canine friend take a journey to learn the truth of her past.

Janana is one of Papa Louie’s most loyal customers. And, as her name implies, she’s just bananas about, well bananas. But that’s not all Janana likes. She is wild about toppers on her orders. Even more than toppers, though, she is crazy about music. Ever since getting a job at the local record place in high school, Janana has been big in the local music scene. Big enough that she’s now the agent for Scarlett and the Shakers!

Janana has to main looks. They are very similar which makes it easy to switch between the two if you want to. The biggest difference is the color of her coveralls and the addition of a black checkered sweater over her blue coveralls.

Striped coveralls are hard to come across so your best bet is a little bit of DIY. White coveralls and fabric paint make it easy to whip up the exact look you need. With the purple coveralls you will need to tie your black checkered sweater around your waist whereas it can be worn with the blue coveralls. With  both looks you’ll want to wear a yellow shirt under your coveralls, white sneakers with black toes and a yellow laces, a black choker, and square glasses. Both looks also require a blonde wig styled back in a ponytail.

A black belt is visible in the second look though it’s likely worn with both looks and just covered up in the purple outfit. Janana’s legs are also hard to see so we can’t be sure but this is a good looks to wear black leggings with if you want something covering your legs.

Popo and Nana are a brother and sister that first appeared in the self-titled NES game Ice Climbers. Since then they’ve been largely out of use except for an appearance as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. And, according to rumor, a possible new Switch game.

The siblings dress alike, though Popo prefers blue and Nana prefers pink. Both wear parkas with matching pants and boots. They also carry large wooden mallets to help them in their adventures.

You can of course wear a parka for your costume. But since most conventions are indoors – and all that walking gets warm – you can recreate the look with a long hooded. No matter which you choose, however, you will need to add fake fur trim around the hood, hem, and sleeves.

In addition to your preferred top you will need leggings that match the color of your parka as well as a matching pair of boots and a mallet. Of course you wouldn’t wear leggings to actually climb a mountain. But for the sake of comfort while cosplaying, they’re your best bet here!

Liliruca Arde, or “Lili” for short, is a character in the anime Is It Wrong to Try and Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Originally, Lili was a member of the Soma Familia. However, after receiving her freedom following the War Game, she converted to the Hestia Familia. Considered the “brain” of the Familia, she is incredibly strategic and resourceful. Lili often uses her experience to gather information and complete tasks. She’s quite amazed at how often Bell gets himself into trouble.

Fuka Reventon (voiced by Inori Minase) is a magical martial artist in the ViVid Strike! anime series.  Fuka is apprenticed to Einhard Stratos.  Fuka’s normal appearance is relatively straightforward, but cosplaying her Adult Mode with Barrier Jacket will take a little more patience and creativity.  To recreate the top of her look, you can layer a black crop tank with a white leather vest painted with green leather paint to match the stripes.  For the bottom portion of the outfit, layer a pair of black shorts with a white leather skirt, split open in the front if possible and painted with the same green paint as the vest.  Then, you can add a ruffled petticoat with a train, though you will need to cut some material from the front to create the v-split.  Finally, add a black leather waist harness to pull the look together.

Seiko Shinohara is your average sweet – if silly – school girl. It doesn’t save her from the darkening. But it does help her save the girl she loves from meeting the same heartbreaking fate. She is voiced by Miki Honda and Satomi Arai in the video games, and played by Youko Kita in the live-action movie, all of whom capture the sweet, sad nature of Seiko’s character.

For this cosplay I opted to go with Seiko’s appearance while alive. Unless you are going to a horror convention or an adults-only convention, it is probably best to opt for this version as Seiko’s appearance after her murder can be very upsetting for children and other convention attendees.

Seiko wears a pretty typical school uniform: White undershirt with a blue line across the chest (that you will have to paint on), tan v-neck pullover sweater, blue pleated skirt, and white shoes. Her uniform collar is blue with a yellow tie that she decorates with a brooch. She also has long brown hair which she wears with bangs and loops behind her ears. The style doesn’t exist on premade wigs so you will have to style the wig by hand.

As a final touch, pin your convention badge at your waist where Seiko wears her nametag!