Tutorial: The Little Mermaid Ariel Cosplay

I’m sure you’ve all noticed I’m quite a big fan of Disney Princesses. So it surprised me when I realized early this year that I had not done a single Disney cosplay. Luckily I made up for it quickly by making my Jessie costume with my friend as Buzz. But I still felt unsettled that I hadn’t done a princess! If you follow my Instagram then you know I have done *two* now! So it is my pleasure to share with you my first Disney princess – Ariel in her sight seeing dress! 

This is an excellent cosplay for a beginner! It’s easy to wear, very recognizable, and kids love it. I enjoy making my cosplays, but I am not a fan of dress patterns. Also, sometimes there’s just not enough time in the day. So for Ariel I searched the web for the perfect pieces to put her together.

Shirt – Amazon – $7

This ships from UK, but was a good price and still arrived quickly. I ordered a XXL because I wanted the sleeves to be long enough. I then altered it to fit tighter in the waist and armpits.

Corset – Amazon – $30

This is a plastic boning corset, but let me tell you the quality is still amazing! It has a modesty panel in the back behind the ribbons and was very comfortable to wear. I colored the silver snaps with a black magic marker. I am wearing an XL in the photos, but I wish I had got a Large.

Skirt – Amazon – $25

Body Wrappers sells several fantastic dance wear apparel. This skirt is super flowy and lightweight. The waist is an elastic band and was comfortable. It lays very flat so I recommend wearing a petticoat under it.

Petticoat – eBay $14

This shipped SO quickly and is super great quality. You have the option to take the hoop out, which I ended up doing. But if you want more of a ball gown look the hoop helps with that.

Shoes

Any black flats will work. I’ve had mine for years.

   

I purchased my hair bow from AngiViper’s Etsy store. This is the “puffy” version. It attaches with a clip and was shipped very quickly! I definitely recommend checking out her Etsy store as well as her fantastic cosplays!

 The wig was a little stressful. I ordered this wig from Etsy and was very disappointed. I do not recommend purchasing it. It was so flat on top I could see the netting! It had no bangs to work with no matter how much I teased them. Also, the part was nearly in the middle rather than the side so I had to turn the wig to get a side part. It was absolutely not worth the price. The seller was pleasant and offered to add more wefts of hair, but I knew what I was wanting and decided to fix it myself. 

I tried on my Black Widow wig to see if that would add more volume to the top and it looked great! So I ordered a Ferrari in Apple Red from Arda Wigs and wore it on TOP of my poor Etsy wig. What I would recommend for you is to purchase a Luthien and Ferrari and layer the two. I don’t think one single wig will give the illusion of Ariel’s voluminous style. But the Ferrari’s bangs are so thick all I did was tease them a little and they were done!

Ariel has some very bold features when it comes to her makeup. She’s rockin’ that fabulous red hair so that means her brows and lips are strong as well. For my makeup, I put on a lot of foundation to give myself smoother looking skin. Then I applied a deep pink to my cheeks and a dark brown eyeshadow. I focused my eyeliner to be heavier on the sides to make my eyes look bigger and also wore false lashes. My eyebrows are very light naturally so I used a small brush to cover them with some red and brown eyeshadow. My lipstick is MAC’s Ruby Woo and was PERFECT! I really felt like a princess!

And that’s how you cosplay Ariel from The Little Mermaid! I plan to wear this again on Friday to Dallas Comic Con 2014. I can’t wait to get more pictures in it. All of these photos were taken by my mom, April Miller!

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If you could dress up as any Disney Princess who would you pick?

Let me know if you use this tutorial for your cosplay! 🙂