Costume Thoughts: Suicide Squad's Harley Quinn

I wanted to start a series of posts where I look at costumes and share my thoughts on them. And after the news about "Suicide Squad", I thought I would start with Harley Quinn

So, recently photos from the "Suicide Squad" set have been released, including photos of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.

 And here's her costume. 

I actually really like most of this costume. Harley Quinn would definitely wear this, based on the various images of her from the comics and games.

The colour scheme seems to be based on the Suicide Squad comic: red and blue. The dyed ponytails resembles Harley in Arkham City. So far, so good. I also like how this costume is slightly less revealing than some of her other looks. I will say, this is an impractical costume. Those sneaker boots are cute, but I doubt anyone can run around in them. If I remember correctly, Harley is a gymnast: I can't imagine cartwheels in heels is safe for your ankles. Wedges would have made more sense I think.  I don't know what to expect from "Suicide Squad"

 Harley Quinn, or the film in general. I haven't seen most of the recent DC Universe films because I keep hearing bad things about them. I want to be excited for "Suicide Squad". Mind, I had similar feelings when "Sucker Punch" came out, but saw it and loved it. 

I really hope the film acknowledges how abusive and messed up her relationship with the Joker (Mister J) is. Hopefully we'll get a character arc where Harley realises just how awful the Joker is for her, and gets herself out, or already knows how bad the status quo is for her.

How I would make the costume:

The costume can be broken down into these pieces:

• Wig
• T-shirt
• Jacket
• Shorts
• Accessories

Wig:

For the hair, unless you've got the right coloured hair, it's probably easiest to use a wig. Some ideas for a base wig:

• Arda's Chibi wig in titanium, ash, or platinum blonde 
• Epic Cosplay clip on ponytails and a base wig in natural blonde 
• Ali Stark's tutorial on creating a ponytail wig from a normal wig 
• Generic cosplay wig from ebay 
• Chiaroscuro's Wig tutorial 
• Not entirely relevant, but a more fantastical Harley Quinn wig tutorial

T-Shirt:

The t-shirt says "Daddy's Little Monster".  Apart from the random slogan it's a nice shirt. You could probably add the text with t-shirt transfer paper, though a stencil or a very steady hand and marker pen would work. I would probably modify an existing t-shirt and use dye to colour the top part. Watered down blue acrlyic or fabric paint would work in a pinch. Fabric markers would be ideal for the red stripes. 

Tutorial by Miikaela Padua 

Full costume tutorial  

Jacket:

There are already a few tutorials out on creating the jacket. I've seen satin used, though I imagine a good quality velour could look good.

Audrye Roe's Tutorial on Youtube

Chiaroscuro Cosplay's tutorial on Tumblr

Shorts: 

I quite like her sequin shorts. If I were to make them I would probably buy a red pair and a blue pair from ebay and stitch them together. I don't have much experience working with sequins though. I'd also wear dance tights or make the shorts longer, because I don't really want my butt hanging out. 

Accessories:

Harley is wearing fishnet tights with tears in them. She also has several tattoos. She has a black studded holster. You could replicate the holster by buying or making a black holster and adding metal studs to it.

Harley's also got a fairly standard studded belt, though it has a weird diamond or rhombus shaped buckle in gold. 

I like the accessories too, especially the studded belt and bracelets. The whole outfit makes me think of a roller derby (okay, I've never been to one, because Malta is limited like that, but I have an idea of what they look like :P). The belt and bracelets should be easy enough to buy. 

In some pictures, Harley seems to be wearing a red glove on her left hand, and some chunky gold rings.

Her choker seems to say "Puddin": if they're basing her character on cartoon Harley, then I think this is totally in character. Animated series Harley Quinn would definitely wear a choker commemorating her beloved Puddin': she's obsessed with him. 

Her shoes are some kind of heeled boots that look a bit like trainers. I would personally use wedges, as I feel they look better for this particular costume. 

Her bat looks like a normal baseball bat with the words "Good night" stenciled on in red. There also seems to be a scrawl of text or a design beneath the stenciled letters.