For decades, dressing up as Wonder Woman has meant mixing up your sexiest self with a hefty portion of '70s camp. Sure, you'd have a skintight outfit and knee-high boots. But those giant, high-waisted, star-spangled briefs didn't do Lynda Carter any favors. Perhaps her costume was meant to deceive bad guys into thinking she was vulnerable, but anyone dressing up as her is at risk of feeling far more silly than badass.
Enter the modern comic-book movie and — swoon! — Gal Gadot. Batman v Superman was a rather dreary flick, but the screen magically came to life with every (too brief) glimpse of her Diana Prince. Whether in elegant civilian attire or in battle gear, she actually looks like she can take on the baddies and rescue those squabbling superheroes. She's got armor that speaks of her ancient origins, weapons that actually look deadly, and a hooded cloak for extra mystery. As we all look forward to the release of Wonder Woman in 2017, we can also enjoy this as a new era in Wonder Woman Halloween costumes (and Comic-Con cosplay, of course). Here are all the elements you'll need to transform yourself into the fierce Amazonian, with options for buying, minor DIY-ing, and highly skilled crafting, from head to toe.
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Boots
Buy It: This option looks quite like the real thing, but we imagine sizing is going to be difficult, so buy it enough in advance to be able to return.
DIY: Buy a pair of burgundy, over-the-knee boots that you can wear when you're not Wonder Woman, and apply gold duct tape at the knee and up the front. You may want to read up on "how to remove duct tape residue from leather" afterwards.
Skilled DIY: Modern Wonder Woman does not actually wear boots, but shoes and a protective armor called greaves. This is how you can make those like a medieval role-playing boss.
Lasso
Buy It: The Target kids' light-up version is only $12.
DIY: This is a silly idea, but why not just attach this battery-operated fairy-light rope to your skirt?
Photo: Courtesy of DC Entertainment.
The Hair
Buy It: Gal Gadot's voluminous, dark hair is the one element that looks quite similar to classic Wonder Woman, so you can totally purchase one of these standard wigs from a Halloween store.
DIY: If you happen to be blessed with long, dark, wavy locks, congrats. Just wear it down.
Skilled DIY: If your hair has length but not enough volume, watch this very clear, very pleasant tutorial.
Photo: Courtesy of DC Entertainment.The Tiara
Buy It: For a really obsessive re-creation of the new Wonder Woman armor, Etsy is the place to go. VivaWW's items aren't cheap, but they look damn good.
DIY: You can also use a paper template and craft foam and paint it gold to make a headpiece that looks quite like VivaWW's.
Skilled DIY: Though Golden Lasso Girl is making an old-school WW tiara out of a metal kickplate in this video, you can use her technique and just draw in your own design instead. It might be dangerously sharp, which makes it so much more badass.
Corset & Breastplate
Buy It: Again, Etsy has some expensive, gorgeous options like this $80 breastplate.
DIY: For a more comfortable evening, start with a faux-leather top like this one from Amazon. In this tutorial, the cosplayer prints out a Wonder Woman insignia to make the pattern (she uses old-school WW, so alter with contemporary images), cuts it out of craft foam, paints it, and then attaches it to her corset with velcro.
Skilled DIY: Make the entire corset out of foam and the moldable plastic called Worbla, shown in this video, and someone might suspect you of raiding the Warner Bros. wardrobe department.
Cuffs & Arm Band
Buy It: These leather cuffs may not be bulletproof, but they look quite comfortable. There's also this seller on Bonanza who offers a tiara, gauntlets, and arm bands for a suspiciously low price.
DIY: This woman's clever use of aluminum foil really appeals to our lazy, cheap side.
Skilled DIY: Then again, when you see how good this craft-foam armor looks, you might want to invest the time.
The Cloak
Buy It: Everyone who's ever either A) shivered uncomfortably all Halloween night to show off her skimpy costume or, B) covered up her costume entirely for the sake of warmth should be thrilled about this element. If you're going to buy a cloak/cape for your costume, why not buy one you can wear later, too?
Skilled and Unskilled DIY: This video includes one pattern you sew, and one you don't. It's almost like they know us.
Photo: Courtesy of DC Entertainment.
The Skirt
Buy It: Let's stop kidding ourselves. At this point, you should stop buying things one by one and just get the whole thing on eBay, where authentic-looking getups are running at around $200 as of this posting.
DIY: We haven't seen anyone try this method yet, but you could buy a blue pleated skirt like this, and then cut it strategically to look like Gadot's leather flappy thing.
Skilled DIY: If you feel inclined to sew your own leather skirt, here's a step-by-step guide that also includes a downloadable template.
Photo: Instagram/methyl_ethyl_cosplay.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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