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Catwoman is our kick-ass cosplay of the month - SciFiNow

Catwoman is our kick-ass cosplay of the month

DC Comics’ feline felon and whip-cracking antihero Catwoman is this month’s kick-ass cosplay!

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This month’s kick-ass cosplay champion, celebrating the epic craftsmanship and unbridled creativity of cosplay, is the fantastic Meredith Placko‘s take on Batman antagonist/love interest and playful feline felon Catwoman…

As a long-term Cat-fan, what drew you to the Dark Knight Rises costume instead of a classic one? Was it not finding a purple skirt?

Ha! Well, there is something about purple and green that stands out… buuuuuuut when I saw TDKR I knew this was *the cat* costume I had to do. I love Selina. I was first introduced to her through Batman: The Animated Series, and started reading the comics because of her! But this is the first time in the 13 years of cosplaying that I have paid homage to my favorite cat-girl. Anne Hathaway’s performance was so wonderful, sh e brought such a sophistication to the character. Don’t get me wrong, her predecessors: Pfeiffer, Meriwether and Newmar brought the cat to life, but Hathway’s portrayal really just got to me. I was intrigued about the costume before I saw the film, but seeing it (and Anne!) in action sealed the deal for me.

How did the costume come together, and how did you get the texture right?

In the films, they use a technique called dye sublimation to create the texture on the suit.Of course, I don’t have access to something like that so I had to engineer a way to get a 3D texture without outsourced fabric for a few hundred (or thousand!) dollars. One of my favorite materials to work with is matte metallic spandex. It’s super stretchy, and if you layer anything underneath it, it shows through (which is a problem for certain superhero undergarments!) but with that in mind, I decided to make a fishnet bodysuit to go UNDER the catsuit. When the outer fabric is pressed tight against mys kin, you can really see the fish net underneath!

The other tricky part was building raglan sleeves into the bodysuit. I made a mockup bodysuit, with regular style sleeves, and had a friend draw the design on me, and I built the pattern off the throw-a-way suit. I was able to find some rubber coated elastic to use for the designs that follow the curve of her top and down her princess seams, and just sewed an invisible zipper to the outside of the fabric (plus, exposed zippers are SO in right now!). It was really fun to do a new twist on the standard bodysuit design.

Meredith made this fun flowchart to explain her cosplay process. Click to enlarge.
Meredith made this fun flowchart to explain her cosplay process. Click to enlarge.

Was there any aspect of the costume that was easier than you expected?

The zipper. I HATE zippers. In fact, I suck at putting them in anything. But because this zipper lays on the outside of the garment, I could just stitch it down on top of everything and didn’t have to worry about anything!

What one piece of advice do you wish someone had told you when you first started cosplaying?

Just breath! And have fun. When I got into cosplay, it was all very new and there weren’t a lot of rules, or advice, or cool colored wigs you could buy. It’s a great hobby full of people who are really passionate about what they do. I’ve made so many lasting friendships through it, but sometimes when it’s crunch time before a convention and you’re trying to get last minute costume bits done, it can be really stressful! So just take a deep breath, call up a friend, and remember you’re gonna have a great time!

You can see more of Meredith’s kick-ass cosplay on Twitter, Facebook, or her website!

Do you love cosplay and the sheer thrill of getting that perfect outfit together in tribute to your sci-fi, fantasy or comic-book heroes? Do you want to feature in a future issue of SciFiNow? Shoot us an email and some pictures!