Why Taelia?
Anyone that knows me can attest to my undying love of Neopets, and I'd been long overdue for another faerie cosplay since doing Jhudora and Space Faerie a few years prior! I had assisted my good friend, Jay Vi, in making her Taelia cosplay before as well, so I had some handy experience when making this again. I adore the Neopet faeries, and would cosplay any and all of the faeries if I could! The only issue would be where to keep all of the wings and mermaid tails, buahaha.
I thought it would be nice to have a comfy winter costume, since moving back to the midwest means bitter cold winters! Turns out, it is in fact warm and cozy, but can be a bit heavy due to the coat, hahaha. So it may not see too many cons, really. I opted to do the blue stripes on the coat, since I feel it makes it stand out, and not look like too much of a bathrobe, especially since my fabrics were just cheap fleecy materials haha!
Costume Stats
Started: January 2018
Completed: January 2018
Status: active
Wig by: Arda Wigs - Greta in Midnight Blue
Worn at: OhayoCon 2018
Awards: none
About This Costume
I tried to make this as economical and simple as possible, since it wasn't a super duper serious project. Most of it is constructed of anti-pill and Blizzard fleece from Joann. The trim is a "soft n comfy" fabric that sheds like a motherrrrr (0/10 would not use this fabric again, haha).
The coat was all patterned by me. I could've stood to make the hood larger, but oh well, it works for now! I flared the ends of the sleeves to make it look more fantasy and less "bathrobe"-ish. I also opted to add the blue stripes. A lot of times Taelia appears without them, but I like the color blocking they provide.
The wings are double layered upholstery interfacing with wire sandwiched in between, and fleece covering them. I used batting to make the 3D effect on the top of the wings. I also glued about 200 clear sequins to the white part for a subtle glitter effect. It doesn't always show up in photos, but is pretty neat when it catches the light while walking around! The wings slide through a slot on the back of the coat, and slides into a pocket on a waist cincher that I wear under my Taelia dress.
The dress was constructed as a tube top dress, it just slides on and off. The fleece is stretchy enough that no zipper is needed! For extra warmth, I also made mittens with matching fuzzy trim, and I even have some fleece arm warmers that act as easily-removable sleeves for if I want shots in just the dress!
I still am working on finding some cute white boots to go with this look. It's been pretty hard since I want something that matches Taelia's sort of "mod girl" aesthetic. Some dainty off-white platforms with furry cuffs would be good!