Katniss Everdeen Wedding Dress

Katniss Everdeen Wedding Dress

Photo by Rick Heno Photography

Sketch of the costume

In 2015 I saw the previews for Catching Fire and fell in love with the wedding dress Katniss wears and I knew I had to recreate it for Halloween. But, to be honest, I didn't know how to go about doing it. I knew that I didn't want to make the entire dress myself, so I headed to the thrift store and found a strapless wedding dress that fit me for about $20.

Next, I went about figuring out how to do the metal working on the dress. I studied the one photo I had (which was only shown in the movie previews) and tried to figure out what it looked like most to me. Working with limited photos was a drawback but I think having the limited resources forced me to be more creative. My form of creativity was using pipe cleaners and tin foil!

So I started with a duct tape dress form I saw on pinterest. I knew that would be easy to work off of and I could pin to it if I needed to. This was probably the best idea I had for the entire project. Without it I don't think I would have completed it.

Since the metal workings were kind of loopy and not perfect, it was very easy to manipulate the pipe cleaners into various shapes. Once I had a few of them I hooked them together by wrapping them with tin foil. This gave it that metal look I was looking for. This photo is in the beginning of the process.

Many packs of pipe cleaners and multiple tin foil cuts later I ended up with this:

I was very pleased with what I had created for sure. There was more metal work involved but I didn't add that until I put it on the dress.

I removed this from the dress form and then sewed it on to the wedding dress I bought. I used clear thread so it wouldn't be seen. I also purchased a white feather boa to tuck into the bodice of the dress. Then I actually got to try it on.

There were a few issues. First, the metal workings weren't supposed to go down my hip on the side that also has the over the shoulder point. So I had to remove it. I also made the whole structure too big so I had to resize it. Next, I couldn't get the dress to poof the way I wanted. So I added tulle. A lot of tulle. I'm talking at least 40 yards worth. And for me personally, that still wasn't enough!

After a lot of finagling and adjustments and headaches I finally got it the way I wanted. It wasn't a perfect match to the movie version but I was very happy with it. So happy, that I entered it into The Official Hunger Games Halloween Costume contest with the following photo:

Halloween Night, New Orleans LA

I didn't expect to win anything since I submitted it literally at the last minute (I didn't know about it until the day it was closing). Then they got back to me and I was one of eight that was chosen!

So my first real actual cosplay was a huge success. I worse it out for Halloween but no one knew who I was (the movie wasn't in theatres yet) so everyone thought I was an ice princess, lol. I also wore it to Comic Con in New Orleans after the movie premiered and it was a huge hit.

Photos for voting online

I also found an Effie Trinket!

Makeup

This is by far my favorite costume I have ever made. After the movie came out I got a better view of what the dress actually looked like. I'm not sure if I will adjust it to match the movie in the future because I could spend time making other things. But all in all, this costume gave me the confidence to make other costumes.