Today’s question is…
a multitude!
What kind of tights do you use?
What do you wear underneath Slave Leia?
What kind of wig caps do you recommend?
etc!
I thought I’d wrap all these kind of questions into one post about foundation costume basics.
Some of this stuff will relate to my othe FAQs, but I thought it would be nice to have it all in one place.
The underwear stuff
The two questions I get asked most are, “What do you wear under bodysuits?” and “what do you wear under slave Leia??”
For bodysuits, I typically wear a Capezio (that’s the brand) adult body tight. It’s basically a unitard version of tights. You can get it at most online dance stores. It’s washable and my two pairs have lasted for quite a long time, so it’s a good investment if you’re going to be doing a lot of spandex bodysuits.
For Slave Leia, I used a string bikini pair of underwear. The straps across the side are thin and matched up with the straps of the skirt, and to be sure they wouldn’t be seen, I’d usually either hand sew them down or use a piece of double stick tape to keep them in place. Really simple.
(I don’t normally invite people to stare at my hip area so closely, but you can just baaarely see the edge of it showing in this pic.)
For costumes like Urd and Hild, I used to use those stick-on bras from Victoria’s Secrets. They worked ok. These days I’m more likely to build a bra into costume than use something like that.
The leg stuff!
I stick with BodyWrappers brand, and buy them locally at a dance supply store, but you can get them online, too (the reason I buy them in person is I can never remember which colour matches my skin!) Dance tights are a must for me with most leg-baring costumes, because they not only make your legs look nice, but they help me feel a little more covered up.
(I’ve also heard of wearing flesh-tone fishnet stockings over the tights, which sounds fantastic and I want to try, but haven’t yet.)
Anyway, dance tights are sturdy enough you can attach boot covers to them – I’m again to point to DJ Spider’s tutorial because I’ve used it a couple of times with great success!
((Spandex boot covers sewn onto dance tights!))
The head stuff!
I buy my wig caps locally at a wig store. I always get the netted kind, because it’s much easier to pin a wig to those than the “pantyhose” kind. They come in a range of “natural” colours. I always bring 5 or 6 to a convention, because they end up disappearing throughout the weekend (mostly because I’ll pull the wig and cap off at the same time, and put the wig away with the cap still in it!)
Wearing a wig cap not only keeps your own hair in place, but helps keep the wig in place, too. If you have long hair, trying braiding it up into a couple of small buns before putting the cap on, and getting your wig over that. Sometimes doing that can cause bumps, so it’s something you’ll want to experiment with. I do have long hair, but a very small head, so I’ve never had an issue getting a wig on.
For holding wigs on, these are my main go-tos:
“Regular” Bobbie Pins (comes in black, brown and blonde)
Mini Bobbie Pins (comes in black, brown and blonde)
Big Ass Bobbie Pins (which I can’t find on CVS’ site to show you LOL)
Very small jaw clips (for holding back pieces of hair/hairpieces/etc)
Basic barrettes (I use these further back on my head, underneath the wig hair, to hold heavy wigs in place so the weight is not all on my forehead).
I’ll have more of this kinda stuff in my upcoming wig faq.
The foot stuff!
I’ve tried all kinds of shoe inserts on my costume shoes, but I have never found anything I liked better than Toe-kinis (look on amazon!). They are basically foot underwear.
(Tiny panties)
They provide padding for the front of your foot while wearing heels, and they work great.
I also wear socks with anything I can. I have a wide range of socks just for costumes. Sometimes I’ll wear two pairs if I can just for extra padding.
If I’m going to be wearing shoes I know cause blisters, or it’s just going to be a long weekend of weird shoes, I go ahead and put bandaids on the back of my heel and on my little toe. Keep some moleskin in your emergency kit in case you do get a blister.
I also recently bought this Band-Aid Friction Block. It’s a roll-on to prevent blisters. I haven’t used it yet – I’ll be using it at Dragoncon, but looks like it would be fantastic if it works!