AMBER
Sucker Punch
Photographer
Why I chose to make this costume:
Ever since the preview images of Sucker Punch came out with Amber, my friends have told me that I had to make this costume lol. I personally loved the military pilot look and was open to the idea. When Brian Boling gave me a flight suit for Christmas, my fate was sealed. I want to add that I loved the Sucker Punch movie, and especially after seeing the director's extended cut. I think the film was misunderstood in some ways and I appreciated it for the cinematography, amazing action scenes, music and on-screen talents.
How I made this costume:
I made it the same way they did it in the movie, which is by cutting up a Vietnam era pressure flight suit and altering it HEAVILY.
If you look at the images of the actual costume on display here: On the right side of the hip there is a finished hole, through which an air hose is attached to the plane and on the inside of the flight suit there are rubber air bags sewn in that expand with air and compress the pilot's body parts so they won't pass out from all the flight maneuvers.
Brian was able to get his hands on such a flight suit for me and I spent hours seam ripping the inside air bags and the pressure tubes that followed the length of the arms, legs and back of the suit.
Then I chopped it in half and replaced the zipper, made the pants into chaps, lined them, and used the left over matching fabric to make the hat. I had to make my own pattern for the hat.
The gun/magazine holster and belt were the next to tackle, and I give many thanks to Cathy of God Save The Queen Fashions for helping me pick out the leathers and tools and showing me leather working techniques. I used a heavy veg tan leather hide and made my own pattern for the pieces, cut them out and punched stitching holes for hours. Then heavy duty snaps were added as well as D-rings. After making all the pieces, I hand dyed them black and shined them up. It took about a day and a half to make and assemble the whole get-up.
The gloves are neoprene and leather.
Last pieces to make were the panties, bra and choker, and thank God I found the right pleated trim. I altered a bra by adding the zipper and the trim, same with the panties. Add some fishnets and a lollipop and I was ready to kill zombie nazis!
Thoughts on this costume:
I'll say that by the end of SDCC, I had eaten 6 lollipops lol. This is such a super comfortable costume though, I could wear it all day. At San Diego Comic Con, security (5 of them) told me I couldn't be anywhere around the life size bunny mech at the Gentle Giant booth because of the photo traffic jam I assisted in causing. Thankfully Mark of GG put me on the platform with the bunny mech and told security that I was an official part of their booth. I really appreciated the opportunity to hang out with the best prop imaginable for this cosplay, and to show my love for the character design and the movie.
The Baby Doll and Blondie with me are RebellionBarbie and Cyn, and they joined me again at Dragoncon for a full group that included Klytemnestra (Sweet Pea), Kudrel (Rocket) and Chiara Scuro (Blondie). More group photos should be added soon as I receive them.
