I had fallen in love with her dress in Shrek (2001), but I wasn't sure how or if I would find a green velvet with gold motif. And by then, I also had Shrek II (2004) and Shrek the Third (2007) to pick dresses from. So I decided to let the people decide and I started a poll amongst my friends to let them vote for the dress I would make, and the unanimous choice was the Shrek II version (it figures; it is the one with the most details).
Once again, hours were spent in research by looking at as many pictures and videos as I could find. I wanted to make my costume as screen accurate as possible.
I ended up making it in green stretch velvet, using blue gray taffeta for the skirt panels, sleeves slits, belt, neckline and cuffs. Instead of satin stitching the brass accents, I bought a gold lace trim, which saved me some time and made my life easier (because, of course, I finished making my costume on October 31st, at 2 AM). For the brass dots you can see on the belt, neckline and cuffs, I used decorative brass fabric nails.
Princess Fiona the Ogre in Shrek II (2004)Fabrics were not the only thing I needed to make this costume perfect. I found lime green socks to cover my feet and I bought green velvet shoes from eBay.
The jewelry was made out of Fimo, spray painted gold, with Deco Art Liquid Rainbow paint for the red enamel accents. Everything hangs from gold cord.
I made a crown and ears out of fun foam. I used the thicker kind for the crown, stapled it close in the back and spray painted it gold, before gluing a red jewel to the front. For the ears, I used thin fun foam and I painted them with a mixture of green paint and glue.
I bought a red haired wig on eBay (it came from Hong Kong and it is one of the best and most comfortable wigs I own - I find it looks so natural that I have considered wearing it out, for the fun of changing my hair in a non-permanent way) to which I pin my crown and ears.
Finally, the biggest difference between the Princess Fiona human and ogre versions, other than the waistline, the skin colour. I couldn't find the right colour of green make-up at my local arts and crafts store, so I had to order it from eBay (I love shopping on eBay). I wear Snazaroo face paint in Lime Green. To get the perfect effect, I also wear Wet N' Wild MegaEyes® Eyeshadow Trio in Amazon Green, auburn red brow pencil, pink blush and pink lipstick. Oh, and let's not forget the hands: I paint my nails lime green and I wear my grandmother's wedding band.
Now I know you're dying to know what the end result looks like, so Ta-da!
Gwenyver's Princess Fiona Costume, Halloween 2007What do you think? I hate to brag, but It is in my humble opinion, one of the best Fiona costumes I've seen!
(I know you can see my ear and you shouldn't, but I wear a headset to answer the phone and I forgot to fix my hair before taking pictures.)
I was so proud, I thought I would be super original, but it turned out, every girl's nightmare came true for me on this day: someone from accounting also dressed up as Fiona!
Fiona vs Fiona, Halloween 2007OK, once again I hate to brag, but darn I look good!
The only thing I am not fully satisfied with is the crown. It's too high. But that's OK, my cat took care of of the problem recently: he chewed on it, so now I have to make a new one and I can make it the right height this time. (Thank you G'Kwan for being so helpful!)
Last year, l'Alliance Impériale was invited to Le Grand Festival d'Halloween à Blainville and I went as Fiona. For the first time since I've started Trooping with them, my costume was as popular as the Clone Trooper armours. Lots of little girls wanted their picture taken with me, and I had a few women telling me I was their favorite character or princess. There even was this one dad who shooed his wife and kids away to quickly snap a picture with me!
If you calculate quickly, you will realize I was 24 weeks pregnant when this picture was taken, and my baby kept kicking me almost the whole time (she is a kicker to this day!).
I might have played around in Photoshop a little. But it looks fun!
I have to say, that is one of my best costumes.
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