Poison Ivy Costume

I struggled in choosing how to put together my Poison Ivy costume. I wanted to do something close to the comic, but there is no way I have the confidence to essentially walk around in a bathing suit and tights.  I had to have some kind of bottoms - maybe boyshorts, maybe a skirt.  I found this Photoshopped image of Emily Blunt as Ivy and fell in love with the corset.  I had a place to start.

With the help of Twitter, I learned that the corset is available at Frederick's but not in green (damn near every other color though).  I quickly searched the net for advice about dyeing polyester, determined it could be done, and bought the corset.  I added tights and gloves from a rocking site I just discovered, We Love Colors.  Eventually I scrounged up a suitable green skirt at USA Dance Shoes.  Whew.

Remaining materials include iDye Poly in green and lots of fake ivy leaves from Michael's.  I got really lucky and found the boots for $20 on Etsy in my size.

The costume required more work than I thought, yet considering the end result, not so bad.  The most time consuming part was dyeing the corset and skirt.  I was incredibly happy with the shade of green my corset ended up.  I followed the directions on the package and simmered it for about one and a half hours with frequent stirring.  I put it right from the pot into the washer on cold and that seemed to set the dye.

The skirt required a little modifying.  I ripped out a lot of sequins and cut off the bottom half.  It was a little too pixie like.  Since it was a lighter mint green, I threw that in the same pot of dye after the corset was finished.

After everything was close to the same shade of green, I looked at the fake ivy leaves.  They returned my stare.  I was really hesitant to cover up the corset, it's too pretty.  But ivy leaves are important to the costume, otherwise I just looked like a faery.  I hot glued a line of ivy leaves up the outside seam of each boot.  I selectively placed them on the skirt and along the bottom edge of the corset.  I used bobby pins to attach smaller leaves to my hair.  Even with these and a touch of green lipstick and eye shadow, a handful of people didn't make the instant Poison Ivy connection.  Any suggestions on how I can improve it before the next convention?  I think the only solution is to sadly cover the corset with ivy leaves.

Quick summary of supplies/sources:


Corset - Hollywood Dream, Frederick's.com (linked above)
Tights - Mint, Welovecolors.com
Skirt - Dance skirt from USAdanceshoes.com
Boots - search for green suede boots on Etsy (eBay had several too, just not my size)

Plastic ivy leaves - Michael's
Polyester dye - iDye Poly, Dharma Trading
Hot glue
Large enamel pot for dyeing