Mars Power, Make Up!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. But I'm not the type to wait until October to start planning my costume. No, being a cos-player it's open season year round for costume fodder. The cheaper the cost the better, so out of season is prime hunting time.

I recently I was made aware of an awesome sale through BuyCostumes.com. Being the Sailor Moon fan I am I couldn't pass up this Deluxe Sailor Mars costume, normally $80, for a mere $10. Compared to the cheaper versions of the Sailor Moon costumes the deluxe seemed like it would pass my nit-picking cos-play ways.

We'll start with the fit of the dress. Their size chart is a bit off. By my measurements I would have needed an XXL to accommodate my curves, but seeing the biggest it came it was an XL I took a chance and ran with it. It fit me fine, though it was actually a little loose in the under arm area. Nothing a little stitching can't fix. It will be a little odd not having a full body suit though like I'm use to with my own senshi creations. Guess I'll need to also invest in some red cheer spanks.

A good note, the white fabric is very dense, so transparency doesn't seem like it will be an issue.

The collar and skirt are from a shiny satiny fabric. Fresh out of the package it'll need to be ironed, as you can see, or at the very least hung up and smoothed over. The bows are made from a similar fabric, but have something inside them to make them stiffer. I don't like the bows. They're stiff but they don't sit right and feel just well strange. I'll probably be removing them and making my own to attach later.

I'm slightly undecided on the broach. It's just a patch made to look shiny. It look's better in person than photographed, but I still think it cheapens the over all look of the costume. I would rather invest in a resin molded broach if possible.

My only other complaint in the dress is the zipper. On the body it's fine and cinches everything into place. But the "invisible" zipper on the skirt is not so invisible. It's a minor detail but it bugs me to have that white stripe.


 Next we'll move onto the accessories. This costume includes the matching gloves, choker and tiara. At a first glance they're not bad, but these all have their own hick-ups as well.

I'll start with the choker. It's a little thin in my opinion, but the bigger problem is it's too long. I could cut about an inch off and it'd still be a bit loose around my neck. I'll be trimming mine down if not just making my own.

The tiara has the same problem for me. It has a small piece of elastic on the back so it can stretch to fit more sizes. It just makes it too big for me.I could cut the piece of elastic off completely and still have room to sew snaps or Velcro onto it.

Finally the gloves are the biggest disappoint to me. They look great when you take them out of the package. There's two different areas of Velcro for size adjustment, but because of this there's also a large obvious gap between the red bands and the gloves. At first I wondered if it was rip the stitching is all there. It's very unsightly. I will be removing the bands to use with my own gloves for sure.

Now mind you I am very picky when it comes to cos-play. This review may sound very harsh, but in the long run it's not a bad costume. If sewing isn't your thing but you still want to be a Sailor Senshi badly, it's not a terrible route to take. Though I do suggest trying to get it for less than $80. If you are a sewing person, it's a great starter piece for improvement. I'm very temped to make mine a Super Sailor Mars costume since I want to change the bows any ways. Over all I'd give this costume a 7.5 out of 10.

Until next time.