Cosplaying Missy: Persistance Pays Off

As many cosplayers are aware, there are many things that can make or break a costume. One of those things are the accessories for the outfit, especially if you're trying to go for screen accurate. (Although, often times, being "close" is good enough.)

For many of the cosplays that I've planned, I've started looking at a lot of the accessories. Luckily, some of them can be bought. Some can be easily found, but some can be hard to find. Because cosplay can get expensive, I try to keep the price of my purchased props as low as possible.

I managed to find two of my needed props with a bit of luck. First, I found the exact cameo on Etsy after much searching. I think I looked at a few hundred different cameos on both Etsy & ebay, and even went to a well-known vendor who has an assorted set of cameos. The price for cameos ranged from $40-$100 depending on the quality of the piece as most of them were considered "vintage".

Modern resin cameos were much less, but there were very few left facing or of this particular "look".

A photo of the actual cameo from the Doctor Who Experience.
(Courtesy of a Friend's Pinterest page)

Without much success, I began looking at cameos that were "good" enough that would pass the 10-foot rule -- a left-facing cameo of a similar silhouette, size, and potentially color (although I could paint the color in myself if needed). I found a few that were good potential candidates. A friend pointed me to another cosplayer who had molded her cameo and selling painted resin copies (which were just "okay"). If I didn't find what I was looking for, this was my backup plan

Then finally, buried on the 30th page of Etsy looking for "cameo brooch", I finally found the same exact cameo. The price I paid for it was on par with an "okay" replica version, so I am happy with the purchase.

The cameo I found on Etsy.

The black hat she wore proved to be a bit annoying to find...at least online. A few of my local stores, including the Halloween stores didn't have anything in stock. I searched under "tilt hat", "boater", "Mary Poppins". Vintage hats of the right look were expensive ($50.00+) and I was unwilling to pay such prices.

Images of the Hat (courtesy of a friend's Pinterest page)

Luckily, I had walked into a Japanese five-and-dime store in the Bay Area, called Daiso, and found a black boater hat. It's not quite right, but the basic shape is correct, which I can modify. Plus at $1.99 USD, it is cheap, so I bought two hats just in case I mess up one.

I'm still hunting around for other props that can be purchased. I'll be making the others as I can.