In this tutorial I will walk through how I made my Anne Wheeler cosplay from the movie The Greatest Showman. This is by no means the only way to make this garment, it is just how I created mine.
This is Part 3 of my Anne Wheeler cosplay tutorial. Make sure to read Part 1 to learn what pattern and fabrics I used and Part 2 to learn how I sewed this costume.
After all the sewing was done, I began working on the accessories for this cosplay. Accessories for me basically means anything that I don't have to sew or make. I.E. props, wigs, shoes, makeup, etc.
Almost every accessory for Anne Wheeler was found on Amazon. This is not a plug, I promise I just really love Amazon with their assortment of unusual items and 2 day free shipping.
I ordered tan dancer t-straps, rhinestone nude fishnet tights, loose flat-backed rhinestones in various sizes, gem-tack, and a lace-front pink wig.
My first project was to glue all the gems to the nude mesh. Anne's costume also has gems on the ruffles but, I loved the shine of the iridescent pink so much that I didn't want to distract. I tried to copy the placement pattern of the gems as much as I could, placing smaller gems in rows on the collar and creating diagonal lines with large gems on the front and back nude cut-outs and the arm sleeves.
Bedazzling was extremely tedious and time-consuming but, it made the costume look so elegant and elevated the costume to look high-class.
Next, I began work on the wig. The wig I purchased was a cheap lace-front pink wavy shoulder length wig. I had to style the updo myself. Here is a link to the base wig I purchased.
I heat-curled the wig to emphasize the ringlets then took the rollers out when the hair was cool. I adjusted the part to the side and separated the section for her bangs and for the rest of the curls. Since this is an updo, I separated one row of wefts in the back and cut them to about 2" long to look like baby hair and to hide my hair at the nape of my neck when wearing. I styled the bangs similar to Ariel bangs; I teased the base of the bangs so it would defy gravity then slowly swooped them over to the side, rolling the edges into a pin-curl.
The updo consists of layers upon layers of pin-curls. I started at the base of the neck and moved up toward the crown of the head. Near the crown, I also heavily teased the base of the hairs to create a bump or pompadour base to rest the pin curls on. This created the tall bee-hive shape of the updo. Each individual pin-curl is bobby pinned in place and then sprayed heavily with hairspray. My favorite being the Got2B Glued hairspray. The last thing I did was finalize the curls of the two side ringlets and I was done. All of this styling took the length of the Star Wars: A New Hope.
After the wig was done, I immediately did a fully cosplay test so see the completed look.
For makeup, I used products I already had with the exception of a pink and gold highlight which I ended up purchasing. I emphasized the pink in the costume with my makeup, packing my eyelids with a soft baby pink with a hot pink in the outer corners and crease and a highlighting the inner corners and brow bone with a light pink and gold.
I drew a thin cat eye and drew my eyebrows more natural and arched than I usually do. I applied more blush and highlight on my cheeks than normal, thinking that Anne's makeup look need to be more performance than natural, especially as her features need to be seen from multiple feet up in the air. I finished off with a pink lip gloss with sparkles of gold, applied false lashes, and set my face with powder.
I tried to copy the makeup as best as I could to this look seen in this promotional photo.
And that concludes my Anne Wheeler cosplay tutorial. I hope this helped you guys understand my process with creating a cosplay and to anyone wanting to create their own Anne Wheeler cosplay, I hope this helps you to rewrite the stars! ✨
Thanks for the read. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!