Construction Details:

The "seaweed" parts are bits of alençon lace that I painstakingly cut from it's base mesh, clustered together, then sprayed with a fine gold glitter. Swarovski crystals in varying sizes were adhered on top (the color I used was Golden Shadow). The clusters were mounted to a powermesh base that closely matches my skin tone for the top and glove.

For the tail I used a trumpet-shaped skirt pattern (same one I used for my alternate Terra) that I slashed at the knees to set in the crinkly black chiffon for the "fin" part. The body of the skirt is a matte black faceted sequin fabric. I chose to do a skirt instead of an actual tail because I wore it to a masquerade ball... and I really, REALLY like being able to walk. And dance.

My ear fins were made by stretching metallic black chiffon over an armature wire base, then I mounted them to a headband that can hide under my hair.

My necklace look awhile to make - it's all coral and mother-of-pearl fragments that I enameled black and gold, then added crystals to.

Before I wear this again, I want to make some webbed fingers and I need to put a small petticoat-like layer under the fin portion of my tail to give it a better silhouette.

Personal Thoughts:

I've always wanted to make a mermaid costume, but I wasn't into doing the whole blue / green color palette like most people do. I got inspired one day when I found some beautiful metallic black pleated chiffon and sequins at my work.

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