Wayne's World: Costume Time

I'm a big fan of 90s nostalgia, so for Comic Con and Halloween this year I decided it was finally time to go for one of my favorite characters of all time, Cassandra, lead singer and bassist of Crucial Taunt from Wayne's World. Wayne and Garth are popular duo costumes, but the addition of Cassandra, for me, really completes the team and makes it a great group cosplay! Time to try some new crafts I've never tried before!

Cassandra Wong's Bass

I'm not a musician, but luckily I had a real bass for reference and that made this process so much easier. Particularly when it came to making all the small details. For the body of the bass, I used a few layers of cardboard glued together and did most of the molding and finishing with both wood filler and joint compound (a truly magical product for sculpting). After an absurd amount of layering and sanding, I got to a point where I could finally prime, paint, and start detailing this faux bass. Most of the details are craft foam painted with acrylic paint, the bridge was covered in silver mylar for extra metallic shine, tuning key pieces on the headstock are wood shaker legs glued to flat wood circles, and the strings are leather cord. After much sweat and many late night craft sessions, the bass looked pretty real – the perfect centerpiece of my costume.

Cassandra Wong's Little Red Dress

The ending of Wayne's World was always very memorable to me, from the really excellent cover of "Ballroom Blitz" to Cassandra's iconic red lace dress with matching long fingerless gloves. Initially, I thought I might find something ready-made online, but after looking through dozens of dresses and being a picky person, I decided to Frankenstein my own dress! I found a vintage long-sleeved dress to use as a base, cutting the sweetheart neckline, moving the zipper from the side to the back, and removing the sleeves to use for the gloves. I created a nude slip dress for underneath and eventually fused the two dresses together when fitting the bust/neckline area.

Wayne and Cassandra Costumes

This is for you, Frankie Sharp!

Party Time

Photo Credit: Amanda Hatfield, Brooklyn Vegan

All together now: Wayne, Cassandra, and Garth rockin' out at New York Comic Con 2019! This may be the most fun I've had cosplaying yet!