Harley Quinn (Birds of Prey)

Inspiration

My goal for this costume was to recreate Harley Quinn's iconic jacket from the movie Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).  This is one of my favorite movies of all time, so this project is really special to me.  I began this project a few years ago, but decided to finish it in time to wear to the 2025 Philly Fan Expo.

The Necklace

I used charms that I had on hand and a variety of different chains to make this.  The chains are all connected via jump rings to two oversized lobster clasps that are meant for keychains, but are strong enough to hold this many thick necklace chains all at once.  The thicker chains were too tough for my pliers, so they had to be cut with bolt cutters!

I twisted and wove the chains together to blend them together into one thick necklace.  After I got the chains the way I wanted them, I put the charms on!  I chose a single angel wing, a key, a snake, an eyeball, and a safety pin to mimic the eclectic combination on Harley's necklace from the movie.  I decided to not include the Brucie dog tag, which she adds after the hyena's death at the hands of Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask, since I plan on wearing this outfit in a group costume with my mom as Brucie.

I'm super pleased with how this turned out!  I think it successfully emulates Harley's necklace while still making it original.  I do plan on wearing it outside of the costume, but since it's so heavy it's more of a special occasion piece.

The Bat

My grandpa made me this bat, and I thought it would be perfect for this costume!  I had to do a fair bit of research to figure out what the cursive said, but eventually tracked it down to a specific poem from one of the video games that features Harley Quinn.  

Once I had the poem, I made a stencil of the GOOD NIGHT for the main part of the bat out of painters tape, and taped out the diamond above the handle.  I did the diamond and the GOOD NIGHT in acrylic paint, and then touched up the edges of the words with a red sharpie.  

I copied the poem from the game in cursive with another sharpie, and added lyrics from "Joke's on You" by Charlotte Lawrence (from the soundtrack album for the movie) to fill the remaining space!  I used the red sharpie to highlight certain words to match how it appears onscreen.

The Jacket

The jacket was by far the most challenging part of this costume.  I decided to start with a clear raincoat as a base, since a clear vinyl jacket as my first project using vinyl was not something I felt comfortable attempting!  I cropped the jacket to the right length, then got to work on the ribbon fringe.

For the fringe I decided I definitely needed to make my own, so I started by cutting spools of ribbon into pieces of the right length!  I tried to keep the color scheme more in the pink, blue, teal, and purple range, with white and off white to mimic the pieces of tinsel.  I used real caution tape for the caution tape strips, and cut it into thirds length-wise to blend it into the ribbon better!  To prevent the ribbon from fraying I singed both ends.

Once I had a goodly bit of ribbon, I cut the side seams of the jacket open.  Then I laid it out flat on the table, and cut ribbon to be the spine of the fringe, equal distances apart on the sleeves.  I then took each spine one by one and pinned on the ribbon strips I had cut earlier, trying to keep an even distribution of colors and caution tape!  I had to go and cut more ribbon a few times when I ran out, but it was absolutely worth it.

When the fringe was all pinned, I sewed it all together!  After that I put each piece back on the sleeve where it was supposed to go, and sewed it down securely.  After that, I sewed up the side seams again and added a dart to the back, and then it was done!

Results

I am so incredibly pleased with this project!  The jacket turned out beautifully, and I think the bat and the necklace really complete the look.  I wore it to the Fan Expo, and got some really cool pictures with other Harley Quinn cosplayers!  My mom put together a Brucie (Harley's hyena) cosplay so we would match!

Reflection

I think I would definitely use this technique to make fringe again!  It was very time consuming, but I love how it turned out in the end.  One thing that I didn't consider when putting the jacket together was how much it would fog up!  I knew it wouldn't be breathable because of the vinyl, but I had no idea it would completely fog up on the inside!  I think before I wear it again I would add small holes to the shoulders for some added ventilation.  Overall though, I couldn't be more happy with this look!