Mystique (90s X-men Cartoon)

Mystique (90s X-men Cartoon)

Growing up I looked forward to the next installment of X-men on Saturday mornings.  Later that day some of the neighborhood kids and I would gather and pretend we were the amazing mutants we saw on the television.  Though I never pretended to be Mystique as a child, since I always saw myself as the good guy, she has always been one of my favorite villains!  And I will always be biased toward this variant of Mystique.  I can’t say what it is that has caught my eye but nothing can replace it.

Photo by Edward Eliason

Why did I choose this as one of my first cosplays?  At the time I was pleased at how efficient I was at painting my face!  And pleased that I had managed to paint most of my upper body by myself!  Trust me, this is a feat!  Going off the high of my custom twi’lek from Star Wars I decided I was okay with having to paint my face each time I went to charity event with HEROIC.  Too be honest, it got old faster than I thought it would and went on a costume making binge so I had other options not involving painting my face.

Photo by Edward Eliason

This is the first costume I made the pattern for.  I couldn’t find any patterns that worked for this design and all the ones I tried to modify did not work either.  I was not happy until I finally caved in making a pattern myself. This was a lot harder than I thought it wold be, but this skill does get easier over time.  And as an FYI, always keep your patterns!  I wish I still had this one.  Luckily it has been a very durable costume so I have not had to remake it.

Rogue by Anna Belle. Photo by Edward Eliason.

Body paint: And because I get asked this a lot. I used Ben Nye air brush paint for this costume (all photos use the Ben Nye). However, I no longer use this brand because it kept destroying my airbrush guns no matter how much  I was in cleaning them.  Other people really love this brand but I DO NOT!!

I use a body suit for several reasons:
Reason#1.  This can be a huge time saver.  If you have this much skin to paint get someone, or several people, to help you.  Since I wore this costume multiple times a month it was very important to me to sleep and eat before a charity event or con.
Reason#2.  White fabric and any colored body paint do not get along.  For just the neck area alone I had to wash this costume with each wear.  In fact, I stopped painting my neck for charity events because the paint rubbed off rather quickly.
Reason#3.  Kids want to touch things they do not understand.  Which means “blue” skin.  The fact that I had a body suit on usually comforted confused kids when they touched my arm and realized it was fabric.  It also guaranteed that I would be bluer longer since there wasn’t anything to rub off of my skin.
Reason#3.  I wear an insulin pump to manage by diabetes.  Wearing the body suit helped protect the site the insulin is delivered into my body.

If you are entering in a costume contest I do recommend painting ever inch of skill that will be seen.  And also paint allowing for costume movement and settling.  This should earn major points with the judges and get you more credit than using a body suit.

Here are pictures of my costume at CAUSEplay events.

Toy drive 2013. Me and members of Heroic (2013) with Dan Farr of Salt Lake Comic Con. This is my it is cold outside variant that I wear thermals under my bodysuit and on the outside. The white layer of pants is also a set thermals. When CAUSEplaying during the fall and winter it is important to keep warm!

Toy Drive 2013 with Utah’s Merc with a Mouth and DC Doll.

Toy drive 2013 with Shayna

Winter Paloza 2013 with Utah’s Merc with a Mouth

Me and a bunch of X-Men fans in a Volunteer Ad for Salt Lake Comic Cons Fan Xperience 2014

And my all time favorite photo of Mystique!!!!

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If you have any questions about this costume please e-mail them to AdventuresWithMala@gmail.com.

Check out my other cosplays and costumes on my resume by clicking here. If you have already checked out my resume you may notice no new listings for 2017. This is because I have been joyfully creating art for my new business! Check it out on my Facebook, Intsagram, Redbubble, and StorEnvy sites!