Mermaid Day Parade June 23rd 2012 Coney Island

The Coney Island Mermaid Day Parade is

celebrating its 30th anniversary!

As the first official day of summer approaches so does the premiere mermaid event of the year The Mermaid Day Parade. Sailor, Starfish and Mermaids get ready to for a colorful march down Surf Avenue and the boardwalk, followed by a ball at the New York Aquarium. 

The Mermaid Day parade starts at 2pm on Surf Ave and ends on the Boardwalk and a dip in the ocean.
Get there EARLY if you want to register without a huge line.

You can register as a single marcher, group or float at the Mermaid Day Parade website.

Quick Tips for surviving marching in this parade:
• You will stand around in the staging area for a LONG time. Bring water. Locate the bathroom.
• Apply sunscreen before your makeup or body paint.
• Check the weather. The parade marches on no matter what so pack an umbrella.

More tips and costume ideas

Mermaid Day Parade 2011 Recap and Photos

Video of previous Mermaid Days

I will be tweeting @kostumegirl during Mermaid Day Parade follow me and come say Hi! 

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48 Things You'll Only See in New York City

Today I received a message on Facebook from my friend Melissa saying "I THINK #36 IS YOU?!?!".
She actually found me on a list of 48 Things You'll Only See in New York City.
Yes, in fact that is me riding home from the Mermaid Day Parade in 2010 on the 7 train. I often ride public transit to or from costume parties and parades because I'm a New Yorker and that is what we do. Almost always on the 7 train nobody says a word to me, they just stare and take photos on their phones. Other trains are more friendly, asking where I am headed or actually asking to take my photo. I don't mind either way, I'm just trying to get to the party!

I love New York City and its oddballs and weirdos. Little did I know I would be permanently archived on Buzzfeed among the bizarre situations and people we see each day in this great Metropolis of ours. If you have been living in NYC for a while you will definitely notice these things then 4 seconds later totally forget and start wondering what bar you should go to happy hour for that night.
Also if you are a frequent attender of the cities many parades you will recognize #25 and #47. Number 25 is the dress wearing guy with the tie dyed poodle and parrot. He attends all events in New York City and I have to assume that is his only job. The guy who made #47 I cannot stand. He is always at the Mermaid Day Parade and freaks me the hell out. I am not going to attach their pictures to my blog because frankly I think they have gotten enough attention!

Anyway check out the list, especially if you are living in NYC. It's funny and has gotten a lot of views!

How to Dye a Synthetic Wig

Last night I set out on a wig dying experiment for my Mermaid Day costume. Thought I would share the results for those adventurous costumers out there who might want to try it themselves.

This all started when I read on CupcakeCosplay's twitter that a synthetic wig could be dyed using rubbing alcohol and Sharpies. I followed the tutorial from her site. This is what happened-

Materials:

WIG! Bright White will obviously work the best.

16oz bottle of rubbing alcohol - $1.99 CVS
I picked the 91% Isoporpyl Alcohol cause it was the highest percentage they had. I don't know if it made a difference, but I figured lets not eff around here and just start with the big guns.

HAND PROTECTION! Unless you want to spend the next 3 or 4 days looking like a Kindergartner learning to use markers. Also the rubbing alcohol while killing the germs will burn any cuts you have on your hands!

SHARPIES! 24 pack - $10 at Staples I used 7 pink Sharpies. Luckily the pack I bought happened to be a Breast Cancer awareness pack so it was loaded with pink markers. Bonus!

I recommend doing this project in your bathtub. I poured the rubbing alcohol into a plastic shoe storage bin (99 cents at Home Depot) because I couldn't find a bucket in my apartment. Open the windows in the bathroom or use a fan cause that rubbing alcohol stinks! Then I began the difficult process of removing the ink from the Sharpies. Borrowing a big pair of pliers from my roommate I pried off the pink plastic piece from the grey bottom piece by bending it back and forth while pulling it out. Twisting it definitely does not work. Once the plastic bottom is off you pull the ink well out of the marker. Toss the top piece into the alcohol cause there is some ink in there too.
Squeeze the ink spongey thing using two pairs of pliers or your gloved hands. I rolled it up like a toothpaste tube and it was pretty effective. I was trying to achieve a cotton candy pink color for my wig so I used 5 medium pink markers, 1 dark pink and 1 red.
Add the wig, pushing it down into the dye mixture and turning to get full coverage. Cupcake Cosplay recommends using a spray bottle to achieve full coverage but I really didn't want to breathe in any more rubbing alcohol than necessary. I flipped the wig over every half hour or so for about two hours then just let it sit there over night.


Oh and this is the time when I will mention clean up. Sharpie ink is very permanent. If it splashes on floors and tiles add water right away and try to wipe it off with a rag. Don't wait. But there is still a colorful haze to the tub!! Not to worry! Just get your trusty Comet cleanser out and your scrubby sponge and do some Cinderella work.



TADA!!
In the morning I gave it a rinse and set it out on a garbage bag to dry near a sunny window in my apartment. Looks like some of the dye stuck! I have big plans for this wig. Look for it in my Post Mermaid Day Parade posting!
Good luck!!
XOXO
KostumeGirl

Mermaid Day Parade 2010 Photos and Comments

What a beautiful day yesterday was! The sun was shining brilliantly and the mermaids, mermen, sailors, fish, anemone, octopi, and bubbles were out in force. Seriously I must have been double the people that were there last year!
I did my make up, wig and got dressed at home then walked to Queens Blvd to catch a cab. During my short walk I attracted much attention. A person even hung out their car window and yelled "I hope you win!", which made me feel pretty good.

After a longer than I would've liked cab ride due to traffic (Thank god for air conditioning) I arrived in Chinatown at the apartment of Melissa and Jonathan who graciously offered their place and their bagels for pre mermaid prep and drinks. There were some familiar Burning Man people there, Isa, Anastasia, Laura, but also some new people to meet. I learned some new costuming tricks too. I'm definitely buying a can of gold spray glitter. Always apply while standing in the shower. So, lots of body jewels and glitter later we were ready to hit the Q train. It was a cramped ride down the whole way. Finally we reached the Coney Island stop and cheered as we made a mass exodus down the ramp to Ocean Ave.

The parade was already underway and for a minute I was a little panicked that Kostume Kult had marched on with out us. We walked to the staging area on 21st street and saw Costume Jim dressed as a Pirate Toucan Sam. He looked amazing and the best part was the bottom part of his bill moved when he talked. He had build it onto a mouth guard that went over his bottom teeth. SO GREAT! The Kostume Kult had not left yet and we joined the general melee in the staging area which is the best place to get up close pictures and enjoy everyones creativity.

My friend Kristine found us too. Her Victorian Mermaid costume came out very well and we looked great together especially since we picked the same blue colored fabric. Kristine was with me the first year I did Mermaid Parade! The parade finally started moving right along and Kostume Kult was on its way. I recognized a few people from the meet ups and a few more from other events like ZombieCon. The parade route was packed. I seriously think the hot weather and new Luna Park or something caused record breaking numbers! We danced, posed and strutted our way down Ocean Avenue past the judges (where we waited for a while due to a bit of a pile up of parade marchers), then on to the board walk for more pictures and general pandemonium. I wish I had asked more people to take my email for their pictures. I had a TON of them taken and I'd love to see some of the professionals shots. So if you run across my blog and you know you took a photo to me, email me please!!



Photo Credit: Mari Lowery


Photo Credit: Pixielated PIxels

Mermaids Progress

I did a lot of work today on the revamp, recharge, and make way bettering of my Mermaid costume. Luckily since the organizing of the costume closet, it was easier than ever to find all the pieces!
So I collected all the parts and started on the new additions. First I went shopping at House of Spandex in midtown. Found some fun sparkly stuff and some fun net-like very oceanic stuff. Spent about $18 dollars there which was pretty good. Luckily the guy let me by a 1/2 yard of the expensive fabric because I smiled real big and batted my eyes. Anyway, I knew I had foam in the craft closet already so I set out trying to cover the foam with the sequined fabric. I cut the foam first and ran two wires on each side for more support. Also I left the length of wire long so maybe I could also use it to attach to other parts of the outfit. Spray adhesive to the flat areas, pins and hot glue to the edges & corners and TA-DA! Its a scalloped shell shaped Queen Elizabeth collar!
Finally I added the pearls for even more shell detail. Now how to attach it to the net cloak to that it remains standing??

Find out next time...

Mermaids Emerge from the Sea!

Mermaid Day Parade 2010 is June 19th @ 2pm.
Official Site

This event is special to me because my roommate and very dear friend Erin and I have been able to go together for the last 3 years in a row. Last year was the wettest year we've ever seen, but it didn't stop us from being in the parade! Erin and I were Victorian mermaids last year and it was a total success. Everyone said we would've won best costume if we had gotten there early enough to register. It was such a fun theme that we are going to keep it again this year and do bigger and better versions of our costumes from last year. I'm going to work on my wig/crown headpiece as the show stopper of this look. It must be much BIGGER! More feathers, more jewels, more, more, more. Cause as you should know the motto that Erin and I stick to when costuming is "MORE IS MORE!"