With Halloween coming up, I wanted to do a DIY for an easy costume. I love all things Percy Jackson, so I settled on doing a how-to for a Piper McLean outfit. (I titled this post “Cosplay” instead of “Costume,” because while my family doesn’t celebrate Halloween, I love doing cosplays.)
I’m basing the cosplay off this drawing by the lovely Viria. It’s pretty much exactly how I pictured Piper while reading the books.
I’ll start with the basic outfit, then move on to some accessories.
-The Outfit-
T-Shirt
A staple in any demigod’s wardrobe is, of course, an iconic Camp Half-Blood shirt. Either buy one from Amazon (I recommend this one) or make your own. One way to make one is by using a bleach pen. In the drawing, Piper’s shirt has “CHB” on it in white letters, which would be super easy to make using this bleach pen tutorial.
Pants
Denim shorts would be perfect, but if it’s cold in your area around Halloween, ripped jeans are also a great option.
Shoes
Converse or combat boots would look great.
-The Accessories-
Jacket
Piper seems like the kind of girl who would wear plaid, and she wears it in a lot of fanart. Layer an open plaid shirt over the CHB T-shirt.
Jewelry
A simple bracelet and/or earrings would go nicely with the outfit.
Feather Headband
This is the hardest part of the whole cosplay.
You will need:
- Feathers
- Acrylic paint (optional)
- String
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
First, we’re going to decorate the feathers. You can get them at a craft store, or find them outside (mine are from a mourning dove). I painted designs on two of my feathers with turquoise acrylic. You don’t have to decorate your feathers if you don’t want to.
Now we’ll make the actual headband. I didn’t measure my string, but it was long enough to wrap around my head, with about seven extra inches. I cut nine pieces of string because it was really thin. If yours is thicker (like yarn), you don’t have to cut that many.
Braid it until you can wrap it around your head.
Then tie both ends together. Do not cut off the rest of the string.
Separate the remaining string into three equal parts. You will be using the string to attach the feathers to the headband.
Weave three single braids out of the string, making them various lengths so the feathers don’t end up in a straight line.
Take a feather and wrap the end of a braid tightly around the shaft. Tie a knot, and then cover it with hot glue to ensure that it stays on. Repeat with the other two feathers.
It’s done!
Hair
Based on Viria’s drawing, I came up with this hairstyle:
Pull back two sections from either side of your head and secure in the back with a hairband. Make two thin braids, one behind each ear.
Put on your feather headband for the final touch.
You’re done!
I’ve got to say, I look very good as Piper. ;)
Sorry for the low quality picture. It’s dark now, so I can’t take a better photo outside.
What’s your Halloween costume? Have you ever cosplayed?
WOW! Your cosplay outfit is amazing! You look great as Piper. I’ve only read a little bit of one of the Heroes of Olympus (I think that’s what it’s called :P ) books, and it was the first one with Piper in it, and I actually imagined her to look a lot like this! You did a fabulous job with the entire thing!
•Madison•
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My family doesn’t celebrate Halloween either, but this is really cool! :D
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*phone starts making a sound*
LOREN POSTED GOTTA DROP EVERYTHING AND READ IT
Love your costume, by the way – I’m being a French person for Halloween. My French teacher would be proud 😛
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“LOREN POSTED GOTTA DROP EVERYTHING AND READ IT”
Same. 😄
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Yup. ;)
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:P 😄
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I love the costume, I don’t read percy jackson but I saw some pictures and it looks great. Are you being Piper Mclean for halloween? I am being a devil.
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That’s so accurate! My whole family did PJ last year (we don’t really like Halloween either, but we like to go Trick-or-Treating) and I was Annabeth. My costume was simple and was pretty accurate (my dad had a Yankees cap) but the rest of them weren’t as much. :\
Anyhow, thanks for sharing! :D
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I’m going to be Tris from the Divergent series!
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Awesome!
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Cospalying sounds fun! I don’t dress up for Halloween much – generally I just put creepy face paint on. ;)
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Nice! though I’m a weirdo and I don’t picture half the characters like they’re supposed to be, Piper included. :P I was Elsa, and my dress is very pretty in my opinion. :P
http://hiddenhollowagcrafts.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-fall-festival-my-familys.html
Most crazily, ~Olive
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Cool! That makes a really good Piper. We don’t celebrate Halloween either, but my church has a “Fall festival” for younger kids which us older teens from the youth group help out with. That means I’m bracing an oversized hat and slightly uncomfortable bandanna and going as a cowgirl. #struggles 😂
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Exactly. Story of my life. :P
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I love it! The feather head band is awesome. ;)
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😍😍😍😍👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽excellent!
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Awesome!! It looks so cute! I’m going as Malificent for Halloween from Sleeping Beauty also my co-op is doing a dress up as a book character.. so I found an adorable unicorn onsie thang.. so I’m going as Silveny!! KOTLC!! xD ;)
-Geeky_Girl <3
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If I wasn’t being a gold pirate, I’d be this.
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See, my family doesn’t do halloween like scary stuff, but our church has a thing every year and I like making cosplays so…
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That’s so cool! I love the feathers. :D
I’m being Biana Vacker from KOTLC. :)
-Clara <3
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Thanks!
Ooh, that’s awesome! You should post pictures of your costume!
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Maybe I will! :D I’m actually wearing it right now since we’re about to leave for a party. I’ll try to get some pics! :)
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I’m making the corpse bride costume, let’s hope I’m over this cold by Saturday for the party. 😪
I love your costume especially the feathered head band.
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Fun! ;) But I don’t celebrate Halloween either.
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I’m gonna be Piper Mclean! Thank you!
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