How to make a Kaylee Frye Firefly Costume

Halloween is my favorite holiday, I love costume parties, and now that I'm the book programming coordinator for Geek Media Expo, I'm going to have more reasons to dress up. Even though I don't have any interest in anime, I was so excited about going to our sister convention, the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention, and spending the day people watching and trying out new games in the analog game room. Ever since Keith introduced me to Firefly, I've adored Kaylee Frye. So dressing up as the cutest mechanic in the universe made it even better--and Keith dressed up as Kaylee's crush, super-serious Dr. Simon Tam! Aww.

It's a common convention costume, so I started by gathering pictures of Kaylee and researching how other Kaylee cosplayers made their costumes. Some people are perfectionists, spending hours tracking down the exact pattern of her shirt. Their attention to detail is impressive, but that would drive me crazy! I wanted to be recognized as Kaylee, but Kaylee is so relaxed and resourceful that a too-perfect approach felt wrong. As I worked, I asked What would Kaylee do? When I told Keith this, he groaned: "I'm Simon. That means I have to be a perfectionist." HA!

Pyramid Head looks so cute holding my parasol.

I had so much fun, we found a really great new game, and we must have been wearing good costumes, because so many people asked to take our picture. The costume was perfect because it was SO COMFY, I felt cute and smiley all day, it cost less than $50, and the parasol made it easy for friends to find me in a crowd. I definitely recommend dressing up as Kaylee, especially if you feel silly dressing up as a sexy so-and-so.

If you want to dress up as Kaylee, here's how:

You'll need:

pink and purple flowered long-sleeve shirt
sleeveless green coveralls
teddy bear patch (on left thigh)

blue flower patch (on the waist, left of center)

red heart patch (on right pocket)
needle and thread

flip-flops OR work boots
black spray paint
black Sharpie marker
coarse sandpaper

Optional

 white spray paint
brown acrylic paint and paintbrush
paper parasol
blue Asian jacket
light brown wig

I started at Friedman's Army Navy Surplus in Hillsboro Village. The staff were extremely helpful, and they helped me find the perfect pair of coveralls for $39.99--except they were beige. So I spent twenty minutes on my balcony stirring the coveralls around in a huge steaming bucket of green Rit dye ($2.49). I looked like a creepy witch, and I carefully avoided contact with all my cute neighbors who walked past. That sealed the deal--I was committed to this costume! Next I chopped off the sleeves. New-looking coveralls were all wrong, so I used sandpaper to rough up the texture.

The heart and flower patches were $1.25 apiece on eBay, but Kaylee's teddy bear patch was $6.00 plus shipping. I thought that was too expensive, so I used the fabric from the sleeves and made my own patch. After I sewed on the three patches, I used black and white spray paint to put "stains" and "burns" on my coveralls. The more roughed-up this costume looks, the better! Finally, I used a black Sharpie to write Chinese characters on the left pocket.

I studied the colors and patterns on Kaylee's shirts, and bought the closest match I could find at Goodwill on half off day for $1.99. I chose to wear my brown flip-flops instead of work boots. Chinese-style platform flip-flops would've been more accurate, but I didn't want to buy new shoes for the costume. I owned a purple paper parasol already, so I carried that, even though it would have been more accurate to paint red, yellow, and green swirls on a white parasol. But I didn't want to obsess too much, and besides, my purple parasol matched my shirt. I decided to go without the blue Chinese jacket because it's already unseasonably warm in Nashville.

My hair is darker than Kaylee's, but the cut is right, and I didn't want to buy a wig. So on the day of the convention, I parted my hair in the center and used a curling iron to add a bouncy shape to the ends of my hair. Kaylee's makeup is simple: I used lots of pink blush on the apples of my cheeks, shiny nude lip gloss, subtle beige and brown eyeshadow, and curled my lashes before applying mascara. And then--the best part--I smeared black eyeshadow on the sides of my cheeks to make "grease" marks, as if I'd wiped the back of my hand on my cheek. I absolutely loved the result! I felt cute, casual, and so comfortable.

For more resources, check out Maggie's Costume Site, which lists sources for each item, and this detailed costume guide.