I have loved Wendy Darling since I was a toddler- although, truth be told, I discovered her first through the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan. After that came the book, then the live action movie, then the Cathy Rigby version of Peter Pan (which I actually saw live when I was eighteen, and I bawled the whole time), and then the Disney Peter Pan. And all that being said, I adore Wendy. She’s one of my favorite literary characters of all time.

I had wanted to cosplay as Wendy for literally years, and I finally bit the bullet for Akaicon in 2016. I just knew that I wanted a very specific look- I wanted a full circle skirt, I didn’t want a back closure, I wanted puff sleeves without a cuff, and I wanted a lightweight cotton.

But of course I started with bloomers. And of course I trimmed the bloomers with eyelet, because that’s who I am as a person.

I heavily adapted the bodice of Simplicity 1873, making it a wide boatneck, eliminating the darts in favor of gathering the front of the bodice, and making it one solid piece in the back instead of a closure. I wasn’t fully happy with the fit, but it looked nice.

Luckily Simplicity 1873 had the perfect sleeve pattern. The sleeve is pleated at the hem and fully lined, so it doesn’t need a cuff or elastic. The puff sleeve is also very small and delicate like this, which I think is more Wendyish.

I cut the skirt as a full circle. If you watch the movie, you can see that there’s a lot of fullness in the skirt, and too often (even in the parks) her dress is cut as plain, slightly gathered panels. I wanted the fullness, so full circle it was.

Photo from SPN Creatives

My friend Amber made my bow, and I got an acorn kiss necklace from a site called Whosits and Whatsits!

The first time I wore the costume, I styled my own hair and…it wasn’t great. Wendy has a very specific hairstyle but I couldn’t afford a $100+ wig at the time. So it was okay, but it could have been better.

The second time I wore it was for Not So Scary with my family in 2018. This time I wore a long soft tulle skirt underneath for a little extra coverage (the cotton is so thin you could see the waistband of my bloomers!) and I incorporated my short hair extensions, affectionately nicknamed the Honey Badger.

The first time I wore black ballet flats from the kids section of Target, but for Not So Scary I wore white lacy ankle socks and my black Capezio character shoes, and once it got dark I switched the heels for black converses. So much more comfortable!

I do plan on remaking this costume. I’d like to make the bodice more fitted to suit my body type, and maybe with pearl buttons on the back. But I’ll definitely use the same sleeve pattern and the circle skirt again.