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Dressing in Mulan’s Original Clothing
Wear an off-white dress, or camisole and skirt. Mulan’s original outfit has a floor-length, cream-colored skirt, and a hint of whitish fabric showing underneath her top. There are two ways you can achieve this look. If you can find a long, off-white dress with a square or boat neckline, you can wear that underneath your costume. Alternately, you can wear a floor-length off-white skirt and a camisole. The camisole should have a neckline that reaches about up to your collarbone. Look for a dress or skirt in your closet, online or at a second-hand store. If you like to sew, you can make the skirt.
Get a light green top with long, wide sleeves. Preferably, the body of the shirt will be more fitted than the sleeves. You’ll be adding another layer of clothing over your torso, so you don’t want the green top to be bulky. Look for a light apple green color.
Make Mulan’s top outer garment. If you can find a tank top or short dress with a royal blue body and thick teal straps, that would be ideal. You’ll be more likely to find a close match by shopping online. However, that’s quite a specific look to track down, so you may want to improvise instead. To recreate this garment, get a strapless tube top or dress that reaches about hip-length. The length can be a little longer or shorter – it doesn’t have to be exact. Wear a turquoise tank top with wide straps underneath it, or sew wide teal ribbon straps onto the strapless piece. This piece should go around your torso as a middle piece rather than being worn like a regular tank top.
Add a mauve sash. You can use a long piece of fabric, a sash or a scarf. Keep wrapping it around your waist until there’s a bit of fabric left hanging in the back. Tuck that fabric underneath and secure it with a concealed safety pin.
Carry a stuffed toy dog. Little Brother is Mulan’s small beige dog with dark brown spots, long ears, and a black nose. He wears a blue collar. If the toy dog you’re using doesn’t come with a blue collar, use a blue ribbon around its neck. There are a few ways you can incorporate Little Brother into your costume. Simply carry the stuffed toy around with you. Have the toy dog peeking out of your purse or tote bag, if you’re bringing one. Attach it to your costume. You can sew it to the front of your dress with a simple stitch.
Wear simple, flat shoes. Mulan’s skirt is floor-length in this look and covers her feet. Opt for whatever comfortable, neutral flats you like. Avoid wearing heels as they might show underneath your bottom hem.
Get a long, black wig in a low, knotted ponytail. Look for a wig with a center part and without bangs. Put the wig on. Arrange the hair in a low ponytail with a hair elastic. Then take a small piece of hair and wrap it around the ponytail at the base. Pull at the elastic underneath the ponytail and slide the section of hair through the gap. Secure it with a bobby pin. You may want to wear a wig cap and secure the wig with bobby pins and/or wig adhesive tape.
Wearing Mulan’s Hanfu Outfit
Get a pink robe. This will be the main part of the costume that you will layer the other pieces over. It’s okay if the robe has pockets, because you can cover the pockets up later with another fabric.
Find a navy blue fabric. If you can find a wide scarf or shawl, that will work. You could also use a long tube top or a short strapless dress. Otherwise you can purchase some dark blue fabric. The piece should be able to wrap completely around you from front to back, and span from your bust to your thighs. Try the piece on or hold it up to you to make sure it will be long and wide enough. If the piece is loose fabric or a scarf, have someone help you pin it closed on the back when you put your costume on. Alternately, you can apply Velcro to the piece so that you can put it on yourself.
Use a red fabric, belt or sash. If you’re buying fabric, make sure you have enough to wrap around your waist at least once. This should go around the smallest part of your waist. You should also ensure that you have a little bit left over so that you can use it for your hairstyle.
Get a soft purple scarf and a green necklace. Ideally, the purple scarf will be a light, sheer lavender fabric. It should be long enough to hold in the crooks of your arms like a shawl. You can buy a simple green beaded necklace or make your own. You can make your own necklace using craft supplies and the following tutorial: https://family.disney.com/craft/mulans-jade-necklace/
Style your hair in a topknot with a flower. You can use a fake magnolia blossom, cherry blossom, or similar artificial flower from a craft store. Cut the stem down with wire cutters so that there is a just a few inches of stem. Stick the flower in the side of your topknot by the stem. Then wrap your extra piece of red fabric around your topknot and the stem of the flower. If you’ve cut the stem with wire cutters, you may want to bend the cut tip or file it a bit so it doesn’t poke into your head. Secure it all in place with clips or bobby pins.
Wear gold drop earrings. Mulan wears round gold earrings with dangling teardrop beads. You can look for similar earrings online or at a local store that carries costume jewelry. eBay is a great place to find unique, vintage, and even clip-on earring styles.
Wear strong makeup. When Mulan wears her hanfu look to visit the Matchmaker, she has dark purple eyeshadow. Her cheeks have pink blush. She also wears a dark berry-colored lipstick.
Dressing in Mulan’s Heroine Outfit
Start with a light blue shirt. Make sure it isn't too dark since Mulan's was a soft blue. Also, you want it to stand out against the darker blue piece you’ll be layering over it. Use a long-sleeved blouse with peasant sleeves if you can find one. Peasant sleeves are puffed and wide, but end in a band of fitted trim at the wrists.
Add a light-colored skirt. Choose a skirt that is ankle-length to floor-length. The color should be somewhere between white and powder blue, at least a shade lighter than your shirt. Look for an A-line or mermaid skirt so that it has some flare to the bottom.
Layer on the outer dress. Look for a dark blue dress that is about knee-length, with short, angled sleeves, such as exaggerated cap sleeves or short kimono sleeves. Alternately, you can get a sleeveless dark blue robe (preferably without pockets), or cut the sleeves off a robe yourself.
Add a mauve sash. Your sash should be at least two yards long; if you can’t make a sash or buy one, get the same length in an extra wide ribbon. Hang it around the back of your neck, as if you were about to put on a necktie, but so that both ends of fabric hang evenly in front of you. Cross the fabric once at your navel, and then wrap it around your waist and back to the front. Continue wrapping the mauve sash around your waist until there is just a bit of it left, then tuck the bits in and pin them. The wrap of the sash around your waist should cover where the fabric crosses in the front, so that it looks like it comes to a “V” rather than an “X.” Use a safety pin to secure the fabric from the inside.
Overlay a pink ribbon or sash. Place it over the top of the mauve one around your waist. At the left front of your waist, loop the fabric over itself as if you’re about to make a simple knot. Instead of crossing it again to finish off the knot, arrange the two straps so that they’re hanging on top of each other. Use a safety pin concealed inside the pink sash to hold the waist belt and straps in place.
Choose shoes and hosiery. Mulan wears dark gray flats with rounded toes, but you could get away with navy blue or black flats. Wear pantyhose, tights or knee highs in any shade from nude to white.
Wear a long necklace with a large gold medallion. How elaborate you want to get with this detail is up to you. You have multiple options. You can wear any type of large gold medallion on a chain necklace or a long gold ribbon. Or you can recreate Mulan’s Crest of the Emperor medallion in a simple or a complex way. To make a simple medallion, cut out a circle from foam board or cardboard. Draw the dragon on in pencil, and then color it in with bronze and gold metallic paint markers. Punch a hole in it at the top, and attach it to a long chain necklace with gold ribbon. You can also use a hot glue gun to attach gold ribbon around the edge of the medallion. To make a complex medallion, you can use worbla over craft foam, wood, or clay, and paint the finished product.
Get or make a prop sword. Mulan carries the sword of Shan Yu with this outfit. The length of the sword is from the top of her head to about midway between her hips and knees. The sword has a wavy blade and a tip like the head of an arrow. You can look for a prop sword to buy online or at costume shops. To make your own prop sword, make a template out of foam board. Make the sword’s handle with an armature of toilet paper rolls and masking tape. Cover the full creation with papier-mâché paste and strips of newspaper. Once that dries, you can paint it with acrylic paints. Optionally, you can wrap the middle of the sword with brown paper or beige fabric and tie it with a burgundy string, the way Mulan presented it to the Emperor. If you add another loop of string to the knot that is long enough to wear like a sling over your head and one shoulder, you won’t have to carry it around loose.
Get a gold fan. Mulan has a fan that saves her from a wielded sword! It’s a gold-colored fan with black trim. You can buy a fan and spray paint it gold, or make your own fan from scratch.
Wear a short black wig. If you can’t go to a wig store in person, you’ll probably need to measure your head in order to buy one online. Mulan’s hair is parted down the middle, so opt for a lace front wig if you want to look realistic. Mulan wears wispy bangs with this look. You can buy a wig that way, or trim the bangs on the wig.
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