Completed: August 2023
Hours Spent: 25-30-ish overall
Debuted: Colossalcon Texas 2023
Why This Costume: As I mentioned in my swim Marianne post, Fire Emblem Heroes is a danger zone. Swim Rhea is one of my favorite designs, and I was so excited to finally have an excuse to wear her to a fun event!
Purchased Pieces:
- Sandals: Amazon
- Resin and shoe accessories: Dangerous Ladies
Patterns Used:
- Madalynne Intimates Fenix Bodysuit
Super Helpful Tutorials:
How I Made it:
Again, this outfit was a bit more labor intensive than I expected, but it was lots of fun! I worked on this build in bursts when I knew I’d be heading to a body of water, but never quite got around to finishing until Colossalcon Texas.
As you might have noticed, I swapped Rhea’s bikini for a one-piece that still fit the vibe of her beach outfit. This was personal preference to better suit my comfort. Madalynne’s Fenix suit seemed like a perfect solution, and it’s super easy to modify for swimwear, as Maddie outlines on her blog.
The swoopy bits are all chiffon that was draped on me once I finished the swimsuit. This took two tries. With my first go, I didn’t give myself enough volume on the side pieces. I rectified that with my second attempt. After figuring out the pattern, I finished the hems with rolled hems on my serger and dip-dyed the bottom portions with RIT DyeMore in Tropical Teal.
I had purchased Sothis’s regalia kit from The Dangerous Ladies a while back for another Byleth costume, so I pulled the appropriate pieces for Rhea from that set. I wanted to make sure my swimsuit was functional as a standalone swimsuit, so all of my attachments are spin clips or other methods that don’t leave anything on the base suit (like snaps).
The belt piece was a bit fussy. It’s a strip of gold spandex that’s a close(ish) match for the cold-casted resin pieces. I sandwiched some quilt batting between the layers to give it a little bit of puff. It’s held in place with spin clips and a hook and eye at the center front. I may sew some plastic snaps on to this piece at some point so that it stays up better. But for now, this works.
Thoughts on this costume:
This was such a fun outfit to wear! It’s a lot of pieces for another silly drinking outfit, but I feel so pretty as Rhea. One day I may make another chiffon skirt cover for more summer/waterpark style conventions.
Thanks to Fauna Cosplay for snapping the waterpark photos!
The Geeky Seamstress 