Summer Lace

Oct 31, 20192 min read

DIY Leeloo Orange Suspenders Cosplay - From The Fifth Element

Updated: 7 days ago

Most people answer "Oh, that white strappy suit?" when I ask them if they remember Leeloo's outfit from the 1997 cult classic, The Fifth Element. They seem to forget the outfit that she wears for most of the movie... orange unitard suspenders, striped gold pants, white cropped top, and lest we forget — a MultiPass! This is the costume I remembered most from the film because I was immediately inspired to try to recreate this look.

So this Halloween, I decided to be Leeloo. When I looked online, I found that the available costumes looked pretty bad or were insanely expensive and out of my price range. So I decided to take a few weeknights to put together my own Leeloo costume, and make my own Leeloo suspenders!

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Where to buy the elements of my Leeloo cosplay costume
How to make your own Leeloo suspenders

Here is the final look:

(photos by Angela Mia Photography)

leeloo dallas cosplay DIY costume — Leeloo Dallas Costume - DIY Fifth Element Cosplay

Leeloo cosplay costume and wig from Fifth Element — Leeloo wig and Multi Pass

Where you can buy the elements of my costume:

White cropped shirt:

Gold Leggings:

I used black fabric paint to draw on the horizontal and vertical lines.

Leeloo Orange Wig:

I cut the bangs a little shorter and choppier.

Leeloo Dallas Boots:

MultiPass:

Orange Duct Tape:

How I made the Leeloo orange suspenders:

I started making these suspenders by looking at what other cosplayers have done, specifically from this article. I didn't want to print a template — mostly because it may not fit my body dimensions anyway, so I started from scratch. I took a handful of thick cardstock papers and got started. I held the paper up to my body, starting from my shoulders, and started to trace a general outline of what the suspenders would look like, drawing from a photo for inspiration. I then cut it out and held it to my body to ensure that it fit. Once that looked good, I would trace this cutout and cut out a replica of it, for the other side of the suspenders. I did this all down the Leeloo suspenders. Throughout all of this, I constantly held the skeleton of these suspenders to my body to make sure I was on the right track. I needed to make a few edits as I went along, but it generally kept pretty straight.
Next, I covered the paper skeleton with orange duct tape. I made sure that I determined which side of the template was going to be facing inward, and folded the extra ductape around the sides of the suspenders, so hair or other things won't get caught on the sticky duct tape ends.
Then, I placed the duct tape-covered suspenders over my body and measured what width and space I'd need in the crotch in order for it to not be too tight or uncomfortable. I cut the area a little narrow and reinforced it with more duct tape.
Lastly, I used an Exacto blade to cut out each circle in the suspenders, referencing an image for their placement. (Pro tip: watching the movie Mamma Mia during this part make it extra fun, just take my word for it.)