Originally from Los Angeles, Maegan Tintari has been sharing her style secrets on her blog, Love Maegan. With Halloween only weeks away, now is the best time to create a unique costume of your own. DC Comics fans, look towards Maegan’s detailed DIY Harley Quinn costume for inspiration this year. With this tutorial, comic books enthusiasts can create a customized harness that’s perfect for any Harley Quinn costume. Pucker up, pudding, because it’s time to play!
For materials, you’ll need black faux leather fabric, red ribbon about one and a half inches wide, including a wire edge, velcro, a hot glue gun, scissors, eight O-Rings and fun extras like studs or spikes. First, you’ll need to cut out strips in about 1/14″ dimension, using your faux leather fabric, then use the hot glue to attach to the ribbons. For this project, Maegan used about eight strips. Next, you’ll want to create a belt with some of your straps. Be sure to attach the velcro pieces to each end in order to secure in place.
The next step is to take two strips and make the chest harness portion of your garment. Ask a friend or family member to help you with the measuring process. You’ll want to make sure these straps are comfortable before continuing. Next, create an X shape with the straps on the back portion of the harness, and cut off any remaining fabric.
The next phase will begin working on the choker. Measure the intended size by wrapping one of the strips around your neck, mark where appropriate, and then remove some of the leather away from the ribbon. You’ll need to fit an O-Ring through the ribbon to create a secure closure. Next, take two more straps, and place them onto the harness arm straps. These straps will eventually connect to the O-Ring choker at the center.
Trim any extra leather fabric, and repeat this process with the O-Rings for the chest straps. For the finishing touch, try adding studs, rivets or jewels for some edgy extras. For her project, Maegan opted for some shiny jeweled rhinestones, but we think that this project will look equally cool with studs or spikes as well!
When paired with her super cool Harley Quinn Arkham Knight costume, the harness looks totally eye-catching and chic! Feel free to experiment with this DIY and alter the design to fit your personal style. The best part about Halloween is being able to show off your creativity.
You’ll stand out from all the rest with this seriously fierce leather harness. With a style this cool, you won’t want to save it only for Halloween. Wear to a comic book convention, themed party, or an upcoming DC Extended Universe movie for bonus style points!
Ready to get started? For this project, you’ll want to look through our selection of faux leather fabric, studs, and spikes, here at MJTrends.
Written by Jade Nicolette
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I liked how Maegan breaks down the harness into simple steps, especially using eight faux leather strips glued onto ribbon for structure. The X-back detail sounds like it really sells the Harley Quinn look.
I appreciate that she included options like studs, spikes, or rhinestones at the end. The jeweled version sounds fun, but I’d definitely go for spikes to lean into the edgy Harley aesthetic.
The tip about using wire-edge ribbon under the faux leather is clever, since it probably helps the harness keep its shape. I hadn’t thought about adding velcro to make it adjustable.
Cutting the strips to about 1/14 inch seems tedious, but it makes sense for that layered effect. The suggestion to get help measuring the chest straps is also a good call.
What stood out to me was connecting the arm straps to the O-ring choker for that cohesive design. It ties the whole harness together and gives it that Arkham Knight vibe.
The step about removing some leather from the ribbon to fit the O-ring was something I wouldn’t have figured out on my own. Little details like that make the tutorial actually usable.
I like that the article encourages wearing the harness beyond Halloween, like to conventions or DC movie premieres. It makes the project feel more worthwhile than a one-night costume piece.
Making the belt first and then building the chest harness off it seems like a smart order of operations. It probably helps keep everything aligned when you start adding the upper straps.