Going from Princess to Mermaid!

[Aquarianne]

Hi all!

Just wanted to introduce myself...I'm a professional party princess working on the east coast in the PA/NJ area. I've always liked mermaids and I do use a lot of mermaid themes in my artwork, but I never gave mermaiding much thought until the owner of my princess company said last year that she'd like to add mermaids to the lineup of character rentals. I promised her I'd do some research on it (so of course I came straight here and read all of Raina's stuff, and the tailmaking section, and the EVERYTHING SECTIONS BECAUSE OMG THERE IS SO MUCH STUFF HERE!). The closest I've come to professional mermaiding before this was just a quick fabric tail, sewn in about 3 hours, and a plastic shell top made of a blister pack and some doodads, to accommodate an outdoor party where I didn't want to get my "mermaid princess" (generic Ariel) costume dress dirty on the muddy ground and in the little kiddy pool the kids wanted me to sit in.

22274

22275

I have experience in casting and molding in latex and silicone, so I think I have enough skills to attempt my own work-tail. I got a Finis Rapid and I'm starting the Y soon to learn the monofin. I'm a good swimmer, or used to be, before a car accident. I'm actually using this partially as an excuse to swim and rehabilitate my back over the winter, which I think will really help!

Right now, I'm just figuring out the physical demands of the biz and will work this winter to strengthen my back and get good on the monofin, then add in a custom tail to adjust to that. In the spring, I'll sit down with my boss and we'll discuss possible venues, insurance needs, all that. It will be an exciting time! I'll still be princessing, but hopefully I'll be mermaiding as well!

But most importantly, I'm looking forward to all the FUN here on the board! Everyone here seems so rad (I've been lurking a while before registering) and it seems a lot like the princess business...lots of fabulous ladies (and princes!) with an awesome support network and positive attitudes. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

<3

PS I mentioned in the naming thread, but I chose Aquarianne as my mermaid name because a) we can't use Ariel on our job, no matter how much the customers beg...I'll just have to be Princess Aquarianne, a distant friend of Ariel's; and b) I always loved the mermaid Aquarianne from the old Gummi Bears cartoon when I was a kid! And it sounds like my mom's name. But does it sounds too silly or nerdy, you guys? If I'm going to use it as my performing name, I want it to be right. Everyone here has really pretty, flowy names, and I'm not sure if Aquarianne is kinda clunky. I don't want to get too attached to it now, only to have to change it later. Advice would be most appreciated! :3

And yes Raina, I will be buying your book. Every time I attempt something new, I look first to see if there's a book about it. So very Twilight Sparkle XD

EDIT: And by will be buying, I mean just bought. Woop woop!

[Mermaid Ellowyn]

Welcome! You make a lovely princess, and I bet you'll make a lovely mermaid as well :) I love how into researching you are -- you seem like you know the answers, and if you don't, you know where to go to find them (a fintastic skill to have!). And I think Aquarianne is charming! It doesn't sound "clunky" to me at all, and it sounds like a mermaid version of a human name (like Mary-anne or something). Anyway, welcome to the boards!

[AniaR]

Haha welcome and thanks for buying my book

[Rivertee]

Welcome to the pods

[Aquarianne]

thanks all! :D <3 <3

[Chrissy]

Hello and welcome!!! You are a beautiful Ariel!!!

[XMermaidMarinaX]

Welcome :)

[Aquarianne]

Thanks guys! Haha yeah, Ariels really not one I play often, I mostly do Cindy, Belle, Rapunzel and Snow. Like I said, I threw this outfit and tail together the night before, but it was good enough for what I needed! XD But I'd rather let the other girls play Ariel. Her wig bugs me to wear.

[Blaze]

And yes Raina, I will be buying your book. Every time I attempt something new, I look first to see if there's a book about it. So very Twilight Sparkle XD!

Aaaaaand now we're friends because you just made a MLP reference! ;D Welcome to the board!

[Seatan]

I like the name Aquarianne--it's very cute! Welcome to Mernetwork and the wonderful world of mermaiding!

[Aquarianne]

Aaaaaand now we're friends because you just made a MLP reference! ;D Welcome to the board!

LOL! What's up Blaze! RARITY IS MY JAM.

Thanks Sevanna! Ha, it's like our names are pretty thematically close already! Maryanne and Savannah, Aquarianne and Seavanna. That's rad!

[Blaze]

LOL! What's up Blaze! RARITY IS MY JAM.

GURL. BFFs now.

Me as 'Show Pony Rarity'
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5593/14598758385_ffacb63051_c.jpg


The 'Show Pony' group :D (This was the debut in September 2012; the above pic was taken in March 2014)
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8321/7973776894_57a444623a_c.jpg

[Aquarianne]

OMG!!! YOU ARE SO FAB!!! And totally so Rarity!! And OMG how much I love your Photo Finish in the second pic! XD

Me as Rarity in grand Galloping Gala, along with our little GGG group:

22329
22330

And later I did Twilight's dress for SDCC:

22331

*BROHOOF*

[Blaze]

HAH! I totally have seen your cosplays! :D I love when worlds collide!

[Aquarianne]

Lol no way! XD *cosplay high five*

[MermaidMichelle]

Aquaria you are amazing at cosplay work and beautiful! I'm a Celestia girl myself (my first name is Tia...lol). I have known a couple of pro-princesses and know that it is at times challenging but very rewarding work. Any plans to add Anna or Elsa to your repertoire?

Aquarianne is a really cool name; you're a Disney mermaid without too much infringement! She was my favourite Disney Afternoon character back in 1990, even if she only appeared in one short episode! Do you ever visit the Disney wiki? I'm KatnissEverqueen on there; in February of this year I created the Aquarianne page!

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Aquarianne - There you go; I wrote quite a bit about you! :mermaid kiss:

[Aquarianne]

OMG, I totally used your wiki page when I was researching her! I was sure a mermaid must've written it, because it was so thorough XD I was really glad she had such a comprehensive page for such a small character, because I really liked her as a kid, and I was totally expecting just a "this character appeared in this episode, she is a mermaid" stub of an article. :3 Awesome job!

Edit: we have Anna and Elsa (or as we have to call them, The Snow Queen and Her Sister), that get booked REALLY frequently, cuz the movie is so popular. I don't play them much, I let the younger princesses play them because they live closer to the central changing station, where those costumes are kept. I prefer to use my own costumes for gigs, which I keep at home, and I haven't made an Anna or Elsa costume for myself yet XD I keep saying I will, but I'm mad busy, and other characters get enough bookings that I really don't need to make those costumes in order to get more work. :3 But maybe someday I will make an Elsa!

[Josephine Boone]

Welcome! You did a fintastic job on that mermaid outfit in just a few hours...you DO have mad skillz yo! :) How did you make the blister pack based top?

[Aquarianne]

Thanks so much! :D The top was a last-second thing, like the tail. My roommate had bought something (some kind of padded sports bra, I think?) that came in a blister pack, which was vaguely shell shaped (well, it had two bra cups that had some lines on it, but close enough!). I asked her if I could keep it and I threw it in my office/sewing room for a few months, then remembered it for this. I cut it out, doing a little scalloped edge to the sides, then sprayed the cups purple, then hot-glued them to an old throwaway strapless bra and sewed some leftover purple chiffon over the bra base to hide it. You could still see part of the bra between the shells, so I spraypainted a random craft flower and glued it between them to hide that. Kinda wished I had shells at the time, but only had flowers. :\

Then I added two chiffon ties to the fronts to tie around my neck. Here's a pic...ignore the purple ribbon around the dummy neck, that's from something else.

22336


I also dotted some gold fabric paint on the shell and fabric, but most of it washed off in the kiddie pool, so it's gone in this pic :3 But it lasted as long as I needed it, and the kids were amazed that the mermaid was making the water sparkly and magical, just by sitting in it! XD

If I'd had time, I woulda gone nuts with fake pearls and beads, as is my wont. But it was just something I needed to do in like 2 hours, and it took forever for the cups to dry. I'm just really lucky I had purple plastic spray paint left over from doing another prop, cuz it was like 11 PM and the stores were closed XD

[Aquarianne]

To be clear, the reason I had to make this so last-second is because we don't do parties with water and pools involved, even kiddie pools. All of our princess costumes are designed for dry parties only, and if i had to walk around a muddy backyard dodging water guns, my dress was gonna get WRECKED. This is what I usually wear for Ariel:

22337

Yeah, not letting that NEAR any mud! XD Takes forever to clean. So since this was for a friend's party and was a one-time thing, that's why I made the tail version. But it was so much fun, I'm really anxious to make a new, swimmable tail!!! XD

[Mizuko]

Hi Aquarianne! :D Welcome to the forums! ^_^ Its nice to meet another princess performer! :D I usually play Ariel (mermaid version) and Anna, haha!
I love your cosplays!! I'm currently sewing Ariel's pink gown, its been a big learning curve!

[Aquarianne]

Wooo hey Mizuko! Fellow princess high-five!!

I hope you'll post up the dress when you're finished, I'd like to see it! <3

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I'm a party-princess to (here in Belgium), I have Snowwhite, Belle (golden dress), Ariel (golden mermaid), Ariel (Kiss the Girl), Jasmine, Athena (Ariel's mother) and going to make Elsa (ice-queen).

[Aquarianne]

I'm a party-princess to (here in Belgium), I have Snowwhite, Belle (golden dress), Ariel (golden mermaid), Ariel (Kiss the Girl), Jasmine, Athena (Ariel's mother) and going to make Elsa (ice-queen).

That's so cool! I'd love to interview you for my party princess blog sometime, if you'd have a moment! :)

[Mermaid Fenicia]

That's ok for me, you can add me to facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mermaidfenicia) and also to Skype (xenahercfanbe@hotmail.com) if you like ;)

[MermaidMichelle]

OMG, I totally used your wiki page when I was researching her! I was sure a mermaid must've written it, because it was so thorough XD I was really glad she had such a comprehensive page for such a small character, because I really liked her as a kid, and I was totally expecting just a "this character appeared in this episode, she is a mermaid" stub of an article. :3 Awesome job!

Merci beaucoup and arigatou gozaimashou! :mermaid kiss: At the Disney Wiki we like to list the (small) number of articles we create, and with mine I like to flesh them out as much as possible. I do that with stubs to when I can; for example I wrote the entire personality section on Madison from Splash! and contributed every photo in her gallery. My articles are Aquarianne, Marina from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the dinglehopper, Sword of Truth, Shield of Virtue, and Joan of Arc, so it's all about mermaids and chivalry for me...lol

I would have replied sooner, but I've been very busy today and yesterday with media appearances to promote my new book, Why God Doesn't Hate You. In fact, I'll probably start a thread about that in the Gay/Lesbian/Transgender issues section of the forum shortly....