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Edwina Monsoon from “Absolutely Fabulous”

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Trystan
Absolutely Fabulous

My BFF Sarah & I have talked about doing this cosplay for ages, & I’m SO FREAKIN’ HAPPY we finally did it at Costume College 2014!!! This is perhaps the most fun I’ve ever had in costume. She was Patsy, I was Eddie. We stumbled around, pretending to be drunk, acting bitchy (shush, we were acting!), with snarky British accents, unlit cigs hanging from our lips, making weird snide comments about everything & everyone. The people who got the joke loved it, & the people who didn’t probably thought we were insane, which made it even more funny.

I had watched a bunch of AbFab episodes in preparation & realized that Eddie’s humor is very physical. She’s all loose & floppy, to contrast with Patsy’s rigid, sneering stance. Eddie swings quickly between whining about herself & cajoling other people, with a dash of wanna-be hippie BS. We both stayed in character, plus our friend Karen played Bubble brilliantly, perfectly loopy. It made for a trifecta of performance art.

And then we did the busted, end-of-the-party scene in the hotel bathtub. SO MUCH FUN.

Patsy & Eddie are judging you
Patsy & Eddie are judging you
The sneers that launched a thousand ships. Photo by Andrew Schmidt
The sneers that launched a thousand ships. Photo by Andrew Schmidt
Stoli! Champers!
Stoli! Champers!
I am PR, I PR things!
I am PR, I PR things!
It's Lacroix darling! Photo by Andrew Schmidt
It’s Lacroix darling! Photo by Andrew Schmidt
Why must everything be so complicated?
Why must everything be so complicated?
Patsy & Eddie confab while Bubble looks on. Photo by Andrew Schmidt
Patsy & Eddie confab while Bubble looks on. Photo by Andrew Schmidt
Absolutey fabulous, sweetie darling!
Absolutey fabulous, sweetie darling!
during our champagne lunch. Photo by Kendra Van Cleave.
Bubble takes notes during our champagne lunch. Photo by Kendra Van Cleave.
Absolutely shagged out, sweeties. Photo by Kendra Van Cleave.
Absolutely shagged out, sweeties. Photo by Kendra Van Cleave.

Oh, about the costume — it really is Lacroix, sweetie darling! I got a hideously garish, vintage Christian Lacroix T-shirt & skirt off eBay. The skirt was too tight so I added a black wool placket in the back. Appropriate that both were pretty tight, since Eddie is always complaining that she’s too fat (like me :-). The jacket was vintage ’80s from eBay with giant shoulder pads.

I added a blinged-up peace symbol necklace since she’s both New Agey & down with the hip-hop kids, plus some faux Chanel gold earrings. The brown curly wig was yet another eBay purchase, made more Eddie style with a headband. She wears very simple makeup in most series of the show, & I finished the look with tights & red boots for a suitably annoying pop of color. We bought a pack of fags on the drive down to CoCo & drank the champagne the night before, so I filled the bottle with water & swigged from it when wearing the costume. Check out my “Absolutely Fabulous” cosplay Pinterest board for my inspiration!

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Posted in Characters | Tags: Absolutey Fabulous, finished costume | 9 Comments
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9 thoughts on “Edwina Monsoon from “Absolutely Fabulous””

  1. Sara says:
    August 14, 2014 at 12:39 pm

    I quite literally could not handle you three. You were perfect!

    • Trystan says:
      August 14, 2014 at 1:03 pm

      Hee, yours was such a great reaction 🙂

  2. Tracey Walker says:
    August 14, 2014 at 2:11 pm

    You guys were hilarious

    • Trystan says:
      August 14, 2014 at 2:47 pm

      Thanks!!!

  3. Britgeekgrrl says:
    August 15, 2014 at 8:17 am

    Love it, sweetie! Love it!

  4. Britgeekgrrl says:
    August 15, 2014 at 8:21 am

    Ps, a thought belatedly occurs to me.

    Ade Edmonson (Vivian of “The Young Ones”) had a character called “Eddie Monsoon” (I think he was in the series Bottom, but Ade created him way back during The Comic Strip Presents… days)

    Edmonson and Saunders were acquainted at college and throughout their careers.

    Hmm. Hmm…

    • Trystan says:
      August 17, 2014 at 6:51 pm

      Hahhahaha, not surprised one bit!

  5. Stephani says:
    August 15, 2014 at 11:09 am

    AAaaaa! I LOVE Patsy and Ed(w)ina! You look so perfect. Truly as dissipated and dissolute as the Terrible Two. Now I know how I’ll be spending my weekend: getting reacquainted with Pats and Eds.

    • Trystan says:
      August 17, 2014 at 6:51 pm

      Thanks! And what better way to spend some time?

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