Order the wig first. Before you buy the dress, before you think about trim, before anything. The wig controls your entire timeline because if the color is wrong or it sheds like a golden retriever in July, you need time to return it and reorder.

I've built this costume twice. The first time I grabbed a $12 pink wig off Amazon and it looked fine in the listing photo. Under the fluorescent lights at Anime NYC in November it read almost lavender. Totally wrong. The second time I spent $25 on a mid-range pastel pink from Arda Wigs and the difference was night and day. Thicker fibers, less shedding, and the color actually held under convention lighting. That $13 upgrade saved the whole build.

When your wig arrives, put it on a stand and comb it out from the ends with a wide-tooth comb. Never start from the root. If fibers are coming out in clumps after a gentle pass, send it back. A good wig will shed a little, like a few strands per comb. A bad wig will leave a pile on your bathroom counter. Trim the bangs yourself with sharp fabric scissors, cutting at a slight angle so they don't look blunt. Anya's bangs sit just above the eyebrows with that slightly choppy look. Don't overthink it. Slightly messy is actually more accurate to the character.

The horns are the other piece that trips people up. EVA foam is the way to go here, lighter and cheaper than 3D-printed. Cut your shapes, sand the edges smooth, paint them to match the wig color, then attach them with alligator clips. Two clips per horn, not one. And sew the clips to the foam base with thick upholstery thread instead of hot gluing them. I glued my first pair and one horn popped off during a photo op at Otakon. Embarrassing. The sewn clips have survived three cons since.

The dress itself is the easy part. Buy a plain black A-line dress from a thrift store or Amazon for $10-20 and modify it. I found mine at the Goodwill on Hawthorne in Portland for $8. Sewing from scratch is overkill for a beginner build.

Layer a detachable Peter Pan collar over the neckline. Interface it with lightweight fusible so it holds its shape and stays crisp white. Iron or starch it the morning of the con. For the bow, tie real red satin ribbon into a proper bow and pin it from behind with a safety pin. The floppy bows that ship with costume sets look terrible by lunchtime.

The gold trim is the detail that separates a good Anya from a great one. Swap out any shiny included ribbon for matte gold scalloped bias tape on the cuffs and hem. Matte gold photographs so much better under flash. This single swap is maybe the highest-impact change you can make for under $8.

Budget runs $40 to $120 depending on whether you thrift the dress and shoes or buy new. Three weekends is plenty of time. Spend the first weekend on wig testing and dress sourcing, the second on collar and trim, and the third on horns and a full wear test. Walk around your apartment in the complete outfit for at least 30 minutes before con day. You'll find every loose clip and droopy collar before it matters.