Cosplay: Princess Zelda form Skyward Sword

I've always been a huge fan of the Legend of Zelda games. I started with Ocarina of time many moons ago but I've steadily played through as many as I could get my hands on since then.

I started playing Skyward Sword a few months ago when my husband decided to trade his old iPad in for a WiiU (a decision we have not regretted) and I've grown to have a love/hate relationship with the game.

I love - The story, the look, the gameplay

I hate - The number of hours of my life the game has swallowed 

Anywho, as I said the look of the game is simply stunning and I adored Princess Zelda's outfit from the first moment I saw it. Everything from her modern blunt cut fringe, the pink dress, the sash, the belt and the green bangles...

I knew I had found my next cosplay project!

This was the main reference picture I used. Somehow part of me felt this would be an easy costume to make. Simple dress, trim, simple sash and belt... How little I knew.

I have will post soon with a more detailed account of the construction process, making the sash and belt was quite a complex process, as was adding the trim to the basic dress, but hopefully you'll agree that it turned out okay:

The white sail cloth was actually quite difficult to manage, making it was not too hard, but waiting for the paint to dry before trying it on was agony! I tried very hard to make it long enough to tie over my shoulders without being completely restrictive but sadly it didn't work so well, I had to wear it quite loose in order to be able to move so it kept slipping and falling off, but at least I could move with it on!

And here is the painted section on the back:

Fortunately, early in the game Zelda presents the sail cloth to Link as a gift and does not wear it any more, so I actually could get away with not wearing it.

Have a sail cloth!

Here are some pictures without the sail cloth so you can see the rest of the costume. I have to say I was so pleased with how the blue sash and belt turned out. I was terrified the whole time I was painting it in case i made a mess of it - the top stitching on the fabric itself wound up to neat, I would have been devastated if I'd had to make another one!

Mind you, those boots, although cheap were perfect for a zelda costume, but they were fleece lined suede so I was absolutely roasting! If there is a faint sheen on my face at any moment, that is because I was a completely sweaty betty...

And finally, here is my face, I did try to powder my eyebrows to make the lighter, but my hair is just too dark, I'm going to have to investigate that further. It's a shame you can't see the ears in this picture, they were a little uncomfortable to put on, but once on they didn't budge all day so I was quite pleased with that.

I reckon money permiting if I wear this costume again I would invest in a longer darker wig so that it is a bit more accurate, but this one was okay for now at least.

What do you think?

Cosplay Costume: Black Canary (Or my day having more fun as a blonde…)

-->

Last week I made the trip to London to attend the MCMexpo. Advertised as London’s comic con and the largest cosplay event in the UK, I had decided that after a rather conservative effort as Victoria Hand last MCM that I was going to go for something a little more adventurous this time.

The event was held over Halloween weekend too so it seemed an even better time to flex those fancy dresscapade muscles.

For the Saturday I had decided to dress as Black Canary, the fishnet clad fighter with the sonic scream. She is featured prominently in several DC books, a member of the Justice League, ex-wife of Green Arrow and most famously known for her role in the Birds of Prey. Although I do particularly like the art of Ed Bene's in BoP but I decided to go for the more classic Canary look as seen in Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Canary Kick!

The main parts of her look are the blond hair, fishnets and boots combo with the black bodysuit and jacket.

This presented me with two challenges that I have never faced before:

1: Going Blonde

2:Getting to London in little more than a pair of fishnets and then walking around wearing only them...

The first was easy to address, I searched on eBay and found a Chinese shop selling cosplay wigs for around £12 with free postage. They had 1000s of positive feedback so I decided to risk it- personally I think the wig I received was excellent value for money, it completely covered all of my hair, was easy to de-tangle and surprisingly comfortable! Although it did take two weeks to arrive…

The second challenge was something that required simple nerves of steel. To get to London I wore a skirt over the ensemble but I found that once I arrived at the Excel centre seeing so many people in thousands of different types of cosplay that no matter what I would survive. 

(Interestingly glamorous people of a different inclination were also attending the Excel for UK’s Top Model I’m not entirely sure they appreciated the slightly strange attire of those of us at the Expo, although one lady did compliment me on my 'fabulous wig')

So here is the final look of the costume, I think it went fairly well :D

Most of the purchases for this outfit came from eBay, with the wig, biker jacket, gloves etc. The bodysuit is an altered swimming costume and the boots were my own. All-in-all it cost around £30 but it is mainly made up of items that I can wear again so I didn’t mind. Something I feel is important to add about this outfit is that I was actually wearing two pairs of tights. One pair of thick opaque beige tights from BHs to cover my legs and then the fishnets over the top- it made me much more comfortable and hides the sins much better than just wearing the fishnets!

Rather interestingly for me, one of my favourite comic authors Gail Simone was appearing as a guest at the MCMexpo on her first trip to London Comic-con. Simone is known for several runs on comics-including, most recently, Barbara Gordon's return as Batgirl in the DCnU52. But she was also the author for a long and famous run on Birds of Prey- the very comic my character was prominently featured in!

As a result of this I was reduced to utterly useless fangirl…

I met Simone at a signing table and asked her to sign my comics. I was incredibly nervous for no particular reason but I felt much better when she told me that I looked amazing and posed for a picture with me.

I noticed later that she had tweeted about a Black Canary cosplayer and replied to one of my tweets.

-->

‘Also there was a fantastic, adorable Black Alice cosplayer and a tremendous Black Canary cosplayer...both incredibly lovely. So fun!’ and ‘@JennieWhitwood Aw, you looked phenomenal! But I didn't get a picture of you! :('

I think that given this reaction I can judge my costume to have been a success (I hope :S). It was a real honour to get such a comment from a comic superstar- couldn't have been any better :D

During the day I was even asked by a few people to pose for photos, hopefully I won't end up on any of those bad costume blogs...

During the second day I dressed as a 60s style Catwoman (very loosely based on Julie Newmar) and I’ll post on that soon, until then…

Happy Dresscapades!

Cosplay Costume: Bellatrix LeStrange at the London Film and Comic Con

So my latest Dresscapade was a little bit of a rush-job...

I recieved a pass to the London Film and Comic Con on behalf of Den of Geek http://www.denofgeek.com/ (my article on the MCMexpo can be found at here)

However, the notice was a little short and I was moving house! So the task was to assemble a costume in 5 days ready for the weekend!

The Con took place over the weekend 8th-10th of July and was running a strong Harry Potter theme with the release of the last installment of the movies imminent, so it seemed like a good choice for a costume quickie. My fiance was helpful in suggesting Bellatrix LeStrange as someone who i could attempt and the hair, style, makeup and the fact i had some appropriate clothing items already it made it seem like a good choice.

Bella's look is retro Goth-chic

For hair and makeup I went for a slightly toned down look, but only because I dont have that much hair and I didn't have time to find a wig.
I thought the streak in my hair was okay as in some of the promotional shots Bella has a light streak at the front of her hair, but this look is a little inconsistent.

Make up was simple, pale face with a light coat of white facepaint, dark lined eyes and a touch of dark shading under the cheekbones to attempt to match Helena Bonham Carters rather fantastic face.

For the rest of the outfit black was clearly the way to go! I had a sheer 80s blouse and long gloves that were the right sort of theme, I bought a long skirt from a charity shop and a black lacy shawl that I wrapped around my waist and a big belt that was as close to her waspie as I could muster at the last minute.

There are two things I regret about this outfit one is that I didn't have time to sew the sleves on the gloves and the other is that I didn't wear my victoriana boots (at the time I thought 3.5inch heels for an all day conference was not a wise idea)

Overall I was fairly pleased with the look, although with only a little bit of time to finish things off and a lot of time to grow my hair it could potentially be an excellent costume.

Oh well, if anyone wants to throw a Harry Potter costume party send me an invite and I'll prepare an amazing costume! (Honest!)

The event was distinctly Harry Potter themed with an interesting pannel featuring some of the Hogwards kids and a small set display with some items from the castle I couldn't resist having a picture taken with a cauldren :D

Thats it for now! More dresscapades later!

Cosplay Costume: MCM Expo - Victoria Hand

Just a quick update this time, on the weekend of the 27-29th I attended the MCM Expo, or London's comic con (http://www.londonexpo.com/), as a commentator on the Cosplay for Den of Geek (article pending... hopefully...)

I only became aware I was attending a few days before the event, and didn't have time to put together an elaborate costume fitting with the event (it was the location of the EuropeanCosplay Qualifiers!) but I had recently had my hair dyed in a somewhat unusual manner.

Luckly for me there was an obscure Marvel character that had similar hair and dressed in the type of clothes I just happen to own! All I needed was a fake pair of glasses and I was ready!

Victoria Hand is a minor character in the Dark Avengers series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Hand) and her main looks are buisiness attire (shirts, pencil skirts etc.), glasses, and a red streak in the front of her hair.

Not a difficult look to re-create when you already have the hair!

I wore a simple pinafore dress in black, with a red shirt, seamed tights and carried my satchel like a bried case.
The glasses came from a lovely pair of reading glasses I obtained from Primark and removed the lenses from.

I would like to think that my press pass helped rather than hindered the outfit :D

Makeup was simple, a strong eyeliner above the eye and red vampy lips,  not much different to usual really :D


Anyway, that's it for this post!

See you soon for more Dresscapades :)

P.S. You can follow me now on Twitter!
@jenniedresses

Cosplay Cosume: Trailer Trash - Sci-Fi and Rachel form 'Blade Runner'

On the 23rd of April 2011 many Brightonians shunned their St. George's day pride and dressed as their favourite Sci-Fi characters at cult movie themed club night 'Trailer Trash'

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Trailer-Trash/276064050718

It has been a over a year since the last trailer trash so there was a lot of excitement around what to wear. In the end my decision for a costume choice was inspired by the list of movies on the poster, in particular, Blade Runner.

Now Blade Runner is a film I have fallen asleep through once and watched twice and i still managed to block out most of the actual plot except for the flying overhead city shots, the music and the character Rachael... So naturaly a dark haired vintage inspired vintage noir lady felt like a natural choice for a costume.

Rachael's key looks are the shoulder pads, the 40s inspired doo, the fitted coat and the wiggle dress underneath, of course all in black



Here is my attempt:

The dress was from the Collectif sale online or in Camden Market London:
http://www.collectif.co.uk/
and was £25

Shoes were my own from Clarks
The jacket was £3.50 from eBay
and the scarf was borrowed from a friend

Total Cost:
£28.50
(Although I had the dress anyway so I'm not sure that counts)






I'd like to give a special mention to Sadie who dressed as Barbarella for doing my hair!

 

Hair itself was limited as I have quite a layered cut which meant it was very dificult to put in.

However much fun was had with 80s make up! (Especially the blusher!)







On a side note, one of the burlesque acts chose a the same costume and character to base her act on and this is not the first time this has happened to me! I later saw a photographer who said 'You were just on stage?' to which I laughed and said 'That was another Rachel, it would be pretty impressive if I had managed to put my clothes back on that fast...'

Of course one of the interesting things about trailer trash is the costume contest, and with regards to this i have only one thing to say...

 

AT-ST!!!!

I  think it goes without saying that no one minded losing to this guy!

Anywho, thats it for now!
The next theme is David Lynch and I have no idea what to do for that...

Cosplay Costume: Halloween Part II - The Black Cat (from Spiderman)

Halloween part II is dedicated to the costume for my second outing of this years Halloween.

This costume required more work than the last and had been in the pipeline for a few months, it was based on the character of the Black Cat from Spiderman. I chose to wear it for a special Halloween event called 'Subterfuge' and was a mashup of 80s alt anthems and the modern equivalent. Some how the white fur trimmed black catsuit seemed very appropriate.

As I have explained before I previously had the catsuit and have spent the last two weeks sewing the fur trim onto it and to my black gloves.

Once I had the suit made I bought white spray in hair colour by Lee Stafford (http://www.leestafford.com/uk/products/product.php?pi=109) and of course I only could get my hands on one can as it was Halloween... :( £3.99

I then drew the mask on my face in eyelines and added false eyelashes to give them a little more definition, and added red lips just to increase the vamp factor.


Here is the completed look!

Total cost:
Catsuit -already owned (originally £18 from eBay)
White fur fabric £2 for an offcut
Black gloves £5
White Hair Spray £3.99
£10.99

Let me know if yo uhave any comments or opinions!

I expect the next post wil be a retrospective on one of my past costumes...

See you soon!

Cosplay Costume: Halloween Part I - Sally form 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'

So Halloween has now been and gone. Sad times...

But it was good times for the whole weekend from the 29th until the 1st. What I will say for sure is that you're never stuck for things to do, or for an excuse to dress up in Brighton! But being a conservative sort of person I decided to limit myself to just two costumes this year.

This is the story of the first :)

I recently began my third year of work in Brighton and each Halloween my institute has a Halloween party. I made the sad judgement in my first year of not dressing up, and in my second year I could not attend, so this year I decided to go all out!

I needed something Halloween themed and somewhat family/work friendly as to not embarrass myself too much ;) and I have been a fan of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas for a long time now so I thought dressing as Sally the Ragdoll from this film would be a good choice of outfit.

As usual I checked the ol' eBay for costuming possibilities and found what looked like a good costume for £35. "Thats a LOT" I imagine you saying, and I guess for one night of fancy dress perhaps it is.

However...

I have a rolling costume wardrobe, where I place items and costumes I have made, bought, assembled and customised and sell them on eBay. This way I have a 'slush fund' for purchases of new costumes.

One of the latest costumes to be sold in order to add to the slush fund was Jessica Rabbit that I used for my 80s themed birthday party (more on that in another post) I sold that costume for £37!
This way I even has £2 left over to put towards postage of the sally costume. However there are always unforseen extras...

Before I go into the detail, here is the costume! I know you've been dying to see it!

Costume composition:
Dress and wig came as part of the costume £35

My arms and legs were covered by two pairs of tights, one with a hole cut in the legs so my head could fit through (£4) I then drew the seams onto them using a black permanent marker (I know this seems extreme, but I can't reccommend Lush's Sugar Scrubs and cleanser Ultra Bland enough for removing pen and body paint)

Lastly and probably the biggest challenge was the face make up.

I started with a simple base of moisturised skin, then covered my face, ears and neck in a wash of Snazaroo in Turquoise. Snazaroo is great facepaint, and available in many colours for really cheap and one pot lasts a long time.

I then used a blue eyeshadow on my eyes and lined my eyes in thick gel eyeliner by MAC. I find this is great for drawing on your face as you get excellent precision, on a side note, although the MAC brushes are very nice they are quite expensive so I would advise getting a special one just for facepainting if you are going to do this sort of thing a lot.

I topped the face makeup off by defining my eyebrows with a black pencil, applying a very dark red lipstick and drawing the seams again in the liquid liner.

All in all a very effective look to this costume...

Total Cost:
£35 dress/wig
£4 tights
£2.50 face paint
(-£37 from eBay fund ;D )
 = £4.50

Not too bad! Any comments or criticisms would be appreciated :)

Fancy Dresscapades will return in
Halloween Part II