Cosplay: Toon Zelda at London Comic Con October 2014

I'm not exactly sure what happened to this post. It seemed to get lost in the ether only to re-emerge 4 months after the event... Oh well.

At long last, here is my post on day 2 of MCM expo 2014 or London Comic Con as its also known.

This was the Saturday and it was insanely busy! You can really tell geek culture and cosplay are becoming more and more popular as in three short years MCM has become so much more popular than it was.

This year I wore a Toon Zelda costume from the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I chose this version of Zelda as it was different from my Skyward Sword costume at Hyper Japan but it was quite a bit simpler than the Twilight Princess version of her costume. It allowed me to work on some techniques without having to delve into the world of Worbla which I wasn't quite ready for at that point in time.

I also made a very, very rushed Link tunic for my husband. I tried very hard to get him to buy a blonde wig to go with it but he wasn't having it, still, steps in the right direction ;)

Here we are with an awesome Midna cosplayer:

First I thought I would share a few of my favourite cosplay costumes from the day:

 There was quite a heavy Lego presence this year, possibly something to do with the amazing Lego movie.

And as always, lots of Links, but I think that Tingle costume steal the show!

I thought that these Lutece costumes were AMAZING! The outfit, hair and make up was all so perfect!

I felt that this female Cap deserved a place in my gallery because she must have worked really hard to get those victory rolls in that wig!

Double Princess Power!

I also ate a ridiculous amount of takoyaki. It is one of my favourite things.

I was really pleased with how this costume turned out. I made the whole thing from scratch including the 'armour' which was a first for me.

The dress was made using a vintage Butterick pattern, but I gathered and lengthened a very full skirt instead of pleating it. I then added a cape to the top part and created the flap part for the skirt (I have no idea what it is called).

I made all of the head, belt and armour pieces using craft foam and I hot glue-gunned it together, then painted it all gold - or pink.

For the skirt I hand painted all of the skirt pieces. I drew the basic design with tailors chalk and then used a fine and thick paint brush to draw the design. I did use acrylic paint which means I can't get the dress wet but it meant it was very easy to do and far cheaper than fabric paint. I suppose of you were planning on wearing a costume a lot then you should definitely use fabric paint instead.

 The make-up for costume was quite fun, I really enjoyed playing with the blue eyeshadow and false lashes. I need to learn to lighten my eyebrows to really complete this look in future though.

And of course, here is a Legend of Zelda #Selfie...

Have you though about going to comic con?

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?