In the past few months, I've been reading a ton of articles on negativity in the cosplay world. Men attacking women. Women attacking women. Women telling other women not to attack women. Women attacking men for attacking women. I just don't know what to think.
I'm not a well-known cosplayer or anything, but I have a lot of costumes up at Cosplay.com. I've been blogging for almost three years about my costumes. I've made friends in the cosplay community, and I've sat on two cosplay panels. I know that negativity is out there, because I've read first-hand accounts of girls getting ripped apart for their weight, their skills, or their looks. To me, it does make sense that the famous cosplayers attract negative attention, just because they're so prevalent in the community. Anyone who has such a big presence is always going to end up with at least a few trolls.
However, I've never experienced it. Not once has someone make a negative comment to me about my costume, either in person or online. The worst comment I've had is, "hey - V for Vendetta!" Oh, and that time at Dragon*Con when the BritTrack Costume panel didn't know that I was a Doctor Who character. I may have had a comment or two in passing someone at a con or something (there are always a few drunk assholes), but if that happened, I clearly don't remember it. Everything that has been said to me has been overwhelmingly positive. Sure, there have been some creepy encounters (like the guy who stuck his tongue all over my Clockwork mask) or rude encounters (like the people hitting the Fruity Oaty Bar Girls in the head), but nothing that was overtly sexual harassment, or aimed at me because of my gender. In my experience, assholes are generally assholes to everyone. Maybe it's because I'm not well known. Maybe it's because I'm not drop-dead gorgeous. Maybe it's because I don't put myself in a situation where I'd attract unwanted attention (I don't wear skin-tight costumes). I do know it's not because my costumes are so amazing that they're above reproach - they're good, but the girls who seem to get these comments are essentially professionals.
So, my question to all of you is this: Have you ever had someone criticize you or make negative comments about your costumes?
Showing posts with label dragon*con. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dragon*con. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Eowyn - Where Do I Even Start?
The next bits of fun that we'll be working on is Eomer and Eowyn. Matt has already made the new chain maile for the top of my Susan dress, so I have to figure out if that will work just as well for Eowyn as well.
This is the outfit that I'm planning to make. This must be what going mad feels like ...
How will I have this done in time for Dragon*Con? Beats me. I may have to put Shadow Weaver on hold for another year.
And here's Eomer ...
We're both still trying to figure out what we'll make everything out of. I'm not sure if I'll do straight leather for Eowyn or not. All I know is that I'm going to take a short break from all this cosplay stuff so I don't go completely insane. Maybe after Christmas ...
This is the outfit that I'm planning to make. This must be what going mad feels like ...
How will I have this done in time for Dragon*Con? Beats me. I may have to put Shadow Weaver on hold for another year.
And here's Eomer ...
We're both still trying to figure out what we'll make everything out of. I'm not sure if I'll do straight leather for Eowyn or not. All I know is that I'm going to take a short break from all this cosplay stuff so I don't go completely insane. Maybe after Christmas ...
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Fruity Oaty Bar Girls
My latest costume was a group costume - the Fruity Oaty Bar Girls from the movie Serenity. My friends Samm, Sera and I put the costumes together over a course of three months.
For the body, we used a blue full-body spandex suit and cut off the head. For shoes, Samm dyed white Keds and put in blue ribbon laces.
I couldn't find knitted fabric in the correct colors for the outfits, and the knitted fabric seemed to work best against the spandex. I found the dark green, dark purple, and red at JoAnn fabrics. For patterns, I altered Simplicity 3833 because it had the proper cut for the shoulders. For the red outfit, I simply made it one piece and longer. For the purple outfit, I made a crop top and skirt and put elastic in the band. For the green outfit, I extended the bodice and attached it to the pants from Simplicity 2401. As I had put the zippers on the sides, I also dropped the crotch of the pants to make it easier to get into the green outfit. I really should have used a different pattern, one without a seam in the front and back so that I could have made the front and back one piece like the others.
The hardest part was trying to figure out how to make the head. Samm and I originally tried paper mache, but that didn't work. We then turned to 1" foam. It took one yard of foam per head. Samm shaped the heads by cutting apart a beach ball, then using each piece as a pattern for the foam. She cut a hole on each side (where the ears would be) for ventilation. She and Sera drew on a face, then cut out the mouth. Samm and Sera covered the heads with batting (to make the seams smoother) and used a piece of foam for the noses. Samm also cut a hole into a rectangular piece of foam, then glued them into the heads as a halo that rests on our heads. Therefore, we're supporting the weight of the head with our head, not our shoulders.
We used blue fleece from Hobby Lobby for the faces, gluing them on with spray glue. It was very difficult to get them to be smooth, and we didn't want seams right on the front of the face. We made two cuts on the neck, and I stitched them up. However, I didn't like how it looked, so I ended up pulling off each face and reapplying the blue fleece. This time, I pulled the fleece as tight as possible and pinned it in place. I managed to work the fleece so that there were no seams on the face.
After gluing down the faces, I set about working on the hair. It was a pain in the neck! I tried using the same technique as the face, but because there was more hair, it didn't work that way. I tried making several pattern pieces, but they never quite worked. See, it turned out later that when the faces were drawn on, they weren't symmetrical, so I had to make the hair for each head separately. I ended up finding a basic pattern - one piece for the top of the hair, two similar pieces for the sides, a rectangular piece for the back of the head, and a trapezoid for the bottom of the hair.
After cutting out all the pieces, I pinned them on. However, in order to keep the seams from puckering, I had to pull the pieces really tight and cut off the excess. To stitch the seams, I used this tutorial. It took me about 5 hours per head, but it worked really well, and I didn't even have to "pick" the fibers out of the stitches (doing so actually made it look scuffed up). I then turned the fleece under around the edges and stitched it with very small stitches. We finished it by tacking it down on the edges with hot glue.
For the buns, we used styrofoam balls, two for the green Fruity Oaty girl and a larger one for the purple Fruity Oaty girl. To finish, we screwed a 4" screw through the head and into the styrofoam balls. I stitched the fabric down onto the other hair.
For the bands, I bought fun foam in the correct colors and cut them with a paper cutter to the proper width. However, it didn't quite match the fabric I'd chosen for the outfits, so I painted them with matching acrylic paint. I then simply wrapped them around the hair and hot-glued the ends together. For the chopsticks in the purple hair, I painted two wooden knitting needles that were cut in half. I then cut small holes in the hair with an Exacto knife and pushed the knitting needles into the styrofoam.
For the ponytail on the red Fruity Oaty girl, I measured the width of the head as well as the height and width of the ponytail on the cartoon, then measured the head we'd made. I used math (GASP!) to make a pattern with the same proportions, cut out two pieces (front and back) and stitched it together with a whip stitch. I then turned it inside out and stuffed it with pieces of leftover batting. I stitched it onto the head. However, it flops more than I'd like, but that's only because the foam of the head can't support the weight. I'm thinking of building a frame for the top of the head and then running something up into the ponytail to hold it up.
I painted the inside of the mouths with black acrylic paint, then hot-glued two pieces of black chiffon over the opening. Two layers are VERY important. When someone takes a photo with a flash, eyes will be visible behind only one layer. Two layers are harder to see through (they make everything blurry and can cause dizziness), but they are enough to keep your eyes from showing through. Sera cut out the eyes, mouth, freckles, and eyebrows from felt, and we glued those on as well.
For the final touch, I constructed an octopus out of foam core and fun foam. I printed out a shot of the octopus and free-handed the bits that weren't visible in the shot. I then cut out the pattern and traced around it on the back of the foam core. For the details, I traced the tentacles, drew in an outline, and then cut that out of white fun foam that I painted to be the right color. I also cut out circles in several sizes. After cutting everything out, I painted all the sides to match. The eyes were white circles cut out of the same (unpainted) foam. I cut the pupils out of black fun foam that had a sticky back. For the detail around the eyes, I simply painted them with the pink paint. (I had tried cutting it out of fun foam and then setting the eyes into it, but it didn't work.) I cut everything out with an Exacto knife, then trimmed off anything extra with scissors. Finally, I sanded down a piece of spare wood, painted it black, and glued it to the back of the octopus.
If I were to redo it, I would use fun foam for the eyes, mouth, and other facial details, and heat it to shape it. Foam is really easy to use for multiple things including armor. There are multiple tutorials like this all over. I would also put in a fan in each head. I didn't think it was hot at ALL (it was MUCH cooler than my Clockwork costume, in which I drip sweat just standing around doing nothing), but Samm and Sera had a really hard time with them. Also, the mouths aren't the right shape, so I'd want to remake them (but that would mean remaking the heads entirely).
And here's the final product!
For the body, we used a blue full-body spandex suit and cut off the head. For shoes, Samm dyed white Keds and put in blue ribbon laces.
I couldn't find knitted fabric in the correct colors for the outfits, and the knitted fabric seemed to work best against the spandex. I found the dark green, dark purple, and red at JoAnn fabrics. For patterns, I altered Simplicity 3833 because it had the proper cut for the shoulders. For the red outfit, I simply made it one piece and longer. For the purple outfit, I made a crop top and skirt and put elastic in the band. For the green outfit, I extended the bodice and attached it to the pants from Simplicity 2401. As I had put the zippers on the sides, I also dropped the crotch of the pants to make it easier to get into the green outfit. I really should have used a different pattern, one without a seam in the front and back so that I could have made the front and back one piece like the others.
The hardest part was trying to figure out how to make the head. Samm and I originally tried paper mache, but that didn't work. We then turned to 1" foam. It took one yard of foam per head. Samm shaped the heads by cutting apart a beach ball, then using each piece as a pattern for the foam. She cut a hole on each side (where the ears would be) for ventilation. She and Sera drew on a face, then cut out the mouth. Samm and Sera covered the heads with batting (to make the seams smoother) and used a piece of foam for the noses. Samm also cut a hole into a rectangular piece of foam, then glued them into the heads as a halo that rests on our heads. Therefore, we're supporting the weight of the head with our head, not our shoulders.
We used blue fleece from Hobby Lobby for the faces, gluing them on with spray glue. It was very difficult to get them to be smooth, and we didn't want seams right on the front of the face. We made two cuts on the neck, and I stitched them up. However, I didn't like how it looked, so I ended up pulling off each face and reapplying the blue fleece. This time, I pulled the fleece as tight as possible and pinned it in place. I managed to work the fleece so that there were no seams on the face.
After gluing down the faces, I set about working on the hair. It was a pain in the neck! I tried using the same technique as the face, but because there was more hair, it didn't work that way. I tried making several pattern pieces, but they never quite worked. See, it turned out later that when the faces were drawn on, they weren't symmetrical, so I had to make the hair for each head separately. I ended up finding a basic pattern - one piece for the top of the hair, two similar pieces for the sides, a rectangular piece for the back of the head, and a trapezoid for the bottom of the hair.
After cutting out all the pieces, I pinned them on. However, in order to keep the seams from puckering, I had to pull the pieces really tight and cut off the excess. To stitch the seams, I used this tutorial. It took me about 5 hours per head, but it worked really well, and I didn't even have to "pick" the fibers out of the stitches (doing so actually made it look scuffed up). I then turned the fleece under around the edges and stitched it with very small stitches. We finished it by tacking it down on the edges with hot glue.
For the buns, we used styrofoam balls, two for the green Fruity Oaty girl and a larger one for the purple Fruity Oaty girl. To finish, we screwed a 4" screw through the head and into the styrofoam balls. I stitched the fabric down onto the other hair.
For the bands, I bought fun foam in the correct colors and cut them with a paper cutter to the proper width. However, it didn't quite match the fabric I'd chosen for the outfits, so I painted them with matching acrylic paint. I then simply wrapped them around the hair and hot-glued the ends together. For the chopsticks in the purple hair, I painted two wooden knitting needles that were cut in half. I then cut small holes in the hair with an Exacto knife and pushed the knitting needles into the styrofoam.
For the ponytail on the red Fruity Oaty girl, I measured the width of the head as well as the height and width of the ponytail on the cartoon, then measured the head we'd made. I used math (GASP!) to make a pattern with the same proportions, cut out two pieces (front and back) and stitched it together with a whip stitch. I then turned it inside out and stuffed it with pieces of leftover batting. I stitched it onto the head. However, it flops more than I'd like, but that's only because the foam of the head can't support the weight. I'm thinking of building a frame for the top of the head and then running something up into the ponytail to hold it up.
I painted the inside of the mouths with black acrylic paint, then hot-glued two pieces of black chiffon over the opening. Two layers are VERY important. When someone takes a photo with a flash, eyes will be visible behind only one layer. Two layers are harder to see through (they make everything blurry and can cause dizziness), but they are enough to keep your eyes from showing through. Sera cut out the eyes, mouth, freckles, and eyebrows from felt, and we glued those on as well.
For the final touch, I constructed an octopus out of foam core and fun foam. I printed out a shot of the octopus and free-handed the bits that weren't visible in the shot. I then cut out the pattern and traced around it on the back of the foam core. For the details, I traced the tentacles, drew in an outline, and then cut that out of white fun foam that I painted to be the right color. I also cut out circles in several sizes. After cutting everything out, I painted all the sides to match. The eyes were white circles cut out of the same (unpainted) foam. I cut the pupils out of black fun foam that had a sticky back. For the detail around the eyes, I simply painted them with the pink paint. (I had tried cutting it out of fun foam and then setting the eyes into it, but it didn't work.) I cut everything out with an Exacto knife, then trimmed off anything extra with scissors. Finally, I sanded down a piece of spare wood, painted it black, and glued it to the back of the octopus.
If I were to redo it, I would use fun foam for the eyes, mouth, and other facial details, and heat it to shape it. Foam is really easy to use for multiple things including armor. There are multiple tutorials like this all over. I would also put in a fan in each head. I didn't think it was hot at ALL (it was MUCH cooler than my Clockwork costume, in which I drip sweat just standing around doing nothing), but Samm and Sera had a really hard time with them. Also, the mouths aren't the right shape, so I'd want to remake them (but that would mean remaking the heads entirely).
And here's the final product!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
I really should be working on Christmas gifts ...
... but I have gotten the cosplay bug again since leading the Costuming Basics panel at ChicagoTARDIS, and now I want to research some Lord of the Rings costumes! Someone please drag me away from the computer! Since I'm a brunette, it makes more sense to make an Arwen costume, but everyone has done her costumes to death. Plus, there aren't any of her costumes that I just absolutely love.
I'd like to do Arwen's riding outfit for the sole reason of having photos done on my friend's horse, but Kate from www.silivren.com made it perfectly and way better than I ever could. Check out all of her other LOTR costumes here. The detail that she includes in her work is breathtaking!
Nadine from Celtic Ruin's Costumes made a gorgeous Elrond costume. This photo does not do it justice, but here is some detail from the back. Nadine and Kate lead a LOTR Costuming panel at Dragon*Con each year, and I was just drooling over the detail on all the costumes that they create. They do a fantastic job on their panel, too, so if you're at Dragon*Con, be sure to check them out. You'll learn so much, even if you're an experienced costumer.
This year their friend Dustin was there in his Aragorn outfit, and I again was drooling over the level of detail that was put into the leatherwork. I'm so mad that the shot wasn't in focus, but you get the idea - this costume is absolutely gorgeous. I don't even want to know how much money it took to create the entire thing, as I know that my Queen Susan costume was hundreds of dollars, and I didn't even use real leather.
If I ever do a LOTR dress, I'd probably want to do this Eowyn dress. I absolutely love it, and I prefer dark colors to anything too light.
However, the thought of making Eowyn's armor makes me want to jump up and down. If I did this costume, I know that Matt would want to make Eomer's costume to compliment it. He's wanted to make Eomer's armor from the first time we saw the film. Again, both costumes would require extensive leatherwork. I wonder if we can take classes in leatherwork around here?
I also love this robe, which Eowyn wears in the extended edition when she dreams about Numenor, and I would love to make it, but only to lounge around the house in! Doesn't it just look so comfortable?
For now, these are just dream costumes. I'll have to get more freelance jobs before I can even start to seriously think about making any of these! In the meantime, I'll be ordering new rings to remake my Queen Susan chain maile.
I'd like to do Arwen's riding outfit for the sole reason of having photos done on my friend's horse, but Kate from www.silivren.com made it perfectly and way better than I ever could. Check out all of her other LOTR costumes here. The detail that she includes in her work is breathtaking!
This year their friend Dustin was there in his Aragorn outfit, and I again was drooling over the level of detail that was put into the leatherwork. I'm so mad that the shot wasn't in focus, but you get the idea - this costume is absolutely gorgeous. I don't even want to know how much money it took to create the entire thing, as I know that my Queen Susan costume was hundreds of dollars, and I didn't even use real leather.
If I ever do a LOTR dress, I'd probably want to do this Eowyn dress. I absolutely love it, and I prefer dark colors to anything too light.
However, the thought of making Eowyn's armor makes me want to jump up and down. If I did this costume, I know that Matt would want to make Eomer's costume to compliment it. He's wanted to make Eomer's armor from the first time we saw the film. Again, both costumes would require extensive leatherwork. I wonder if we can take classes in leatherwork around here?
I also love this robe, which Eowyn wears in the extended edition when she dreams about Numenor, and I would love to make it, but only to lounge around the house in! Doesn't it just look so comfortable?
For now, these are just dream costumes. I'll have to get more freelance jobs before I can even start to seriously think about making any of these! In the meantime, I'll be ordering new rings to remake my Queen Susan chain maile.
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