Gender-Swapping The Bull - My "Iron Cow" Costume

So, at the beginning of the year, my friend got me all fired up over Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Iron Bull. I got…um, a little obsessed. What’s a girl to do with her new fictional obsession?

Cosplay, of course.

And, much like with my Centaurette costume, I’m of the idea that one should go big or go home. 

Looks and fashion-wise, I’m an incorrigibly girly girl, especially with my cosplay. I’ve been Disney Princesses and My Little Ponies.  This was my first real venture into gender-swapping cosplay.

Which meant a host of new skills and challenges.

To be fair, I remember seeing Amie Lynn’s cosplay of this character and thinking, "Hey, I've got most of that stuff in my closet; how hard would it be to make the rest?" 


In fact, if you look closely, you’ll notice that this is a recycled costume. So, really, I already had the dress done; the rest would be a breeze. 

It’s thoughts like that that I really ought to remember proceed lots of late nights, hard work, and stress. But I don't. And I won't. Because I learn nothing.

Well, to get started, I needed a pair of horns. After all, it’s where his self-adopted name came from, so I couldn’t really be Iron Bull without them.

But I’d learned, with the Centaurette costume, that wandering around in tight quarters filled to capacity with people is tricky when you have a large and unwieldy costume. It can also, if you’re not careful, be hazardous to those around you. So, my horns needed to take that into account.

Beyond that, love him as I might—just as he is—I am physically the oddest person to portray him. There's something undeniably hilarious about taking this 8’ massive mountain of a man and translating him into a cutesy 4’11” girl. 

But that was also kind of the point. I very much wanted to take this great, hulking Qunari savage and soften him up a bit. Because, outwardly, he does look quite frightening. And he certainly is a force to be reckoned with. But, once you get to know him—particularly, if you, like me, watch his romance scenes on loop—he has this sweet, soft, nougat-y center that just makes a girl want to cuddle close. 

So, taking an old headband, a foam sword, a bunch of wire, and pillow stuffing, I decided to make plush horns. 

I love how when cosplay starts, nothing ever really looks like it’s going to come together, until it starts to.

My battle axe certainly didn’t.

Like I said, I’d never made a really large weapon prop. Certainly not to this level. And I really didn’t know where to begin.

But, seeing as I’d already decided on plush horns, a big, huggable, stuffed weapon seemed like the perfect accessory.

Why do so many of my craft project always begin life as grocery bags? To be fair, the pool noodle is a new one.

That looks more recognizable. Sort of.

Sometimes cosplaying feels a little like Fairy Godmothering for Cinderella. Bought a foam sword; for a weapon? Of course not; that's why I got the pool noodle.

My battle axe was a little wobbly. But spray foam, like duct tape and grocery bags, fixes everything.








This is my first time working with this stuff; can you tell?








That looks more like it.







And here we have a battle axe worthy of a Qunari mercenary! 

Now onto my armor; can’t go into battle unprotected. 

Since everything was getting painted anyway, I didn't really care what color everything started out as. But, man, looking back on it all, all my battle stuff started out life looking like Fisher Price toys.

That looks more like what armor looks like.

I had no idea how arduous a process it was to make armor! There were so many layers of glue and coats of paint that went into these pieces. Plus, I got to play with a crafting heat embossing fun. Talk about badass!

And, of course, I couldn't not do the Dragon Tooth. Gotta keep Kadan close. 

Also, proof that I MacGyver my way through costumes, this is made out of broken bits of a sponge brush, a paper clip, air-dry clay, nail polish, and puffy paint. Held up on a poorly abused chop stick to dry. 

And, even though I know that this is technically called The Necklace of Kadan, I wanted to reference his romance tarot card as well as to showcase his kinky side. So, instead of hanging it from a necklace around my neck, I tied it around my arm in a rope gauntlet. 

The Iron Bull has seen some stuff and, while I may not be quite willing to chop off some of my fingers, gotta get that eyepatch action in. After all, that wound helped save Krem!

But I'm blind enough as it is, so wanted one that I could still see out of. So bits of leather, a sunglass lens, a little bit of velcro, and lots and lots of sewing. Oh, and some puffy paint. Because the Iron Bull needs an eyepatch to match his axe's blood grooves.



All put together, I think it turned out really well. And I had a blast running around as my latest fictional crush. 

And I wasn’t the only one to enjoy it. To be honest, this costume was entirely for myself. I had an obsession and wanted to live in it for a while. I actually didn’t think that anyone would recognize it. But a LOT of people recognized the character. And LOVED it. I had people getting really excited about my costume. Which was awesome! But my favorites were a group of young teens who looked close to tears when they recognized me. It was so surreal. What can I say? I love nerds.

Also, fun trivia, the Iron Bull was actually initially planned as being a woman.