If Looks Could Kill - Making Medusa

 

So, as you can tell from my medusa story, I LOVE this mythological character. I think she got such a raw deal.

No matter which version you look at, whether her monstrous condition was a curse, a punishment, or a ward, she was a victim who history made into a monster. She was given this power that must, on most days, feel like a curse. It's purely defensive; no matter the myth, she never hunts down people. People invade her home, attack her, then call her a monster!

I love her and have always wanted to cosplay her, but knew that it would be a helluva an undertaking.

And, yes, yes, it was.

So it all started back in July of 2018, when I bit the bullet and bought a metric crapton of snake toys.

I'd looked online to see what kind of medusa wigs were out there and what other people had done. And, while I found many that looked very cool, I knew that I wanted something a little different. While stiffer, stationary wigs could look very cool and structured, I wanted movement in mine. But I didn't like the uncontrollable wiggliness of rubber snake wigs. So I decided to do a mix of the two by mixing and matching various different snake toys, including - yes - rubber snakes, but also those cheap, segmented plastic snakes you get in children's party bags and dentist toy boxes.

Then I proceeded to destroy the ever-living crap out of them. Like I said, I wanted a mix. But not quite the mix my friends had thought. I wasn't going to have a wig with a bunch of different kinds of snakes on them. I was going to have a wig that was made up of snakes that were made up of a bunch of Frankenstein-ed snakes.

But to make them all look more uniform, I needed to spray pain all of them.

But, even though I had a wild amount of toy snakes, I didn't have enough to create the ancient greek, cornocopia-style hairstyle that I wanted. So I took a favorite MacGuyver cosplay tool of mine - pool noodles - and shaped the swirled beehive.

Then came time to Frankenstein my snakes, taking the pool noodle strips - which I'd wrapped in black cloth - the segmented snakes, and the rubber snake heads and jimmy-rigged them all together with glue, wire, and prayer.

Then I had to stitch together the cloth-covered pool noodle strips to form the main headpiece, using thicker, heavy-duty wire to shape it to my head and create that cone-like shape.

Then I had to attach the individual snakes and style them around the main headpiece in a style that I liked. I wanted them to have freedom of movement, like I'd said, but I also wanted to be sure that they wouldn't stray too far away from where I wanted them. It was a lot of putting it on my head and shaking my head around, to make sure that, even as I naturally moved around, my snakes looked as natural as possible. I like to think that I succeeded, since, whenever I wear this costume, people always take a double-take, when they see that the snakes actually move on their own.Lastly, I finished it all off by sewing strips of sparkly blue lace on the snakes, so you could get a better sense of each individual snake along the swirl. And, of course, the Grecian headband to keep her in theme. Now, while the headpiece would be enough to make my Medusa recognizable, I wanted more. To be purely accurate, Medusa is a purely human woman with snakes for hair. But I loved the idea of making a snake dress and I couldn't resist. I love the idea of glamming her up, while still emphasizing her monstrous nature. I wanted to make her beautiful. To give her a moment to shine.That said, the making of this dress was a bit less glamourous.
Initially, I'd thought that I would create the tail by making a zip-tie cage that would wind around my body. So I went to my local hardware store, where the sales clerk informed me that I was buying a large number of the number-one, favored brand zip-ties of kidnappers. Good to know!It also quickly became clear that, while I'd planned to essentially use a smiliar idea of my homemade hoop skirt to create the winding cage, I was waaaaaay over my head and severely short on time. So, instead, I just scraped that idea and decided to stuff the tail with pillow stuffing and sew it all in place. Which lead to its own comedy of errors that had my partner laughing at me on numerous occasions.

But, in the end, I think it all turned out wonderfully. I had so much
fun running around my local geeky convention in this costume. Even though I had to get fully naked to pee in it, I still had so much fun. Like I said, I think it had the desired effect of being both horrific and stunning. People either stopped me to get a closer look at everything and ask a million questions or they took one look at me and swiftly crossed the street. For a glammed-up monster girl, I couldn't ask for a better sign of success.

Now, this costume was waaaaaaay too much work to be a wear-once-and-done dress, so when my local geeky convention's next theme was announced as mythology themed, I knew that this and my centaur costume had to be revived.

However, then COVID happened and the convention had to cancel for that year. Which was sad, but meant that I had time to revamp this costume to be closer to the one I had in my head. So I ripped up the entire tail, cut it from the dress as a whole, and got to work. Including making the cage tail I'd planned to. As well as adding a zipper to the top of the tail and the bottom of the dress, as well as a hidden zipper in the side of the dress, so I could finally go to the bathroom in this dress more comfortably, by removing the tail in stead of stripping in the hotel's tiny toilet stalls.

However, like many people, quarantine played havoc with my body, which meant alterations. I had to quickly figure out how to add two inches to my dress's bust and wait and five inches to the hips. And, since I'd chosen the dress's initial fabric because it was drastically discounted for being discontinued and I'd mostly used it all up for the initial dress the first time, I had to find a fabric that at least looked like it went with it. Luckily, I had this other gold fabric that I'd intended to use for a different costume but never did.

Added to that, because of the pandemic, I needed a mask to go with
this costume, because of course I couldn't let her show up in just a regular disposable mask. So I decided to use the leftover teeth from my Glam Demogorgon costume and create a monstrous mask for my medusa. Again, I think it all came together well and had so much fun in this costume. This was my first big in-person event since quarantine started and it was so amazing and I love that this costume got to be a part of that. I even found a gold snake bracelet that matched it in the dealers' room!

Velma on Mystery Island Photo Shoot!

On my recent vacation, we went to a place called Mystery Island, Vanuatu. Well, I can't go to a place like that and not cosplay as my favorite nerdy mystery solver, Velma from Scooby Doo. After all, I'd made a resolution to take more photos, didn't I?

Here's a little peek at the photo shoot:

To see the rest, click HERE

To see what happened to Velma after Mystery Island (NSFW), click HERE

The Legend of a Badass - My Asami Cosplay

Like I've said before, I love a really good badass heroine. And The Legend of Korra's Asami Sato is one of my favorites. She's beautiful, smart, savvy, brave, and strong. Not to mention, also, Asian and queer. What's not to love?

She also gets to be one of those powerless characters in a story full of super-powered characters who still manages to not only hold her own but be a hero in her own right, when she could have very easily been, would have traditionally been, a damsel in distress. I love that.

Of course, I want to step into her badass boots for a bit.



So, first things first, Asami is from the famed Sato family, so of course I have to create her family's symbol that she wears as patches on her shoulders. These were made from scrapes of leftover leather. My hand cramps at the memory of sewing these.



Speaking of hand cramps and leather sewing, I also couldn't do Asami right without making my own power glove.


This was made with a leftover leather glove, more scraps of leather, a couple of bike lights, and hair ties. Looks pretty good for a mishmash of things I had laying around the house.



While the leather sewing was hard on my hands, it was the lights that worried me the most. You can't do Asami's power glove right without giving them a little flash. But the question was how.

So I took two bike lights and painted them with nail polish and hoped that the light would still work through the paint.





And, thankfully, it did. Then I held them to the glove with hair ties to not only affix them securely, but also to simulate the wires that would have powered the glove.

You can't tell in the photos but the lights have three settings, two different speeds of pulsing lights and a continuous light. It was a lot of fun dancing at raves with this costume.








Here it is all put together.








You can probably tell by the look on my face, but this costume totally makes me feel like a badass.

Another reason I wanted to make this costume was for the everyday cosplay aspect of it. I have totally shown up to work in this costume, sans the power glove, and people just think it's a cool outfit. 


But, every once and a while, if I'm lucky, I'll run across a Korra fan who recognizes it. Those are amazing moments. 


But this isn't the only outfit of hers that I love. I love the outfit that she wears at the wedding at the end. Not only is it beautiful, it's the moment that the audience really recognizes Korra and Asami's relationship for what it was. That all the hints the show has been dropping like earth-bent rocks aren't just fan-service innuendo but the building of a real relationship the was the first of its kind from a show like this.


Unfortunately and ironically, I'm allergic to most metals, which means I had to figure out something for her jewelry. So I decided to crochet her necklace, bracelets, and a couple of anklets.






Which I think turned out really well all put together.









 Again, I love this outfit and think it works great as both a cosplay costume and as just a regular outfit. 

But also, it was very nice for conventions, since these two outfits use the same pieces. If you look closely, you can see that I made the dress from the first outfit longer than necessary and folded it over, then wore it full-length for this outfit. 

The cover top to this outfit is semi-hidden by the jacket in the first outfit and it's tie is tied in back to look more like a traditional belt, but then turned into a bow embellishment in this outfit.

It was really fun to be able to celebrate this character who is proof that you can be girly and pretty and feminine and still be strong and a force to be reckoned with. And to get to honor an Asian, queer character, who really is a first but hopefully not the last of her kind, this way was something that was really important to me.

Club Girl Vanellope

So, after my first year over-achieving ambitions, I thought that I would try something a little more easy-mode.

Like I said, I love Disney and absolutely loved Wreck It Ralph and its spunky racer princess, Vanellope.

You can't have this candy-loving character without her signature candy bits for her hair. Thankfully the craft store sells these adorable little pre-cut, sticky foam pieces.

So all I had to do was stick them together in patters that I liked and stick them in my hair.

They kept falling out all night, but I had a bunch extra so I just kept replacing them.

At the end of the night, trying to pick the remaining out of my hair was less than fun. But, oh, how we suffer for out art!

Next came her tights. I bought three shirts, a white one, a teal one, and a pink one and used the sleeves from all three to Frankenstein these together. I think they turned out pretty good.

So good, in fact, that I've worn these out and about just for fun. And have used them in other costumes.

In previous costumes, I've made cute costume-appropriate purses to hold all my stuff, like this Kragle purse from when I was Wyldstyle from The Lego Movie. It was made out of a liter soda bottle, grocery bags, and duct tape. Turned out pretty good.

For Vanellope, I wanted to see if I could make a lollipop purse. So Again, using the plastic from a soda bottle and grocery bags, I formed the base of the purse. For the stick, I just used a left over crafting dowel and an old chapstick cap. Like I said, I don't so much make costumes as I MacGuyver them. After a pretty paint job and a zipper for ease, I have a finished lollipop purse.

Now, I did want to create a movie-accurate version, where I try to look as much like her as possible.










But, of course, I can't just leave it at that; I like to put a unique spin on things. So I made the dress underneath a little more...aged-up. 

Using a white bra and leftover bits from all the other costume materials, I created this cute little Candy Land Club Girl dress.

A Story Only A Cosplayer Can Truly Understand

I'm having an odd costume season this year. 

A few days ago, I was working on my very pink, very cutesy wand for my Halloween costume (Princess Star Butterfly, for those of you not watching the excellent cartoon Star Vs. The Forces of Evil) on my way home from work today when an obviously recently divorced dad (if his bitter-sounding phone call as he was entering the bus was any indication) and his two very young, very cute daughters, neither of whom could be older than five, sat down in seats near mine.

They’d obviously just gone Halloween shopping at Target as the two girls were swinging brightly colored, pumpkin-shaped trick-or-treat bags. 

The younger girl turned and noticed what I was working on. She asked me about it. I lied and told her that I was making a costume piece for my niece (it just felt so odd admitting to a three-year-old that, as a thirty-something, I was cosplaying as a fourteen-year-old space princess). 

The older one turned to see what her sister was looking at. She asked me where I got it, so she could get one too. I told her that I made it and that you couldn’t buy it in a store. 

The younger girl then asked, if she couldn't get one of her own, if she could have it. 

I told her again that it was for my niece.

She told me very matter-of-factly that she was dressing up for Halloween as a fairy and that my wand was better than the wand she already had. I thanked her, but repeated that the wand was for my niece. 

She repeated that my wand was better than hers and that she wanted mine more.

Very loudly.

The dad noticed and told the girls that the wand was mine and that they had one at home. Which I thought would be the end of it.

It wasn't.

And, to be fair, the little girl seemed very calm and rational-sounding. 

Right up until she wasn't. 

The younger girl started to cry, saying she wanted THAT one. 

Which made the other one start to cry. 

The dad and I just stared at each other in panic while these two girls cried, neither of us knowing what to do.

I could feel the whole bus judging me.

I’m a monster.

The dad gave me a pained look and offered me $20 for my wand. I looked a him incredulously; I held it up, with only one wing half-sewn on, and pointed out that it’s not even done yet. 

He looked at his daughters and pointed out that he didn’t really think they cared. I told him no; it’s for my niece. 

He offered $30. 

I still told him no.

I felt so bad. Because he just seemed like he's not used to being the primary caregiver and this was his first time being in-charge of the kids. He seemed like a very "here, honey" type parent when the kids get difficult. He was trying, but woefully ill-equipped.

The girls cried for full three stops until the dad told them that they needed to head to the front of the bus because their stop was next. He corralled the two crying girls to the front of the bus only to have the driver tell him that their stop is the next one. 

So they had to shuffle off to the side, while the other passengers tried to maneuver around the two miserable children and their harried father. The bus driver tried to cheer them up by letting them ring the bell, but it didn't help.


That was the weirdest, most panic-inducing compliment ever.

Then, today, I decided to dress up as Closet-Cosplay Maleficent, using my Iron Bull horns, which I thought was a fun way to upcycle another costume. 

But then, on my way from Target to the office, a very booze-filled, unkempt man on the escalator kept asking me if my name was "Jemma," if I knew him, and if I was evil. 

I debated telling him no but, after having thoroughly botched the wand debacle, that just seemed poorly out of the spirit of the season, so I just smiled and nodded. 

I think I made the right decision.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

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.