The First Queensland OzComicCon

Last weekend, The Brisbane Convention Centre played host to the first Queensland OzComicCon. Now, while I don't really support the way that the company has ripped off the ComicCon franchise, I am happy to have another convention in the town where I live. And best of all, this one fell in our Spring. It's the most irritating part of Queensland conventions - they are always in the hottest part of the year for us - which is a real nightmare as a costumer. There is nothing more gross then trying to look good while sweating under layers of costume and makeup. But the nicest part of the con was that it was in a completely air-conditioned building. 

For this convention, I decided that I was going to be wearing three different costumes. I don't normally do the middle of the day change, but this year, I really wanted to wear certain specific costumes while it was not hot. The first one, for Saturday morning was my Stargate Offworld Uniform. The main reason that I wanted to wear this again was so that I could meet Chris Judge (Teal'c) and have him autograph my Zat. My butt has grown since the last time that I wore the costume, so it was interesting getting my pants zipped up this time. But I was determined. And I was particularly glad for the aircon. The jacket that I wear for this costume is a screen accurate version which features some wonderful padding inside which would be truly perfect for wearing in colder climes - ie, the snow. So, while 24 degrees celsius is quite pleasant, I was still over warm for the day. But I did manage to get my autograph. Which I guess now means that I need to get a new Zat for my costume as this one is strictly display now. 

After meeting some fellow Brisbane Cosplayers from a facebook community that I am a part of for lunch, I hightailed it back to my car where my second costume for the day was waiting - Senator Amidala. I had yet to wear my newest incarnation of this costume to a con, so was rather excited to bring her out. Thankfully the makeup is very simple for the costume and the hair is all wig and hairpieces, so it was a very easy transition from Stargate to StarWars. Best of all though, I had my photo taken in one a StarWars toy box - particularly appropriate for this costume. 

It was an exhausting Saturday and I was glad to get home and shower after my day out and about. Unfortunately, I had a pending Uni assignment to work on that evening, so I didn't really get the chance to just kick back and relax. However, I was up and ready for another day of costuming on Sunday. This time, my dearest friend had asked me to dress in Steampunk with her. So I saw it as a great opportunity to bring out my Steampunk Black Widow for a con. I would not normally take this costume to a con as between the huge skirt train and very delicate spider, it's not a crowd-friendly outfit, however give the small crowd at OzCC, I saw it as the correct venue. The costume was very well received and I was so happy to be able to wear it again. 

I picked up a few purchases for the day, sat in on a panel and chatted with friends before calling it an early day and heading home to get some more assignment work done. Overall, it was a very exhausting weekend. But I had a great time. The con itself seemed to be run very oddly. Attendance numbers were quite low compared to Supanova. And while they had a good range of guests, the auditoriums for the panels were on the opposite side of the complex to the vendors hall (about a 10 minute walk around) which made it really inconvenient. I'm not sure that I will attend for both days next year, but it will be a matter of who is going to be there.

But to finish off, here are just a few of the amazing costumes that were about:

18th ACG Ball

Last weekend, I made the trip down for the Annual ACG Costume Ball in Adelaide. This year, it was more than just me who travelled interstate. There was 1 from Canberra, 1 from Melbourne, 5 from Sydney and 4 from Brisbane. One, of them being my mum. It was her first time coming down to the ball.

The ball is held on Saturday night. I spent Saturday at fabric shops and visiting with family before heading down to the afternoon preparations - judging of the workmanship competition and rehearsal for the parade. It all ran very smoothly and we were done with our practice in no time, so I headed back to the hotel and did up mum's hair before heading back to the venue to get ready myself. The parade entrants are kept out of sight until the reveal.

For the event, I had finally made my next steampunk ensemble - The Black Widow. I've had this costume planned for a number of years and finally decided to get it done in time to enter the ACG ball competitions. The premise of my character is that she is a widow assassin for hire who uses her pet mechanical spider to take out her marks. As for the costume, I had made the skirts a couple of years ago when I made my Steampunk Geisha, but the idea had always been to be able to do the Black Widow - giving me multi-use skirts. All I needed to make in time to take to the ball was a bodice, hat, wig and spider.

And this is where I aimed to get the spider element coming through in my costume. I was being quite literal with the Black Widow theme and going with the class of venomous spiders as my influence. In particular that my outfit is black but with a red stripe running down the back of my bodice. The bodice is designed with a pointed neckline and hem to reflect the angles that you see in spider webs. I also added silver embroidery floss done as spiderwebs over the outfit and tiny beaded spiders.

In the end, I brought home the Master Parade award, the Master Workmanship award and The People's Choice award. It was quite a surprise and a huge confidence boost. In the past I was competing in the Journeymen category, but after a couple of wins in previous years, I was boosted up into the Master category. I was quite nervous.

And I had a brilliant time there. I'm hoping that I am able to go back again next year. I didn't get many shots of my outfit on my own camera, however, I will share a few that friends have shared with me.