Comp Insanity

I may have rocks in my head.

Over the weekend I signed up to participate in the Bernina Cosplay Competition run through the Cosplay Collective. The comp opened in October last year and it’s only now that I am signing up? What is going in my head?! But I’ve put my hand up to commit to this thing and I’m certainly going to give it a crack.

As for what I am making… After a lot of back and forth, I finally narrowed it down to Padme’s Pre-Senate Kimono Gown from Star Wars Episode 1. Shocking movie, but the costumes are impressive.

When I first decided on this one I thought it might be too simple. But then once the research began I realised that I am biting off a lot more. So far I am in the collection phase. I started off doing all my research:

• Finding reference images (screencaps, exhibition photographs)
• Searching for other cosplayers who have made the costume (What did they do? What went wrong? What worked well?)

I then broke down the costume into its numerous components and made myself a shopping list. Hello bullet journal. Next up, I started hunting around my favourite fabric websites for supplies. There are a few elements that I will be able to use fabric from my stash for which does help bring down the costs. Next on the list though is ordering my notions, and decorative supplies (beads, embroidery threads, hooks, worbla, fabric dye). Then there are the purchased supplies such as makeup, wigs and wefts.

But while I am waiting for all of that to arrive, I need to make a start on drafting up my patterns. I’ve selected two from my pattern collection: one is a Kimono costume pattern and the other is a straight sleeve pattern. Come this weekend I really want to make a start on drafting my patterns and get my mockups cut out. From there I will be able to sew them up and make any adjustments. How the first mockup turns out will determine if I need to mockup a second time (or third etc). For me, it really depends on how close I am to the final version before I made any more changes.

Right now, online shopping it is…

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:

ScFi the night away

On Saturday night, I hosted a SciFi Trivia Night for the Australian Costumers Guild at my place. I had prepared a number of rounds each one with a different theme (time travel, alien encounters, robots, music and general knowledge). Each participant brought along a plate of food to share, so we had quite the range of goodies, though we did end up with three different sorts of sausage rolls *face palm*. At any rate, I think we all had a pretty good time, and my winners loved their "space gun" prizes. 

For the occasion, I had decided to remake my Padme Packing gown. This particular costume was one that I had made as one of my very first character costumes. It had been done in about 2 days and it wasn't fantastic. Over the years I had tried to make it again a bit better but was never completely happy with it. That combined with the fact that I had found better photos of how the original was constructed prompted me to have another crack at it, and this time I am so happy with it. The only existing pieces I used was the embroidered panel (about the third one I have done overall) and the small pieces of jewellery I already had (though I would like to make some adjustments, I just ran out of time). I also used my existing Victorian corset for the foundation undergarment and one of my historical petticoats for skirt pouf. 

All in all though, I love how it turned out. Keep an eye out in the next week and I will put up a post about all the layers that go into it, but for now, the event photos. Unfortunately I was feeling a little off, so I have pinched my cousin's photos to share a few. I loaned my Stargate Uniform to my Dad for the night and my mum got some pieces from my Princess Leia Endor Trooper. 

Supanova Sunday - Padme

And then there was Sunday. It was actually a lot easier trying to shop on Sunday than attempting the herd on Saturday. Much less people there, so I managed to get a decent look at everything left and picked up the few things that I was actually after; a couple comics, figurines etc. Oh and slurm. Yes they were selling slurm. I don't have the heart to drink the stuff, but if I do, I feel like there should be a costume involved and lots of photos. At the moment it is sitting on my shelf just looking good.

I actually spent most of the day catching up with Abi, who looked amazing in her Classic Silk Specter costume. It's the sort of costume that one day I might like to do (once I tone up enough). I even managed to catch the cosplay in the afternoon as well. But, as for me, I was wearing my new and improved Packing Padme (from Star Wars Episode 2). So, once again I was covered from neck to wrist to toe and corseted this time too. But I am really happy with how it looked, and so pleased with my embroidery. I had so much fun being Padme and being recognised by all the Star Wars enthusiasts. At this point I am determined to dress as Padme again next year. Of course, it will be a different outfit. The hardest thing, will be to decide which one to do next, there are just so many beautiful gowns. Though, my Dad keeps insisting that I must wear my Packing Padme again. I guess that I really impressed him. Maybe I just need a Star Wars convention to go to.

But overall, I had an absolute blast this weekend. This was only my second Supanova, but it was my best. I am so looking forward to next year, and it is always great to be able to do something different each time. I mean, I really do like to re-wear my costumes, but there are just so many that I want to do.