OzComicCon Brisbane 2015

The next event on my calendar in September was one of our local conventions – OzComicCon. This year I attended with my bestie – helping her out with her stall for the weekend. Unfortunately this meant that I didn’t get to see quite as much of the convention as the previous year, and I got very few photos, but I still cosplayed for the occasion and I did get out from behind the rack.

This year, we were lucky enough to have Richard Dean Anderson attend along with a few Stargate Atlantis actors. The huge Stargate fan that I am saw this as the perfect opportunity. I dressed up in my Stargate Offworld uniform (with a few new pieces added) and toted along my Zat. I wanted RDA’s autograph added. He was lovely to meet, but I am sad that I missed seeing his panel and I regret not being able to afford a photograph with him as well. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles. It was great to wear my offworld uniform again. I’ve spent a lot on it making sure I am screen accurate, so I should really wear it more often. The problem – it’s way too hot for most of our Queensland conventions and it’s hard to travel with as I cannot take the weapons.

Sunday though, saw me cosplay as a pair for the first time. We were Sadness and Joy from the recent Disney movie Inside Out. We loved the film, and when we saw it together, we walked out of the cinema planning our costumes. While they were supposed to be “easy” costumes, we take accuracy a little too hard and spent a bit more time that I had necessarily planned getting it ready. I was lucky enough to find the perfect jumper to wear but I need to bulk up my wig by sewing two together, sew an undershirt and leggings and we decided to make glowing memory balls. So much for easy. But, and it’s a big but, our costumes were received so well. It seems that everyone loves Inside out and we had many complements throughout the day. The challenge for me was staying in character as Sadness. It is incredibly difficult to not crack up all the time and it feels very strange to not smile in photos. The makeup though, is what made me happy. I haven’t had a lot of experience with skin tone changes and going blue is one of the hardest (your skin undertone shows through pink). I chose to use a white and blue cream stick to mix up the correct pastel blue colour and rubbed it into my skin (over a primer of course). It’s much like applying normal foundation, just blue. I topped it off with white setting powder. A bit of blue eyeshadow, dark blue brow powder, pink blush, mascara and blue lipcolour and I was done. The best part is that it lasted most of my day. I put it on at 7am and didn’t need to touch up until 5pm. Quite the success.

And the couple of other cosplays that I did take photos of...

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:

Opening night on the Gold Coast

It was an exhausting weekend. It all started on Friday morning, with me finishing off the suitcase packing. I was preparing for a weekend away on the sunny Gold Coast for Supanova. I picked up my cousin after lunch and we made the 90 minute trip down. We arrived in our apartments and were pleasantly surprised by what we encountered. We were staying at the Victorian Apartments and it was fantastic - concierge trolley to get all our bags from the car to the room, secure lift, and the room itself had great views, was very close to the convention centre, shops and restaurants, and furnished well. It even looked like it had had a fairly recent renovations to upgrading.

But enough about our rooms. At 6pm we were dressed up and headed over to the Gold Coast convention centre for the opening of Supanova. This time I had put together a whole new costume. I was dressed in a Flight Suit from Stargate. Specifically as a F302 pilot on the USS Hammond. This was a very easy costume to put together (thought not overly cheap). Every element is purchased and I was able to re-use my stargate tactical boots. I was very pleased with it.

Supa-plans

I've been very busy lately, thus the lack of posting. On a personal level, I have been writing an abundance of job applications. After I was made redundant last year, I took some time off for a break and to go on a trip to Japan. Since I got back, I have been on the hunt again. On top of that, I have been trying to get my business up and running more thoroughly.

In the meantime, I have become a sewing madwoman. Namely, I have been trying to get ready for Supanova, which is on this coming weekend. I have been trying to put together 3 new costumes.

The first, a Stargate Flightsuit, was a simple purchase and ironing project.

The second, Jeannie's sister from I Dream of Jeannie. Has taken me so much time to prepare. There has been an absolute abundance of handsewing involved. But in the end it has been well worth it and I am incredibly excited to wear it. It is one costume that I am very proud of. Photos of my actually in it, will be up early next week.

The third, was to be Madoka, from an Anime that I love. It is only today, that I have decided to throw in the towel on this one. The bodice is made, and the skirt almost about to be sewn on. I tried it on and am just not happy with how it looks on me. The worst part is that I know I have been unhappy wearing projects that I wasn't 100% about in the past, so I am just not enthused about finishing this. In the end, I have decided to give it a miss. It is mostly made up from fabrics that I already had in my stash or leftover bits, so it's no big deal there. And thankfully I can use the shoes and wigs that I bought for Lolita. I'm a little disappointed, but in the end much happier for not doing it so that I can spend my time leading up to the event in a more productive manner.

So, instead, I will be pulling out a few of my existing costumes to decide on a replacement.

Supanova Gold Coast 2012

Last weekend I attended Supanova, the main popculture convention that runs in Australia. For the first time, it was held on the Gold Coast (normally April is in Brisbane). And of course, I attended. I headed on down on Friday to check into our hotel for the weekend. We were lucky enough to be staying 1 block away from the convention centre where it was to be held. It made for a really easy walk over. It started on Friday night for the opening ceremony and the costumes came out. I will start with what I wore for the weekend.

1. Friday Night - Ariel - The Little Mermaid

I decided that I would re-wear one of my costumes on Friday night, and since I really do love my Ariel costume, thought it would be a great choice. It was all the same as the last time that I had worn it, except that I had to restyle the fringe after being stored away. I think it turned out a lot better this time than in the past, with the fringe sitting out in the pouf really well. And I had my lovely little Flounder with me. By the time we were ready to head back to our hotel, it was pouring rain and we hadn't thought to take an umbrella. We let it ease off a bit, I wrapped Flounder in newspaper to protect him and we made our way home for the evening.

2. Saturday Morning - Stargate Offworld Uniform

My brother and I pulled out our Stargate uniforms for another wear on Saturday morning. The weather was muggy and hot, and we sweat up a storm in our full costume. But we looked good and were happy to have our P90s this time. My brother even had his new Zat and holster. I painted the Zat up for him as a birthday gift.

3. Saturday Afternoon - Pan Am Stewardess

We headed back to our hotel for lunch, where I stripped off my incredibly sweaty stargate uniform and changed into my stylish 1960s Pan Am uniform. Pan Am is one of those little-known shows that has only had one season, but I liked it, and I liked the costume, so I took the opportunity to whip it up. I butchered several of my vintage patterns to get the right design, but I made sure that I had all the elements, from stockings, girdle, bullet bra and slip through to blouse, jacket, skirt and hat. My favourite part is the hat. It is made out of buckram, padding and then the matching blue fabric of my uniform. I even have the stewardess pin and the flight bag.

4. Sunday - Squid Girl

From one of my favourite Animes "Squid Girl". I was very pleased with how this costume came together. Best of all, it is really cool to wear because it is entirely made out of cotton. I do wear one of my white chemises underneath as a slip so that it isn't quite so see-through, and I wore a sports bra to minimise my bust - the character is about 13 year old after all. The dress itself is decorated with blue cotton appliqued on. The arm and left cuffs are made out of stuffed lycra. The wig is a short blue wig that I have trimmed and styled the fringe of and attached tentacles made out of cotton blanketing. I originally wanted felt, but the blanketing was the only fabric in the correct colour. Oh, and I added some bright blue contact lenses which are a little odd to wear, but look incredible against the wig.

So that sums up my costumes for the weekend. I got home on Sunday evening and slept the night away for about 10 hours. It was a really good thing that I had planned the next day off as well, and in future I will definitely do so again. But I will leave you with some photos of some of the other awesome costumes that I got photos of. Believe me, there were many more....