#fontscosplay-costumes

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"When one of us shines, all of us shine."

Happy Halloween!

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Our Castlevania Symphony of the Night cosplays! Maria Renard: @fontscosplay Alucard: Laurie (no Tumblr) Costumes by me, photos by us as well. Wigs are both @ardawigs Grace - Titanium Blonde for Alucard, Fairy Blonde with curly clip for Maria.

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Ahoy! Halloween pirate reporting for duty at my work! (Wig is an @ardawigs Ferrari in Light Blonde, and I'm wearing "Pirate Queen" from @sirensongelixirs for the full effect).

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“This is what I am now. And you'll never know who I was before.”

@fontscosplay as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

Photos by @swagabodcrane

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Scout Jim, reporting for duty at Magic City Con!

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We had to do it. Waffle House in costume during GenCon 2017.

@swagabodcrane as Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier @fontscosplay as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow @kitaswanderings as Kate Bishop / Hawkeye

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My first Halloween with my stepdaughter was a success! 

I’d never sewn anything for a child before, and I’ve only once sewn anything for another person at all. It was tricky to do on such a time crunch, and without having many opportunities for fittings. So although her Rosalina dress was not really my best work, she really loved it and it was fun being Mario princesses together. (We need to find a better wig option for her, since it kept falling off and we gave up on it halfway through the night).

We went to a trick-or-treat event at the local Wild West living history museum, then walked around on a block of the city that does really over-the-top Halloween decorations. All in all, I’m calling it a win!

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Walking around MCC as Cassandra today! If you see me, come say hi!

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Throwback Thursday Font’s Old, Terrible Costumes: Bloodrayne

So I don’t usually do TBT or other daily-themed stuff, but I thought it might be fun to start taking a look back at some old (usually fairly awful) cosplays.

Throwback to 2005 (aww, I was so young!), and the most low-budget, hastily-assembled cosplay I’ve ever made. I found out about the first Anime Festival Wichita literally the day before the event, and had exactly $15 to put together a costume. 

I scrambled to figure out a cosplay I could pull off with stuff I mostly already owned. I used the money on hair dye, and everything else was assembled from things I already had. The corset was my Rocky Horror bustier, the red vinyl was from a plastic shopping bag.

It was most certainly not the most accurate costume of all time. But I still got recognized, and did passably well at the NES tournament (until they brought out the shooting game and the light gun - my ultimate gaming kryptonite!). I had a blast, and met some friends who would remain close for a few years before life took over and we all drifted our separate ways.

(PS - yes, I still hold retro game controllers like that. My friends call it “Genesis Fingers”, since that was the last system where that technique was really effective).

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RIP, Hancock Fabrics, and thanks for all the cosplay memories...

So in light of the recent news about Hancock Fabrics closing, I’ve gotten a bit mournfully nostalgic...

While Joann is wonderful and has a fairly consistent selection of frequently-used cosplay fabrics, Hancock’s was that place I’d go and poke around for really interesting, unusual fabric choices. Their selection always seemed to rotate and they’d have the most interestingly random things.

And I always seemed to find exactly whatever crazy thing I needed, often at a great bargain. So now I’m looking back at all the costumes Hancock’s has helped give that extra “oomph” over the years. Under a cut for pictures.

The “wolf” fur on my Lulu cosplay was from the clearance rack at Hancock’s after I’d scoured the internet and everywhere else trying to find a nice long-pile gray fur that didn’t look like a plush toy that had been chewed on by the family dog. Up close, it had that gorgeous speckled effect, with a mix of gray, white, near-black, and tan fibers that gave it a beautiful depth. (Be kind, this was 2007 and my first effort at actually making a real cosplay).

For Jessica Alkirk, I needed something like 6 yards of a pretty white fabric that looked “RPG cleric/priestessy” without being uber-shiny white satin. (There’s a ruffle at the bottom of that skirt that ate up some major yardage). I went to Hancock Fabrics and found they had their fancypants white velvet at 90% off (the stuff that’s hanging on a rack instead of on a bolt/roll). I got it all for $2 per yard and it worked out amazingly well.

Same deal with Peach... I needed lots of yards of satin (uber-shiny was totally fine this time), and this pink bridal satin was clearanced at $1 a yard. I bought the whole roll, along with the darker pink faux-shantung and the metallic pale pink brocade for accents. (The satin was in two pieces, only the smaller piece is in the photo above.)

My Anna cape is secretly one of my favorite cosplay pieces. I was hunting for something nice and heavyweight, and came across this absolutely perfect heavy wool blend. It’s a thick, legitimate winter-coat fabric. The cape is so cozy and warm! Since it was like 20 degrees that year at Naka, that was a very good thing. (Elsa is @kitaswanderings).

Speaking of cozy, Henrietta’s dress fabric was this lovely, unusual fabric somewhere between a microsuede and a velour. Another Hancock’s bargain find, in a very tricky and specific shade of blue... and fitting for a winterwear look. The sherpa-style faux fur was also from Hancock Fabrics. (Marielle is @khamsin).

Lastly, the Architect. Probably my most ambitious cosplay, considering the materials involved and my skill level at the time, but also one of my more successful. That stunning dusty-purple herringbone and the unusual sequin-look fabric really helped give it that little extra bit of depth and detail. Both random Hancock Fabrics finds.

I’ll miss you, Hancock Fabrics. You helped with some really fantastic cosplay memories.

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We just got recognized in our "casual Leliana" and "casual Corypheus" cosplay at Nakakon, lol! Done with the full cosplay, but switched into my Tevinter heraldry tee and hoodie with a skirt and the stripey tights for the rest of the night. :D I still have some Red Templar brochures and Ring Pops though!

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My Dragon Con Cosplay Lineup is figured out!

I decided to leave Princess Anna at home... it’s a fun cosplay to wear, but there just wasn’t room in the schedule for it at DC. It might return to Naka next year though!

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2, 7, 23?

2:Favorite thing to cosplay?Probably Dragon Age, mostly because I love the series so much but also because I’ve made so many friends through Dragon Age cosplay, especially at Dragon Con. The costume design is also really interesting, detailed, and a bit of a fun challenge to translate into real life sometimes… (Photo by Betwixt Photos):

7:Ever done a group cosplay?Oh yeah… I’m kind of a group cosplay addict, actually. I love cosplaying with friends because you can all geek out together! Our Sailor Avengers group at DC a couple of years ago was a pretty fun one in particular (photo by asatira, with cosplays by ratherthansleeping, elfgrove, and eldanildiel. Inspired by Ann Marcellino fanart):

23:First con that you cosplayed at?Mini-con, Tulsa OK, 2002. It was a tiny, short-lived con, but some friends and I threw together really low-budget, last-minute Sorcerer Hunters cosplays, lol. (Seriously, my Tira costume wasn’t hemmed at all, and was held together mostly with hot glue)

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The Font Bandit's 2014 Cosplay Review

I realized I never posted one of those "Year in Cosplay" posts for 2014, so here's a belated one. :)

I didn't go to Dragon Con in 2014, which is usually where I end up wearing most of my cosplay, but I did hit two cons last year.

March 2014: Naka-kon in Kansas City

Krista/Historia from Attack on Titan (jacket from RedStar)

Asa Shigure from Shuffle! (This one was purchased from a friend, who got it from FanPlusFriend. Photo on right is by khamsin).

Belial/MadHatter from Angel Sanctuary (with ratherthansleeping)

April 2014: Wizard World St. Louis

Maevaris Tilani from Dragon Age (Dark Horse comics). I had previously worn this one to Dragon Con 2013, but teddiliza took some cute photos of the cosplay!

khamsin and I rocked some closet-cosplay Hipster!Dragon Age on the last day of the con, as Hipter!Aveline and Hipster!Isabela. I was happy to get some use out of my treasure chest purse! (I actually had some cute boots for this one, but after killing my feet in heels the day before, I opted for comfy flats instead).

All in all, I really missed not going to Dragon Con, but I had an awesome time at two conventions nonetheless!