Courtney documents her first experience cosplaying at Indiana ComicCon 2015!
I’ve been to two Star Wars Celebrations, many book-release events, and multiple author signings. At every one, I’ve often seen people dressed in costumes as their favorite characters—cosplayers—and I’ve been jealous of them.
Cosplaying takes creativity, but also bravery—you’re bound to get lots of attention. Now, I’m not the kind of person to seek attention in any way, but I’ve wanted to try cosplay for a long time, just to show my love of Star Wars. So when Indiana ComicCon announced their celebrity attendees this year, and one was THE Carrie Fisher, I made up my mind; I was going in costume.
The first thing I needed to do was to decide which character I wanted to dress as. Since Carrie Fisher was a guest of honor at the con, I wanted to do one of Princess Leia’s many costumes. I had to narrow my choices to something easy and inexpensive; basically, do what is called “found cosplay.”
Found cosplay is using items you already own or can easily purchase to make a costume. I’m no seamstress, so anything I would have to sew or make from a pattern was out. Also, I didn’t want to just buy a Halloween costume online; I wanted to actually make parts, or all, of my costume. Many of Leia’s outfits were some kind of dress, which would require sewing, so those were out. I eventually decided to try a costume that isn’t seen often at events: Leia’s Endor outfit, with the camouflage poncho.
I started by making a list of all of the items I would need, then researching online where I could find said items. Leia’s outfit consisted of black boots, light blue pants with a yellow stripe, a camouflage poncho, and a black tactical belt with a gun. I was unable to find a poncho that was already camouflaged, so I bought a green rain poncho and several cans of spray paint. The boots were relatively easy to find, and I had a large black belt I could use.
Light blue pants seem to be pretty much impossible to find, even online. I instead choose light gray pants and bought yellow ribbon to adhere to the sides. I went the simple route for putting the ribbon on the pants: just a basic hot glue gun.
I enlisted the help of my uncle, Richard, to create the foliage effect on the poncho. I judiciously decided to get matte spray paint as in pictures of Leia’s outfit it was not shiny in any way. We attached the poncho to a fence outside and began to test out different patterns with the spray paint. After several test runs we finally got a good design down and sprayed the entire poncho.
Outside. In the snow.
I’d highly recommend doing this in warmer weather, or at the very least inside a garage.
Leia’s costume also included a gun, but I didn’t want to spend the extra cash to buy the official type cosplay gun online. I tried not to spend much money on my costume, as this was my first cosplay and who knows how it would turn out. I ended up buying a package of squirt guns for $5 at a local store, picked the one that looked closest to Leia’s gun, and sprayed it matte black. It turned out great—the gun was originally lime green and blue, and the spray paint covered it well. While the poncho and gun were drying, my uncle decided to help with the belt and holster. He’s a police officer, and luckily had an extra tactical belt at home with pouches that attach to it. In retrospect, my costume would not have been as cool using my fashion-type belt; the tactical belt added excellent detail. I didn’t have a holster for the gun, but my uncle had some spare black fabric at home, so we used it to sew a holster. Correction—HE used it to sew a holster. My uncle is also an awesome tailor.
After everything was made and dry, I put the outfit together and thought it looked pretty good. I was getting excited; Indiana ComicCon was coming up, and therefore so was my first cosplay try.
The day I was to attend the event, I was actually somewhat nervous. How would people react to my costume? Was it any good? Would I get too much attention (good or bad)? Would I be the only one in a costume? (Yes, that thought briefly crossed my mind.) Would I get laughed at, or stared at? I even packed a spare outfit in a bag in case I got there and chickened out. I went to the con with my brother (also a Star Wars fan), and he said my costume was spot-on. That made me feel a bit better, but I was still pretty nervous on the drive to the convention center.
Needless to say, I was not the only person there in costume. I was, however, the only one there in a Leia Endor outfit. When I received my first compliment on my costume, I felt very proud—I was able to recreate a Star Wars costume that people were able to recognize. Throughout the con I was asked many times if people could take my picture, or take a picture with me. When I had my picture taken with Roxy the Rancor, and the owner of Roxy told me to be sure to upload my photo to Roxy’s website because he thought my costume was great.
At this point, I was no longer nervous and was fully enjoying the cosplay experience. I kept my costume on for the entire four and a half hours I was there. I lost count of how many people asked for a photo of and/or with me. Numerous compliments from people of all ages! One thing to note: people will call out to you for a photo and use the character’s name you’re dressed as. I almost walked by several people who were calling out “Leia!” to me to get a photo.
Will I cosplay again? Absolutely. The response I received from my costume was overwhelmingly positive. I never heard a negative comment or got any disdainful stares. I’d even be tempted to try a more complex outfit, such as an Imperial officer or the Expanded Universe’s Mara Jade (my favorite character), as long as I had plenty of time for planning.
If you’re on the fence about cosplay, and always wanted to try it, do it. It’s a really fun, enjoyable experience. And if you’ve never been to a con event, definitely check one out. There’s a lot of great items, comic books, and like-minded sci-fi/fantasy fans.
And, you never know who you might get to meet.
Courtney Martin is a graduate of Indiana University and works in publishing. She’s an avid Star Wars fan and wrote the recipe blog Courtney Cooks Star Wars on suvudu.com. When not enveloped a science fiction or fantasy novel, she is watching television with her husband and son, doing crossword puzzles, or playing with her Shih Tzu, Burt.