Fan-gasm Friday: She-Ra Cosplay!

I miss New York Comic Con so much already! But, hey, it's less than a year until the next one!

This year I made my costume, and it was a little more complex than donning a tie and a mustache for last year's Commissioner Gordon outfit.

I took on She-Ra Princess of Power complete with headgear, and through this process I learned that cosplay isn't truly cosplay unless you've got something on your head.

Ta-Da! All the embellishments (cuffs, chest thingie, headpiece, chocker) are yellow foam cut into individual pieces and then glued together. All painted bronze. The jewel is from a toy ring. The belt is a belt I hacked. Dress is from American Apparel. Cape, which doesn't show in this photo, is from a Supergirl costume I already had. And my favorite detail is that I ran out of time to get a Sword of Protection, so, yes, that is a lightsaber, because who doesn't already have a lightsaber lying around?

She-Ra cosplay. NYCC 2013

Aaaand in case you're interested, here's that Commissioner Gordon outfit from NYCC 2012.

Yup. Very few people got it.

So few people got my Commissioner get up that I was forced to wear a second costume on the following day.

Shockingly enough, even less people got Cheryl Tunt from Archer. Also 2012.

Oddly, there were a TON of Archer cosplayers this year. I saw maybe three in the whole weekend last year, but this year they were everywhere. Gotta say, even though there were some good Cheryls this year, none of them had my "You're not my supervisor!!" speech bubble. :)

Fan-Gasm Friday

Know what I love? People in costumes.

I love Comic Con. I love Renaissance Faires. I love drag queens. I love the Society for Creative Anachronism's meetings in public parks.

Costumes are probably what drew me to acting and dancing and writing growing up and as an adult, too. Going to the theatre, even if the show blows, is always partially good simply because there will most likely be people in costumes. Often, there will be wigs.

But let's go back to the Society for Creative Anachronism for a bit. I happened upon them in college one evening. As I strolled through Union Square Park in NYC with my best friend, I heard screaming and the clashing of what sounded like swords. Walking towards the ruckus proved that I was not just overly imaginative. I had indeed heard swords. They were being swung through the air at wooden targets and men, women, boys, and girls wearing makeshift armor.

In New York City in the 2000's, one does not really ever know what one will see, but people in oddly fitting chain mail, battling with medieval weapons is not usually high on the list of guesses. However, that's what we found that night. When everyone got tired of swinging their homemade and/or ordered online weapons around, they took a Powerade break. My friend and I cautiously approached these armed strangers and asked something along the lines of "what the hell?"

One spotty-faced boy with plastic sports glasses strapped to his face said, "We're the Society for Creative Anachronism. We have a permit. It's okay."

Thank goodness he told us about that permit, because obviously that's the only reason we were asking. Also, thank goodness for the internet, which explained the Society for Creative Anachronism, because my previous sentence is a lie.

The Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA is, according to their website, "an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skill so pre-17th-century Europe. Our 'Known World' consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops, and more." So what does that really mean? People wear costumes from different time periods and do whatever they want in them while claiming that those things are from SOME time period other than the one in which they currently live. Sounds pretty fun to me.