Cosplays and craftsmanship from Boston Comic Con!
1. Booker and Elizabeth by Rachel and Nick
Nick called Rachel the “master craftman” in terms of this cosplay. Rachel hand detailed all of the items being worn, from the leather straps on the skirt to the burn holes in Nick’s scarf. There was a rather nice glossy effect to the burn holes, which Rachel told me just “kind of happened naturally.” We both agreed this was a rather concerning thing for fabric to do, but it did produce a great result, so can we really complain?
Nick’s Bioshock replica gun is, oddly enough, from B&H. “The camera store?” I asked. Nick laughed. “They have a big section of licensed stuff,” he said. “I found it on their online store.”
For more of Rachel's work, check out her Tumblr!
2. Batgirl by Nina
The new Batgirl design has made a lot of waves in the comics sphere recently, but Nina clearly proved that this new costume design rocks. Nina told me that she set out on making this costume as soon as the new design was released. “I stopped everything to make it!” she joked, though her entirely hand-made costume (yes, including the jacket and the cowl) must’ve taken quite some time.
The jacket is made of vinyl, but Nina actually used upholstery vinyl to get the proper look, which made the jacket a bit difficult to actually move around in. Nina and her boyfriend crafted the Batgirl cowl themselves, starting by making a plaster mold of Nina’s head, and then putting a clay mold on top of that. The cowl is made out of Dragon Skin rubber, a high performance silicone blend.
For more of Nina's work, check out her Tumblr!
3. Mabel + Dipper by Alina MacLean
I actually started talking to Alina to find out where she got that incredible Meow Wow! sweatshirt, thinking that there was an etsy that I would be able to order a replica from. As it turns out, Alina actually made the design on the sweatshirt herself, so of course I had to stop and talk to her (and maybe convince her to open an etsy shop where she sells replica Mabel sweatshirts?? y/n???) This was actually her brother’s first convention and his birthday, so Alina put together a sibling cosplay as part of his present.
The sweatshirt started out as a plain, white piece, and then Alina dyed it purple. Alina re-drew the exact design from the show in SAI so that she could get a large, high-resolution copy of it for the sweater. She printed it out on dark iron-on paper so that it would stand out more on light fabric.
For more of Alina's work, check out her Tumblr!
4. Zeus by Brandon Clarke
The almighty Zeus is brought to life in brilliant gold by Brandon Clarke. Brandon is an experienced costumer, and this is his third time doing Zeus. Everything he’s wearing is made by hand, from the toga to the lightning bolt. The bolt itself is made of foam with lights attached and then covered by a sheer gold fabric. Brandon’s makeup took three hours to do, and though the photos don’t fully show it, there are bits of gold flake on his shoulders that were glued on there by hand.
Brandon told me that Zeus evolves every time he puts on the costume; the first time, the toga was much shorter, and there were no light attachments on the costume. The lights are actually a new addition to the costume, and are battery powered attachments that he worked into the fabric. One of Brandon’s favorite things about being Zeus is that it’s a costume that gets noticed; it’s big and bright and very, very glam.
For more of Brandon's work, check out his Facebook Fan Page!
5. Wolverine by Joshua Mitchell
You see a lot of Wolverine’s at comic conventions, but Josh’s take on Logan really caught my eye. Mainly, I was really drawn to the handmade element of the costume, and the effort that clearly went into making it. (As we all know, I’m always looking for those Uniqueness + Talent aspect in cosplays.) The headpiece and the claws were both cast + made by Josh, out of a fiberglass resign.
To make the headpiece, Josh used one of the Captain America: The First Avenger helmets that could be found in costume stores. He then modified the helmet a bit to make a proper mold, before using the fiberglass. He added the fang and ear parts to the mask, then sanded it and used car paint to achieve a glossy finish.
6. Queen Rapunzel by Emily Simon
I’m not exaggerating when I say that Emily was one of the major stars of Boston Comic Con. Queen Rapunzel was a recognizable but still completely unique take on a Disney princess, which was Emily’s main goal. She told me that she has a screen-accurate Rapunzel, but that it’s way better being the Queen. For one, she’s a lot less likely to feel the need to compare herself to the other princesses around, and she’s also able to use her own, shorter hair, which she was very happy about. (And as someone who was sweating in her wig, I can only seethe with jealousy at how nice it must’ve been to have short hair on the con floor.)
In terms of the overall outfit, the skirt wasn’t actually particularly difficult to sew, but it did take a lot of finding separate fabric pieces and then stitching them on to a muslin base. The real challenge were the slash sleeves, which Emily called “pure evil.” To make a slash sleeve, you have to start with a puff sleeve base, and then you have to cut in just the right spot to make sure the secondary fabric can be seen through the sleeves. Emily has sworn off slash sleeves, though the ones she made for Queen Rapunzel were really spectacular.
For more of Emily's work, check out her Tumblr!
7. Disney Villains
From left to right: Abbie, Dan, Katie, Chris, Andy
I’m not going to make a pun about a wickedly good cosplay, because I just spent a weekend in Boston, and as we all know, “wicked” is an actual adjective that they use up there, and I feel like it would just be a bad pun to make. So instead, I’m just going to call it an amazing cosplay, because I think that’s fitting. I was told by the group that Abbie (Malificent) was the real mastermind behind this cosplay. After coming up with a group idea, Abbie set out making all of the costumes. There are actually eight villains in the cosplay all together.
Almost everything in the Disney Villains cosplay was made by Abbie, from her Malificent cloak to Cruella’s coat to the wigs for each character. That’s right. The wigs and all synthetic fur products are made out of a imitation fur fiber from National Fiber Tech. The group gathered a lot of attention, and even whilst interviewing them we frequently had to stop so con-goers could take pictures. Abbie told me she did all of the costumes in the past two weeks. “You haven’t slept, then,” I said. “I haven’t,” she replied. I mean, when you look that good, do you even need sleep? (I'm assuming yes, but still.)
For more villainous work, check out the group's Facebook Fan Page!
8. Powergirl by Elissa
Elissa told me that her Powergirl costume was plagued by a series of technical difficulties before she even made it to the con floor, though I couldn’t tell. All that her difficulties meant was that she had to improvise before the convention. The blonde wig was not the one she originally ordered, and is instead a styled one that Elissa cut herself. She also made her own boot covers and modified the bodysuit.
Elissa and I both bemoaned the tribulations of wearing a corset on the con floor: one the one hand, you look amazing (look at how amazing Elissa looks. Look!) On the other, you can sometimes feel your internal organs straight up going ‘nope!’ Even so, Elissa loved being Powergirl. She told me that PG is both awesome and recognizable, and that it’s a big confidence booster, putting on the white bodysuit.
9. Harley and Joker by Ashley and Jensen
Let me tell you something about Harley Quinn cosplays: there are a lot of them. But that’s not a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s quite the opposite. Harley is one of those characters that people love, and she brings out the creative side in everyone. Ashley and Jensen wanted to do a Harley and Joker, but they also wanted to put their own spin on it, and that’s what drew me to their costumes.
Ashley’s Harley dress is handmade, except for the bra part. She put a more vintage spin on Harley’s look. Most of Jensen’s costume is thrifted, as he wanted to lean away from the “glawsgow smile” Joker that was popularized by the Dark Knight franchise, and instead followed Ashley’s lead to go with something a bit more classic. The props were found at a Halloween store.
For more of Ashley's work, check out her Facebook Fan Page!
10. Peggy and Cap by Hannah and Jason
Here’s a fun fact: you see that photo where they’re looking at each other? Entirely candid. We were using two cameras to take the photos, and we told them that one of them wasn’t working, so the two shared a moment that looks exactly like Cap and Peggy out of the movie. They’re not even cosplaying, guys. They actually are Cap and Peggy. I’m not even sure if this is cosplay or some kind of meta-vintage costume thing I don’t know, that sounded more clever in my head.
Jason is in the Army Reserve and Hannah already had a love of vintage fashion, in case you weren’t already sold on them being Cap and Peggy yet. They actually already owned most of what they’re wearing, though Hannah did have to take an emergency trip to the Cambridge garment district to find a skirt, and Jason had to do a bit of painting and recoloring on his own gear to match Cap’s outfit. He was planning to print out the lyrics of “star spangled man with a plan” and tape them to the back of his shield, but didn’t have the time.
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