Becoming Elsa from Frozen for Setsucon 2014

After Kotoricon ended, I had this sudden determination to cosplay as Elsa from Frozen and go premiere it at Setsucon. I told Nick and he agreed to go as Kristoff! WOOT! Another convention to go to...and one we've never been to!
Then it sets in....we have to make our cosplays. Okay, okay, I have styled wigs galore and made small props, and some sewing for previous cosplays but this time we were legit gonna make the whole deal. Besides, an Elsa costume is almost 1,000 bucks online! Wha!?!
I was more than ready to dive headfirst and make this happen. We had less than two weeks to make Elsa and Kristoff come alive. 
When making a cosplay, it is good to go through inventory of what you already have that will work. For me, I had a long platinum wig, high heels that could be used, and that was pretty much it. Oh dear.
I studied pics of Elsa in her glorious ice dress and decide that I will buy a dancers leotard and long ballet skirt in white and dye it. And that I did. They turned a lovely blue hue that was perfect. I then sewed the two together to make a dress.

 Taaaa daaaaa successfully sewn together! Now the next part was tricky. During the course of making Elsa's gown, I must have went to Joann's Fabrics 4 separate times and to AC Moore probably 2 times. I spent more money than necessary because I was against the clock and didn't think things through. The biggest mistake I made was buying three different types of fabric that I layered on each other. It looked AWESOME. I was making a bodice to sew onto the top half of the dress. However, the fabric did not stretch like the leotard top does and it would pop seams. Sewing 101: failed.
Rather than freak out and throw in the towel (OK, I almost did) I decided to go on a hunt for a sparkly tank or bodice/corset top that I could wear over the leotard. My mom and I went to a store that sells a lot of ahem clubbing clothes...sparkly, gaudy, skimpy outfits. And there, we found THE shirt. It was not sparkly or silver, but we saw it and said YES!
This shirt had gauzey sleeves and a bodice already on it. It was $19.99. Sold! I got home and pulled on the dress and then pulled the shirt over it. Perfection! All I had to do was dye the shirt the blue color and then make the bodice a sparkly explosion! I dyed it that night and hung it to dry. The next day I sponge painted the bodice silvery-sparklies with a tee shirt paint.
I had a pair of white heels that I jazzed up with snowflakes and the wig was easy to do. Simple side braid with baby snowflakes bobby pinned into the plait. The slit was cut the day I wore the cosplay. I sewed the cape on the night before the convention...it was blue and loaded with glitter that sparkled and moved well when I walked.

In the end I looked like this:

 And YES that is real snow! There were mad flurries! What luck!

All in all, I felt happy with my cosplay and people took very well to it! I knew I was missing some of her designs on her sleeves and my cape was sparkly sans snowflake designs. The bodice differs as it has a V on the front. I didn't have sleeves that ended in a point. There were differences from movie Elsa.
This is all good because now I know what works and doesn't work for this cosplay and what I can improve for the next convention which happens to be Katuscon 2014. I bought a new shirt to work on and will be sewing on fabric so there is no V center. I am making a snowflake cape and transforming my high heels into the ice shoes shown in the movie. I'm also going to have the pretty designs on the sleeves. Best part: I have time on my side!
My advice to people who are beginning to make their own cosplays: have confidence and be proud of what you created! Do NOT compare yourself to others who may have the same cosplay as you. You each can learn something from the other in how you made it or wore it :) We are all doing this for fun; it's not a contest! (unless you are in a contest...)
I debuted Elsa at a smaller con so I could see what I needed to change or tweak. And I know now, and I am working on that! Nick made his Kristoff cosplay which was pretty amazing...I will show it in the Setsucon review :)

Kotoricon 2014!!!

Hey hey hey! New Years resolution: lots of awesome sauce posts and tutorials and con reviews and photos!
What has been going on recently with me.......? In August, I went to Disney World with Nick (my kareshi) and two friends. 

I love Epcot!!!

Then I was in The Scarlet Pimpernel musical with Nick. I was Marguerite St. Just and he was Chauvelin. It was a blast; I love being on the stage! 

 The Scarlet Pimpernel, November 2013! Yes, that is a guillotine behind us...made by my dad. He makes some of my cosplay props...except the swords; that's Nick's job lol

 Christmas and New Years were great this year! I had a wonderful time with my friends and family...!

WELL! Convention has begun! Well, at least for me on the east coast! Immediately after Christmas, it was time to start unpacking my cosplays from their garment bags, opening boxes of props, and re touching wigs. Not to mention ordering any contacts that expired...if you wear colored contacts keep in mind they only last a year...you don't want an eye infection during a con!!!

The first convention of the season was Kotoricon at Gloucester Community College in New Jersey. I went to Kotoricon last year and loved it, so I couldn't wait to return this year. This year was the first year Kotoricon was for two days instead of one...it is amazing to see how this little convention has thrived! Another difference from last year was that no tickets would be available at the door so you had to buy online. Nick and I tried to get tickets a week before and it was closed off....I was beyond devastated. We would've bought the tix earlier but I was having health problems galore. It was one of those deals where you are constantly saying "oh yes, must buy tix for Kotoricon" and then forget about it. Nick emailed the convention staff and told them about the health issues I was having and we were so looking forward to the convention. Basically, I knew (and so did Nick) that cosplaying would raise my spirits from all the medical nonsense I've been dealing with. We were allowed to get the tickets in the end! Susan Glenn (one of the convention organizers) is an amazing person for letting us come. I met her at the charity auction that day and profusely thanked her for doing this great favor for us and making me feel so much happier than I've been lately. 
So....once we got the tickets it was time to decide who shall we cosplay as? We didn't have any new ones for 2014, so we decided to kick off the con season with our always beloved Bleach characters Captain Soi Fon and Urahara.
Saturday morning we rolled up to Kotoricon '14 and dressed in the parking lot/car lol. For the sake of cosplay! 
We entered the convention and picked up our badges. I really like their badges; they are little dog tags! Perfect for when asked to take pics they are easily tucked away. All my other con badges I tie onto my bag. I think its an eyesore in photographs to see a big plastic badge staring ya in the face...it destroys the cosplay vision IMO. Same with bags, etc. I carry a black tote around cons and either lay it at my feet for photos or hand to a friend or I put it against a wall and pose beside it to keep it in my sight. So many options lol.
We went to a Pokeholic panel which was hilarious...the one last year was good and this was even better. Nick plays the new Pokemon x and y on his ds and he really enjoyed it. I am old school Pokemon so I don't know a lot of the new guys. Maybe I'll try the game...maybe lol.

 Pokeholic Panel!

Kotoricon had open mic karaoke, so I jumped on stage and sang my fave "Life is like a Boat". There were some problems with the sound system and Nick did a dramatic reading of "Killing me Softly." >__<  he's cray. Then we did a duet...."Love is an Open Door" from Frozen!!! That was fun....! I was gonna sing Let it Go, but then karaoke time was over because a musical guest came in. Her name was Sneko. She sings popular anime and J POP songs and dressed gyaru lolita. She pranced around on the stage with her back up dancers in cute outfits. I didn't stay for the whole time, because artist's alley and the dealer's room were beckoning me. 

 

Urahara doing his thing.

Nick got me an awesome wig in the dealer's room for $30! Great price AND great quality. It is brown with pink highlights with little pigtails you can clip on the sides. AND, you can use heat on it! Awww yisss! In the Artist Alley I bought this little ring with a cupcake on it. It was $7 but worth it!
Next up was the LARP room. Ok, I am not a fan of LARP, but at Kotoricon they have a room where you can go in with the "swords" and fight. There is a wheel you spin before you enter...the wheel has all different scenarios for the room. Zombies, dragons, etc. We didn't spin the wheel because the people at the LARP table suggested a scenario that was their personal favorite. It was called Dark something...I forget. But it was a Walking Dead scenario. We were given the rules (how many taps kill, don't hit people in the groin, etc) and entered. Firstly, the room stunk to high heaven. My GOD. Secondly, it was mad dark so I kinda stayed by the door while the "zombies" came out to fight. I stood there watching until one of the zombies was near me and I asked to hit him LOL. He said yes, and I went to town on them after that. I "killed' two. 

 Elphaba! There was a Glinda there too.

 These girls were adorable!

All in all, Kotoricon '14 was a blast just like last year. I give it five outta five! It's not overwhelming with tons of people...I think the attendee count was around 1400! The staff is nice and helpful and the vendors creative. The food there is affordable and plentiful. They had Chinese food, pizza, chicken tenders and fries, etc. Lots to choose from. They also had soft pretzels...my faveeee nommm! Kotoricon has a free photo place too with a pro photographer! You get your pic taken and come back in a few minutes to get your copy which they put on a paper background with "Kotoricon 2014" emblazoned on it.

 Sweet little Yoruichi-sama we ran into! (This is the free photo area; I didn't include the border for the blog pics)

 Urahara, Soi Fon, and Yoruichi

 Looking forward to Kotoricon '15...next year's theme is "Spaaaace"! Next blog entry will be about Setsucon 2014 in State College, PA. Nick and I went as Kristoff and Elsa from Frozen. It was good times!