Anyway, it turns out that most of our costumes won't require that much sewing this year, other than Sugarplum's. Which is even more of a good thing considering what I just found out earlier this week...Wizard World, the convention that we usually attend in September, isn't coming to Nashville this year. That means our only choice now is FanBoy Expo, which I don't know much about, but it looks like it'll be good. There's one in Nashville in May, and one in Knoxville in June. That leaves us only around 3 months to get everything ready!
Thankfully, everyone has made up their minds on who they want to be, though it did take us a while. We debated for what seemed like forever on whether or not we could come up with a group cosplay, like maybe all cosplaying as characters from The Force Awakens. We ended up scratching that idea, because in every scenario at least one person was going to end up settling for a costume that they weren't necessarily thrilled about. I really wanted my sisters, especially, to be whoever they really wanted to for their first ComiCon.
So, without further ado, here is what we have all decided on for this year's ComiCon, and our progress so far.
My costume: Abby Sciuto from NCIS
I watched the show NCIS faithfully for a few years. Now I mostly see re-runs, but Abby has always been a favorite. I mean, who doesn't love Abby? So far her outfit has been pretty fun to put together. I really couldn't have chosen anyone whose sense of style was more different from my own! But that's actually what makes it so much fun.
So far I have ordered a lab coat, which I plan on embroidering with "NCIS" myself; a black wig, which I will be cutting and styling; black and white striped knee socks; a black spiked dog collar; and one skull bracelet. All of those came off of eBay. I already own a pair of black combat boots that I'll be using. Still keeping my eye out for a plaid skirt, another bracelet, and some sort of skull/skeleton top. Also a pair of black leggings, because the knee sock and mini skirt combo is a little....bare...for me. DH will be helping me with the tattoos when the time comes...I have zero tattoos, and Abby has 7 that will be visible! We haven't quite decided yet what method we'll be using for those, so I'll keep you updated and probably post a tutorial later on.
DH's costume: The Man with No Name from A Fistful of Dollars
I've only actually seen parts of this movie a couple of times, honestly, so I don't know that much about it other than this guy is the gun-slingin' hero! DH searched for a while for a character that he could pull off with his current beard and hairstyle. We've discovered in the past couple of years that there really aren't very many bearded characters, besides old men and wizards! Anyway, he already owns at least a couple of pieces for this look, including the shoes and vest. He's currently looking for the hat (I told him just to wear his Indiana Jones hat from last year, but he claims that this is a pretty specific hat, haha. Shows you what I know.). We're thinking for the poncho we'll end up buying or making a plain brown one, and then painting the designs on. You can actually find this specific poncho for sale online, but they're quite pricey.
Sugarplum's costume: Samantha Parkington, an American Girl
My sisters and I all grew up with American Girl dolls. I didn't personally own Samantha until I was a teenager (I started collecting the dolls as they were being discontinued), but my older sister did. I chose Samantha for Sugarplum because they look the most alike. :) This will be the one costume that will be sewn completely from scratch. And let me tell you...that fabric is NOT easy to find! It's technically a burgundy and grey gingham print on a kind of taffeta like fabric, but no such thing seems to actually exist in the real world. I've had to settle for a burgundy gingham on cotton, which I found at Hobby Lobby for ~$3.50 a yard sale price. It's certainly not exact but it's the closest I could find...well, there was one slightly closer that I found online, but with the cost of shipping it would have been $25 total at least. It wasn't different enough to pay that much.
I also have the ribbon for the waist, and a pattern for a very similar looking girls' Victorian dress, which I found on Etsy. I ordered a pair of black patent leather dress shoes from eBay, but I'll still need to find the black stockings, and something to use for that gold ring on the belt.
M's costume: Rey from Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Despite the fact that we decided not to go with a group Star Wars cosplay, there will still be one TFA character in the bunch. My 18-year-old sister is going to be cosplaying Rey, the heroine of the movie. As soon as I saw Rey I knew that she'd be a good character to be...her outfit just looks so comfy and fun, doesn't it? We haven't done much shopping for my sisters' costumes yet, since we'd like to do it together and they live a few hours away. I'm planning on visiting next week, though, and I'm sure we'll get a lot accomplished then. However, I did happen to pick up a belt much like Rey's at Goodwill a few months ago on a whim, and I found a perfect pair of pants (that I'm hoping will fit!) at Goodwill a couple of days ago. They're long pants, so I'll have to cut them off and tie them at the knees. Right now I'm on a search for the perfect fabric to drape around her...something light and flowy but not super expensive, which is easier said than done. The other piece that may be difficult to find is the boots, unless she has something already that I don't know about. I'm sure we won't find anything too exact, but as long as they're close in style and color I think she'll be satisfied.
D's costume: Vanellope Von Schweetz from Wreck it Ralph
My 14-year-old sister changed her mind multiple times, but finally decided on Vanellope. We haven't gotten any pieces for her costume yet - though I believe she said she had some shoes that would work - but we have made some plans. I found a tutorial on Pinterest for painting a pair of white tights to look like Vanellope's, and we've talked about how to do the candy for her hair. She wants to use real candy, so we plan to glue it onto bobby pins. We may even thread a wire through an actual Twizzler to wrap around her ponytail! Finding a teal hoodie that doesn't have a zipper down the front is proving harder than I would have thought, so there has also been talk of buying a white hoodie and dying it the correct color.
And there you have it! We ended up with a very random combination of characters, but I think we're all happy with what we've decided on. There will be progress reports to come, so stay tuned!
