I told you, "I DON'T LIKE STAR WARS!"

'SUP, NERDS?!

May is Star Wars month and I conveniently finished a new cosplay in time for the 4th. But why celebrate Star Wars when I'm not a superfan? Well, I just really love Kylo Ren. I present to you: Kylo Riz.

Although my blogs are not up-to-date with my first-time Star Wars reviews, I have seen them all with the exception of Solo since it is so fresh and I work waaaaay too much to visit a theatre right now! In fact, I was inspired by taking my friend to The Last Jedi for his birthday to create a Kylo Ren cosplay. I uttered to my friend once the credits rolled, "I'm going to marry Kylo Ren." We parted that evening and I haven't seen him since. Pretty sure I scared him away.

Purchased my corset at a local
adult store one of my besties works at.

Goodbye, Spring

A week later I was browsing the mall and saw a decent cross-guard light saber in the clearance bin. I had to buy it, immediately ordered the helmet and I fell into a downward spiral sewing this cosplay. Overall Kylo Ren wears a simple outfit. I based the robe off of McCall's M7422 and winged the rest of the costume.

As usual, I have little interest in making accurate cosplay and enjoy putting my own twist on things. I decided to make a femme Ren with a little bit of sex appeal. I would love to sew my own, but I purchased a black corset to wear beneath. Then I sewed a simple skirt with a quilted-look as his clothes are in The Last Jedi. I figured I could do a Force Awakens look with the robe and be able to shed a layer and still be the character in this hot, humid place I live in called Florida.

The bolero was a pain in the ass, but definitely the most technical and rewarding piece of the cosplay. I found a couple of patterns and made altercations to get a certain look and cut. After losing a week of my life to ironing and pleating, I made multiple mock ups with scrap fabric, wincing as I cut my hard pleating work, smacking it together to make the bolero.

The wig was purchased through Epic Cosplay in hectate. This is my first ever lace front wig and it was extremely comfortable. I didn't have to worry about readjusting anything the whole evening, even in the absence of wig tape or spirit gum. After wearing the wig for some 8 hours, there were only minor tangles.

May the 4th & meeting the community

The lovely Caity Jane. She's frickin awesome.

I created this cosplay with the intentions of debuting it at ACen 2018, but due to this wonderfully unexpected burst of motivation, I finished the cosplay with plenty of time to detail it for May the 4th. So what did I do? Go out to the bars and enter costume contests!!

I'm extremely glad that I went out because I managed to meet a ton of SWFL cosplayers, a community I haven't even delved into since moving to SWFL last summer. I don't really know why I haven't sought out cosplayers prior to this event, but I think it comes down to not creating anything new (until recently of course) and working... like all the time.

I met Seraphima Cosplay who hosted a fun event at Millennial Brewing Co. Super sweet people. Seraphima and friends spent a lot of time taking photos with patrons and their children. The weekend prior they dressed as the Avengers for the latest film premier. I love how invested they are in the community and making their cosplay events family-friendly.

The first minute I walked into Millennial Brewing, Caity Jayne Cosplay ambushed me exclaiming, "PLEASE TAKE PICTURES WITH ME NOW!!!!" I was a bit overwhelmed after hauling all my gear in, but dove straight into shooting some phenomenal photos of us dueling. She makes such a good Rey. Her eagerness to get to know more about me made me feel immediately included within the group.

I like to think we represent the new wave of Star Wars hotties really well.
11/10 waifu material in my book.
Photo Credit: Seraphima Cosplay

I also got to spend some time with another local, Okami Cosplay, who dressed as RTOJ Luke Skywalker. After the event, he and Caity Jayne inducted me into their cosplay family, an honor I gladly accepted! Hopefully I'll see a lot more of them this summer at events and other conventions. Unfortunately I missed out on Megacon, which was the weekend following ACen due to work conflict and spending so much at ACen as well. I know Megacon is Florida's largest convention and pretty much everyone I met attended!

le dramu d'cosplay

I ended the evening attending another costume contest at *redacted bar that doesn't deserve any publicity*, which left a sour taste in my mouth. I'm very well aware that Halloween and general costume contests for the public are not based on the merit of artist's work-- the artist being either you or you commissioning someone to make it. However, my blood is still boiling because what was supposed to be a costume contest was soiled by an asshole wearing a t-shirt.

I found my grand-pappy... in biker gear! :>

Due to mass popularity (or just having extremely obnoxious screeching friends) a woman entered a costume contest only wearing a Star Wars graphic tee and ended up winning first place. Although this wasn't a huge contest, everyone that otherwise entered were wearing stuff they created or custom ordered. I felt incredibly disrespected because--do I even need to explain myself?? How does someone win a costume contest not wearing a costume?

I'm never upset in any way if I ever enter a contest and not win because I sew for myself, just for fun. However, someone not even in costume winning is preposterous and disrespectful to even those that put the effort and money into to even buying a costume. I do feel vindicated because a bunch of people came up to me at the end of the contest much more upset than I, calling bullshit to the judges!

Upcoming Designs

Thank you for enduring my rant, but overall May the 4th was awesome. I've never had so much fun participating in a silly little holiday until now and I met so many good people that cosplay with the best intentions, despite having an icky experience at the end of the night.

Unfortunately my goal to was to create more than one costume in time for ACen, but I will be showcasing future cosplays once I finish them this summer. I've got three separate outfits in various states of being finished but at least I was able to assemble Kylo Riz. My next major project is going to be a completely original design and persona I'm developing for an event in early July... I cannot wait to showcase it, it's gonna be epic!

LATER, DWEEBS!

Loverly Liz