Last Sunday it was of course May the Fourth, and I hadn't planned to do anything more than watch the latest episodes of Andor. But when Swedish garrison was asked if we could be on TV4 Nyhetsmorgon, basically the biggest morning show on national TV, and I was asked to take care of the talking of course I said yes, I was going to be in Stockholm over the weekend anyway. I chose to go as a pilot, since that is the most iconic costume that I have, except for Princess Leia.
It was fun wearing the pilot again, for the first time in several years. I even brought my best boots, the East German military boots that are both too big in the foot and to small around the calves so I can't walk or march in them, but they look the best when standing or sitting.
They had quite a nice backdrop and even smoke in the studio. I got to talk about Star Wars day the costuming clubs and the charity work that we do.
I was talking and the other troopers looked cool. It was a fun thing to do on a Sunday morning. I
As I said in my previous post I had the opportunity to have photos taken with Red Island Media and he has already sent some of them to me.
My main priority was to finally get decent photos of my pilot. I have had several sessions with photographers for the pilot, and then they have disappeared without sending me the photos. This has made me weary about using photographers who don't get paid, or whom I don't already know. Thankfully I know this photographer, he is also the one who did the beautful Melisandre photos last year at AvestaCon.
Then I had just recently dyed my hair and I was really happy with the result, so I chose to do some photos of me as a regular Hogwarts student, so I could show off the hair. I'm calling these photos Autumn at Hogwarts
I had to have at least one photo of me as Luna as well though, and with some nice scenery around I wanted to have her in nature where she belongs
One of the best things with AvestaCon is the location, there are simply so many interesting things in a place made from slag bricks and with nature just around the corner.
It was time again for ComicCon Stockholm, which is the biggest comiccon-like event of the year in Sweden. This year I didn't bring anything new, but it was the first time I wore Luna Lovegood for a big event, it was also the first time that we had the whole HP crew from Cosplay Dalarna assembled.
Friday is always a slow day. I did a stint as X-wing pilot in the Nordic Legions' booth. I decided to have some fun with make-up though, I mean how often can you wear the green lipstick you got from your sister?
Matching lips and hairband
I finally had the opportunity to meet up with the amazing Britta though, at NärCon I had only seen her in a distance when she was wearing her costume. She is definitely one of the coolest and nicest cosplayers I know.
Saturday was crazy. Simply put they had oversold tickets and let way too many people in. It was so crowded that you could barely move. The queue outside was Celebration-like, stretching for hundreds of meters. It was great fun patrolling the queue though, and it's always fun when you do it in a group. This time there were four of us X-wing pilots going around.
I also had a presentation of the Nordic Legions. It was the same set-up as in NärCon, since I think that works really well. It was a bigger crowd than at NärCon, but also more kids who just wanted to see cool costumes and not listen to the "behind the scenes" of being in one of the big Star Wars costuming clubs.
After the talk I switched to Lune Lovegood for the rest of the day, and had a lot of fun with the HP Dalarna people.
When my bloodsugar dropped I even found some candy that was straight out of Honeydukes
The whole HP gang ready for action
We also made the Heroes Cosplay Walk on, but that was a mess due to the number of people and the organizers not setting a cap on the number of entrants. We got a lot of cheers from the audience though, showing once again that a group is always appreciated.
On Sunday I was in the Nordic Legions' booth as Luna, it was my first official Reel Icons troop. There were a bunch of different characters, which always leads to fun photos, but my favorite was the little girl who came as Luna and wanted to have her photo with me. She got to borrow my wand as well, and she was really cute.
Cape off with Batman
Dancing with Haddock, Tintin, Harley Quinn and Batman
Being confused over muggle technology
This is how it works!
Force vs. magic
Unfortunately I didn't feel very well, I had had a cold the week before, and now it returned. I got out of costume and finally got some good photos of my "I heart SW"-dress that I made a year ago.
I was really happy that I had hitched a ride with Monika and Niklas home, instead of sitting on the train. I then had to stay home from work for a couple of days, but now I'm hoping that I'm finally rid of the cold. Next event will be AvestaCon last weekend in October.
ComicCon Stockholm took place the weekend 14th to 16th of September. It bills itself as the largest popculture event in the Nordic Countries, and that is probably true. It has grown out of an earlier game convenction (Gamex) and it has had problems finding a balance between games and general popculture. It's still not perfect, but I felt that it was better than some years, unfortunately it's also now sponsored by one specific store, which has lead to other stores selling popculture stuff not being invited. The merchandise is limited to the one sponsor (and now special con prizes) and smaller independent traders.
Anyway this year I wasn't motivated at all for the convention. If I hadn't booked my hotel in May I would probably not have gone. I felt that I only had my old costumes, nothing new to bring. The dye for my Melisandre coat and hood didn't show up in time so I would not be able to bring the full costume. I stressed to get TLJ Leia done, got it into a wearable but not finished state, only to forget the undergown at home.
In the end it turned out to be one of my best conventions in a long time, and a big part of that was that I had people around that could take a lot of funny photos during the weekend.
Cosplay Dalarna had it's biggest group photo so far on a convention.
On Friday I wore my X-wing pilot first, and I couldn't resist climbing on the the big airplane wing that was in the main hall. Ingeli, who took the photo, said she was a really good friend since she didn't film what it looked like when I tried to get onto the wing. (I basically needed to be pushed over it by two people)
Looking S-foils in attack position
AFter my stint in X-wing I quickly changed to Mon Mothma, and of course I had to take my photo on the Iron throne that HBO had in its area. If I can't rule the galaxy I guess Westeros will do.
The real reason I switched was because Mads Mikkelsen was there and got inducted as an honorary member of the 501st legion, and I wanted to wear a costume that was a bit connected with Rogue One.
The day after I also made sure to have him sign my "A Royal Affaire" DVD.
The three days of ComicCon all have very different atmospheres. On Friday it's quite easy going and you have time to check out all the stands, and if you are interested in games that's the day you have time to test play them without any lines. Saturday was really crowded though. The Nordic Legions had their stand outside the main hall, and after I had gotten my autograph I didn't go in to the main hall for the rest of the day. I did my shifts in the stand and walked the parades, but there was too much people to do anything else.
The R2 builders had invited Simon Wilkie as C3P-0 and I got my photo with him, as you can see the stitches on my white over poncho had unraveled so I need to fix that before the next time I wear it.
Sunday is a family day, with less people, but a lot of kids everywhere. I had brought my Melisandre costume and I used the time to take photos in the HBO area.
As a child I dreamt of a red motorcycle, here I could at least mount a motorcycle in a big red gown.
I finished the con in my X-wing pilot costume again, and finally we managed to be three orange pilots in costume at the same time, thanks to Aiwei from Norway. It was really fun to be in a group and goof around.
So it was a really fun convention, and it shows that you don't need new costumes to have fun, the important thing is to hang around with fun people.
I'm back from a week of travelling, and four full days of Star Wars Celebration madness. Madness is really the best way to describe it, which I guess is what you get when you gather 75 000 fans in one place. It also didn't help that there was quite a few examples of really bad managment, but thankfully I didn't personally suffer from it, mostly because I made a choice not trying to get into the major panels but happy to just go to the smaller events and didn't want to go after any exclusives.
This is a blog about costumes though, so I will concentrate on that here. I've divided it into three parts; what I wore, other people's costumes and finally fan fashion. I had decided not to go for any big costumes, but rather just pieces that were comfortable and easy to pack, I still had a few outfits though.
It actually started on Wednesday before the Celebration when me and a group from the three main costuming groups went to an Afternoon Tea. For this tea I decided to go for a Queen Amidala inspired vintage look. I'm going to write a separate post about this outfit later, but one thing that's not visible is the 50's half hat that I've posted some info about earlier.
I wore the coat part of the outfit to the 501st banquet on Friday as well. Then I paired it with some sleek black trousers and a hair updo, I didn't get a single photo of that evening though, but I actually think I prefer that overall look.
The costume I spent the most time in was the X-wing pilot. I didn't bring the helmet with me, and I didn't wear the gloves. It was basically a "briefing scene"-version. The main reason for bringing the pilot was that I had paid for a photo with Denis Lawson, who plays Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy.
I also met up with Sigge in his TFA pilot outfit.
And on Sunday I wore it again and walked around a bit with Ingeli in her TIE reserve pilot.
The other proper costume that I wore was my Mon Mothma costume. I had it on for the Rebel Legion group photo, but didn't get any individual photos of that one either. In a weird way of costume misidentification I got called Aunt Beru in it though.
A reason for me not wearing Mon Mothma so much was that the RL group photo was on the same day as the Running of the Hoods. The Running of the Hoods is hard to explain for non-hardcore fans, but it's great fun being part of around 70 people running around in orange, shouting about "Ice Cream". I must say that I have abeen a trendsetter here. Last year in London I brought my giant IKEA moustache, and this year the Germans had bought a load of them and gave them away to people. I learnt in London that it's hotter and more taxing than you might think to run in slow motion for an hour or so, so I this year I made sure to bring a water bottle and I didn't have the giant wig.
Me and Ryan as moustache twins
All the Willrows
And for some live action there is the stream from the Star Wars live action show. I think I linked to the right mark, otherwise it's around 4h35m in.
The outfit that I get most compliments for though, even if people don't stop and take photos, is my Greedo dress. I was really happy that I could run into Holly, who designed the fabric, while I was wearing the dress.
On Thursday evening there was an evening celebration for Carrie Fisher. I decided on Saturday to go, so I hadn't prepared anything for it. The dress code was dress up or cosplay, and since I knew a few of my friends were bringing gowns and tuxedos, I went for one of my ballgowns.
This is a gown that I made in 2005 and it consists of two parts. It's a black undergown, that's a gown in itself with a flurry of chiffon ruffles. Over it is simply a large piece of silk that's been draped. I made it like that before I was simply too afraid of cutting into the fabric, so it's just sewn together at the shoulders, and then I've tied a black sash at the waist to keep it in shape. Originally it was worn with a black corset, but I think I prefer this softer look. The pattern on the fabric resembles hazy moons, so in honour of Carrie Fisher I think I'm going to call this my "Drowning in moonlight"-gown from now on.
Me and some friends at the gala.
Overall the Mon Mothma costume and X-wing pilot will probably be my go to costumes for conventions, both are easy to pack and nice and comfortable to wear. I'm inspired to make more pieces like the Greedo dress though.
Comic Con has turned into my favorite Swedish con. I really like that there is so much going on with panels, different exhibitors and a lot of cosplay. Unfortunately I missed all the cosplay competitions because I was either working in the Nordic Legions' booth or in the case of the World Cosplay Summit qualification had to leave to catch the train back home.
I was stupid enough to sign up with Three costumes, Amidala, Endor trooper and X-wing pilot. The reason for that was that I had the chance to do booth duty with matching troopers. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of me as an Endor trooper, together with the other trooper. I did use the vest option for the first time, and I actually think I prefer it compared to the camo jacket. I really want to repaint my helmet though before I use it the next time.
My Amidala is big and cumbersome to get into, but I finally got the chance to troop with a Qui-Gon Jinn.
I had some serious issues with my hairbags and hair donuts. You can see that they look almost like Mickey Mouse ears. Thankfully the con was held close to a shopping mall, so after this stint in the costume I ran off and bought a soft headband that I attached the hairbags too, and it made it easier to also attach the hairballs in a correct position.
They looked much better the next day, when I also took the chance to conquer Westeros and sit on the Iron throne. It was too small for my skirts though, so I preferred spending time with Hello Kitty instead.
I even got a new tiara from her.
I got nothing from Jabba though.
I spent the mornings in Amidala and then I switched to my X-wing pilot. I was really excited about my new boots. They are a pair of proper German military boots, but they are way too big in the feet so I will have no problems putting in some extra gel soles in them to make them even more comfortable.
I feel really short when I look at this photo though.
I had a great time at the con, and at the aftertroops when you just sit down with a great bunch of people and have fun.
As I said I didn't get the chance to see any of the cosplay competitions, but some of the best cosplayers shared their changing room with us so I got to see some really amazing costumes anyway.
