Free Comic Book Day Fun

A couple days ago was Free Comic Book Day! I love it. Sort of like a mini comic con when it's done right. Plus, you walk away with free comics. Win-win! Truth be told, I don't really go for the comics though. The best part for me, is getting to cosplay. To be a character for a while. I haven't been cosplaying much in a while. Between life being so busy with 4 kids and not being able to get away for comic cons.... okay and dealing with the larger body size... I just haven't been able to work up the joy I used to have for this hobby of mine. However, I made the last minute decision to be Wanda aka the Scarlet Witch from the Avengers. I love Wanda's style. The red was a huge draw for me. Love red! Her story might be a sad one, but it ended on a good note. As far as I know. I haven't seen WandaVision. Since I don't subscribe to streaming services, I'll have to miss out on that show. So my knowledge of her comes from the movies. 

Last minute makings

My mom gave me 2 dresses. One maroon, one purple. Both identical otherwise. They are vintage styled. 50's, with empire waist and well flared skirts. I love them both. For the purple one, at first, I had the idea to create a Joker themed outfit. But I haven't had the time to start designing that yet. So my thoughts shifted to the maroon dress. 

I thought of 2 characters: Wanda from Avengers and Jean Grey from X-Men. Of course, for the latter one, that is the Phoenix or Dark Phoenix version. Like from the movie...

                                    After some deliberation, Scarlet Witch won my choice. 

Mind you, this was all configured the night before the event. So I worked in between gaming with my husband. It also meant that the designing was quick and not going to last for a long term cosplay with multiple uses. But that is okay. I like to switch it up. 

Piecing the style together

The dress came with a belt from my mom. The belt was too large for me - even after pulling it as tight as it was made to go. So I had to safety pin it from underneath. You can't see the pins, and the belt stayed in place! If I was to redo this, I'd go find a new belt to use that was smaller around my middle. I didn't have to do anything else to the dress though. 

I had these gloves from another cosplay I had before. They aren't the best, but they are versatile in their usefulness. I pulled them out and promptly forgot to bring them along... But they would have been awesome for this outfit! 

Of course, black boots seemed fitting. I have them. They matched. Good enough. One day I think I'll try to do something to make or get red boots. Especially if I do a Wonder Woman cosplay.... 

Red hair is a must. Scarlet is in her name and blends it all together so nicely. I have 2 wigs (so far). One is this red, and I have a blond. My husband loves them both. I can change my hair up in about 5 minutes without smelly dyes and semi-permanent results!  

I don't have a red cape. So instead I added this sleeveless long cardigan vest I have. I love this piece! And I hope to get another one. In blue this time. They work well with everyday wear as well as cosplay.

So what else is left? 

Now for the hardest part of this transformation. The headpiece. Considering I did this with cardstock and paint, you'd think it was super easy. You'd be wrong. I printed out this template from another cosplayer. She made it pretty simple, really. But it just didn't look quite right. It matched, don't get me wrong, but felt off. I couldn't quite figure it out. However, after making my own adjustments, I decided to just satisfy myself with it and move on. 

I did find another tutorial HERE that I think you should check out too. Pick the one that works best for you. If I do this again, I think I will use this one and make it with the worbla. 

I do suggest having elastic or a headband to attach it to so that you can wear it easier. I did this all the night before, so I just tucked the sides under my glasses. Big mistake. My hair came loose and the mask kept falling. I looked great for a little while though, so I'm not too torn up over it. We even had another cosplayer (Rocking Spider-man) ask for a group photo with us. Which, if you are a cosplayer, you know this is the highest form of admiration.

It's all for fun

Overall, I'm impressed with this get up. It was quick, easy, yet effective. We had fun as a family! My oldest son dressed up as a military/SWAT type guy (he's still piecing it together). My younger son was a Tusken Raider. My oldest daughter was a medieval princess. And my youngest was Elsa (even had some blue hair going on). My sons and I like to cosplay. My girls just want to dress pretty. But either way leads to fun! Sadly, my husband didn't dress up. He has a movie set-grade cosplay that he put together himself as a SWAT guy from the Resident Evil franchise. And he can easily outshine any cosplay I do with that! But this time, it was way too hot and he had another migraine. 

So now I want to hear from you! Do you cosplay? Who is your favorite character? I love hearing and even seeing them! Send me your Instagram details and I'll gladly follow you. Or email me at texanmama08 at g mail dot com. Show me what you have created!