I'm going to a comic convention this weekend. After my very first con experience last year, I made it a goal to develop at least one costume that I would really like & enjoy & that would suit me & so forth. I found out about this weekend's con with not a lot of prep time & not a lot of money... so I picked something I thought could be simple/cheap & decided to aim for it. Castiel from Supernatural. Aw yeah.
I did a bit of searching to see what sort of things had already been done by lady folk in this venture, & I have to say, I was disappointed. I am a firm believer in DO WHAT YOU WANT, it's your costume so enjoy it... but... most of what I saw (by which I mean like all but one) seemed to fall into the following categories:
-Look, I'm a Sexy Lady, See How I've Changed Everything from the Original Outfit to Girly Stuff
-I Worked Really Hard on These Wings, ADMIRE MY WINGS
-I Have the Most Authentic Costume Because I Used Makeup to Create Pretend Stubble
So I didn't find much that made me feel like I was joining a rich cultural history of ladies cosplaying as this character. I was able to respect the effort done by the folk in what I saw, but I didn't feel like I related to any of them. I'm just keeping it simple. Castiel isn't girly, you don't see his wings, & his stubble isn't fake... so why would I do any of that? I did get girly shoes, because I will get a lot of use out of them beyond this costume, & I'm going to wear eyeliner + mascara, because intense eyes will work well I think.
Here's what I got, & from whence it came:
-trench coat, Goodwill
-dressy black shoes, Goodwill
-navy blue necktie, Goodwill
-white button-down shirt, borrowing from mom, who got it at a thrift store
-black slacks + blazer, borrowing from mom, who got them at a thrift store
-wings pendant, Michaels (pieces separated, turned into earrings)
-black dress socks, too old to remember source
-mascara, also source unknown
-eyeliner, Target
-hair gel, Target
I wore the earrings for a couple of days to make sure I wouldn't die from how big they are, I've tried on all of the clothes together, & I've made sure I can apply the eyeliner in a way that seems okay to be seen in public (I'm bad at makeup, okay, I'm not like those sassy stylish goa'uld). So I'm pretty excited to see how it all works together! I am telling myself that I will NOT just end up feeling/looking ridiculous. :-l There was another part I really wanted to do that I didn't get done, but I might some other time. It's still a fun idea, but if I do it at all I want to do it as well as possible. I also thought of a way to get the effect of wings, with absolute minimal cost/effort, but I think I want to just leave off wings entirely so it's more like actual Castiel. (...but if you want to know my idea, hit me up!)
I was hoping to be alllllllll caught up on Supernatural before the con, just in case somebody tries to start a conversation with me & is all "SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER", but hey, it's not going to happen. That's okay. We're nearly done with season seven. Mmmmm. (& I already have a lot of spoilers spoiled anyway. Meh. The show is done well enough that it isn't a huge deal. [But I don't like spoilers.])
Next week, I'll probably share about how the con/costume turned out!
