2017 Cosplans

I’ve gotten the bug. The cosplay bug… And after my experience cosplaying this year for my first time, I can’t stop dreaming about all the cosplays I want to do! The list grows constantly… But here are the six that currently have my attention for 2017, starting with…

TYRA – PALADINS
Image from Paladins by Hi-Rez Studios

A little while ago, 3 of our friends accepted jobs at a studio in Georgia called Hi-Rez. Some of you might be familiar with their games, Smite and (the still in beta), Paladins. Losing our friends to the move has been sort of a bummer, so to make it less of a bummer, Jeff and I decided to plan a trip to Georgia to see them! We are also planning on GOING TO DRAGONCON FOR THE FIRST TIME EVEEERRRR. I am VERY VERY excited about both of these things.

So my friend and makeup goddess, Sofi, and I decided to plan a cosplay together. After throwing around a few ideas, we decided to represent Hi-Rez and choose a couple of Paladins characters. I decided to go with Tyra BECAUSE LOOK AT HER! SHE’S AMAZING. Also, I feel like Tyra will give me a chance to sculpt with foam some more, so I am really excited for the challenge. In fact, the bear head and fire horn thingy are already underway as I am typing this! Oh, and for those wondering, Sofi decided on Evie (my second favorite). Can’t wait for Dragoncon! Eeeeee!

ART NOUVEAU ANNA – CONCEPT BY HANNAH ALEXANDER
Image from Hannah Alexander

I have been eye-balling Hannah Alexander‘s concepts since last year. If you are digging this Anna, then look at all the other things she’s done. There’s obviously an Elsa, but also pretty much every other Disney princess under the sun (and like a thousand other recognizable characters). Originally, this was the second cosplay I had wanted to do, scouring every fabric store I walked into for forest green velvet (which I finally found last weekend in LA, thank goddd). The thing is, my sewing skills are still improving and this is a hell of an undertaking. I feel like I’m getting better and better though, and I finally found 2 different patterns I think I can alter to make this dress happen. I also have a hefty supply of practice fabrics, so I’m ready. I might still wait on this one until mid-year or so, after I finish…

PINK SNOW BELLE – DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Images from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Growing up, Belle was always my favorite princess. I liked her songs, she was sort of a weirdo.. we both had brown hair? I don’t know, but I loved her so much. My parents let me choose my sister’s middle name when I was 5, and I chose the name Rose BECAUSE OF BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. It was so much simpler back then…

My dream growing up was to BE her at Disneyland (a dream I never achieved, however my best friend from high school eventually went on to become Aurora for like 7 years, so I’m going to count it… close enough). Anyways though, now that I am learning to sew and cosplay, I felt it was time to add her to the list. I chose my favorite Belle dress; her pink snow-fur dress. I have a pretty good idea how I’m going to make this one, so it might be coming sooner than later. Just a couple more test runs on the pattern, aannnddd actually purchasing the fabric, and we are golden!

TRISS MERIGOLD – WITCHER 3
Images from Witcher 3

I LOVE TRISS, AND I LOVE THE WITCHER GAMES SO MUCH. You know what I listen to when I work on cosplay? THE WITCHER SOUNDTRACK, THAT’S WHAT. Triss is a sexy ass bamf. She’s powerful, she’s brave, she’s kind. She’s just so rad and besides Geralt himself, she’s def the one I most want to cosplay. The thing with Triss though… and I feel like this goes with almost everyone in this series… Is her ensemble is definitely a bit more advanced. She’s much lower on this list for that reason. I want to get a little more experience under my belt before I attempt her.

ROSE QUARTZ – STEVEN UNIVERSE
Images from Steven Universe

Steven Universe is one of my favorite cartoons. It makes me feel so much joy. I talk about it in a later blog post, but when my days have been particularly stressful, I get into my car, and I listen to music from the show. It transports me into a place of warmth and love and acceptance almost immediately.

Rose Quartz isn’t necessarily my favorite gem (that would be Amethyst), but that doesn’t mean she’s not wonderful. I love that Rebecca Sugar made such a “giant woman.” I feel like Rose helps me feel like I belong. She writes her in such a strong and beautiful way… a way not often portrayed by women in larger bodies. I want to cosplay her because she’s so important to me. Everything she is and everything she stands for is so positive. She’s a MUST MUST MUST for me.

T4 DRUID – WORLD OF WARCRAFT
Images from Kerem Beyit and Ralph Horsley

Throughout college and even some after I played A LOT of World of Warcraft. Specifically a night elf or troll druid (shout out to my old mains, Plumeria and Indienna). So naturally I have decided that I REALLY want to cosplay as my favorite class. The thing is though, I don’t want to make any skirts from WoW. I’m just not that interested in it, so I scoured all of the various druid armor sets, and rediscovered this T4 set. It’s PERFECT. It looks awesome, and there is no skirt in sight. It’s also a marvelous opportunity for me to keep practicing my worbla/foam armor building, and represent WoW druids. Win/win for Erin!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

1. Doctor Strange – Similar to Triss and Anna, this is quite the tailoring undertaking. I am just not ready for Doctor Strange yet, but GOD am I excited to eventually work on this.

2. Bowser, concept by Zach Fischer for Ivy Doomkitty – So if you aren’t familiar with Zach Fischer, Zach is an illustrator that’s been doing awesome work with the cosplay community for a little while now. He’s mostly known for making crazy detailed “armored” versions of characters which are PERFECT for those that like to create cosplay armor as opposed to costumes that are heavily tailored. Getting a custom concept done by Zach can be pricey (but def worth it, if you are really into cosplay), however, once a concept has been completed for the person it was intented for, he’ll sometimes release them for free use for other cosplayers. Here are some he has available at the moment. As it turns out, this Bowser concept for Ivy Doomkitty is in there, AND I HAVE MY EYE ON IT. Maybe one day. It’s def high on my list!

3. Princess Leia from Star Wars: Princess Leia (comic) – Before I ever started getting interested in cosplay, I was reading this particular Star Wars short series about Princess Leia. It’s pretty good, first of all, but around that time, I saw Eve Beaugard cosplay as this version and ever since then, I’ve wanted to do it myself.

4. Padme Celebration Dress – There really aren’t many great things about Star Wars Episodes 1, 2 and 3, but when I was a kid, and Episode 1 came out, there were two things that really stirred something inside me… Amidala’s dresses, and young, Ewan-infused Obi-Wan (mmmmmmmmm). Of Amidala’s dresses, the Naboo Celebration gown was one of my absolute favorites. I still think it would be nice to recreate this dress, and fulfill one of my childhood dreams of dressing up like Amidala.

5. Art Nouveau Lady Loki by Asuncion Macian Ruiz – I actually found this concept WHILE I was putting this list together. I don’t know much about it except that it’s beautiful and amazing.

6. Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones – I’ve always sort of liked Cersie, even though she makes some morally questionable choices, and I’ve ALWAYS loved her beautiful dresses in the show. I actually just bought the pattern for her dress, which is why she made it to the list. 

I think that about wraps up my 2017 cosplans. Anyone else have their eyes on some potential cosplays this year? I LOVE hearing about other people’s cosplay goals, so please share!