Steampunk librarian cosplay

Hey everyone! How have you been? I have been good but, omg, I am seriously not used to doing so much handwriting! I have been taking lots of notes and such in my uni classes and my hands are all sore and weird >_< Weak! I need to build up that old high school stamina again! (Or buy a laptop ~_^)

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you the costumes that Scott and I wore to Oz Comic Con last weekend - it was so much fun, we had such a good time, and some people even asked for our photos! ^_^ I was (and kinda still am) very excited about that!

We decided to go Steampunk this year - I was a Lady Librarian and Scott was a Gentleman Explorer. Bec also did a Steampunk costume and hopefully she'll put up the details of it on her blog soon (yes, that guilt trip *is* aimed at you, Rebecca! ~_^)

This costume is probably one of the worst I could have chosen if I wanted to look flattering (high neckline + hair up + tiny glasses = giant moon face) but I didn't really care because it was just so fun! ^_^ 

Scott brought most of his things online, but his shirt and waistcoat were thrifted, I made his bow tie, and he already had the leather satchel, pants, boots, and gloves.

My dress was from Attitude Oz, I made my book necklace, anamatron brooch, bustle (which you can't see, but it's definitely there! ~_^), and wrist typewriter, the glasses are Harry Potter ones from Spotlight, my fake book clutch is from Typo, I already owned the earrings, stockings, and shoes, and the assortment of quills, ink bottles, and stamps hanging from my belt were inherited, brought from Spotlight (and filled with food colouring and water), and gifted respectively.

We took a couple more photos once we got back home, and I discovered that my skin has a very high reflective index (i.e. I am extremely, extremely pale! ~_^)

 

My wrist typewriter is probably my most favourite part of this costume (although the dress *is* pretty close too!). I wanted to be able to have my phone on me so I didn't have to worry about losing it but also I didn't really want to destroy "the look" with my neon green, polka dot phone case ... so I made this!

I used the phone case that I got free with my phone, which is one that has a flip cover. I spraypainted it metallic charcol and used mod-podge to glue on and varnish tiny typewriter keys that I designed in Illustrator. Cutting them out was a pain, but so worth it!

The paper is a mostly empty reciept roll (which I stamped some words on) and the holder is made from a cardboard tube and balsa wood. The main aim for this project was to make everything as light as possible - my phone is already pretty heavy and since it was going on my wrist I didn't want it to be so weighty that it slipped down or around too much. I used another peice of balsa wood to attach the holder to the bottom of the phone case.

Then I made the cuff using faux-leather, gold grommets, and some leather cord; it's very basic, I didn't even hem it or anything. I used E6000 to attach the modified phone case to the cuff, slipped my phone in, and then laced it up on my arm! Yay! I am very pleased with how it turned out and it was pretty cool to see people's expressions when I flipped open the case and started texting as many people didn't realise that it actually a functional device ^_^ That said, it was still pretty heavy so I wouldn't recommend it for everyday wear! ~_^

What have you been up to? Do you ever cosplay? What did you think of our costumes? That's your homework, class, and I'll see you next week! ~_^

- Lisa x