Arngautr as Zelgadis

Zelgadis

Slayers

Cosplayer: Arngautr
--If anyone has some photos of me, I'd really like them. I don't have any really good ones. Hit me on AIM (same s/n),or PM me or something--

--Thanks for all the kind comments--

This was my first and, thus far, only costume. I'll fill in details as I have time. First con, first time sewing, first time doing makeup.

Overall this turned out better than I feared but worse than I hoped.

Should have been greener.
Should have used gloves (full fingered gloves at that).
Shouldn't have been mirrored. opps, hehe
Should have made a sword. no tools :(
Should have posed for a few good pictures.
Shouldn't have lined the capelet. Became stiffer than I'd like.
Should have made the cape wider at the top. (originally tried to, but made a right-side/wrong-side fabric mistake)
Should have styled the wig beforehand. I gave up after an hour or two and left the hotel as hooded Zel. :P
Should have made the pants tighter at the legs.
Should have buttoned down hood BEFORE going outside. (It was windy, I almost ran back to the hotel to take everything off when I was afraid it was falling apart)
Should have used slightly stretchy fabric to get a closer fit.
Should have brought/used hair clips for the wig.

Most Important Lessons Learned:
1) Don't use makeup on hands!!!!!
2) Don't put on costume in front of a mirror based solely on memory ^_^
3) Use the time you allocate for the costume.


I had never put two pieces on at the same time before getting into it at the con. It worked out fine this time, but next time I might not be so lucky.

People asked what I used for the face rocks so: Sculpey III (stonewash) & Premo clay (black) (mixed in a 2:1 ratio). Prosthetic adhesive. Should have brought some spirit gum to the con. I lost about 2 rocks the whole night so overall I was pleased. Basically though, they were glued to the makeup; so if the makeup can peel off, the rocks can fall off... do that differently somehow if you try it.

The gem was also Sculpey. My attempts with resin looked _amazing_ but smelled awful, so at the last minute I made the one you see.

The makeup was Ben Nyes costume makeup creme. It held up very well on my face, but no amount of setting powder helped my hands and wrists. (might try foundation + food dye next time I need makeup (a nice cosplayer gave me that helpful idea), for this I wanted something that would 'just work'). I used a blue eye pencil around my eyes.

The fabric was mostly cotton twill. It was like a cheap slacks (pants) type material. I traced a pair of pants I had & a shirt; otherwise it was me laying on the fabric and tracing my proportions or using safety pins.

Boots were actually socks over my shoes, they worked very well and, surprisingly, traction was fine.

To make the squared tie bits I took a couple spare needles, poked them trough the rope, clipped the pointy ends off, and bent in place with pliers; they worked great.

The belts were some ribbon from the fabric store. It was too shiny so I took sand paper to it. This worked well.

Ears and wig I bought. I painted the ears. I kept running to the bathrooms to check my hair. It needed more hairspray by the end of the night. Also HAIR CLIPS!!!!! I could really have used a few of these!

It took 6 hours to GET INTO!! (the first time) (includes ironing and going down a few wrong paths & figuring stuff out as I went along, like how to apply makeup ;P ). I figure 2 hours is reasonable.

I'm pretty disappointed in the mistakes I made, but overall an acceptable first costume; I learned a lot. My next will be "good" if I ever make another.