Tell me about the outfit you are wearing – who are you cosplaying and how did you decide to pick this particular character ?
I’m the prince of all Sayajins, Vegeta! He’s one of the main characters from the great Akira Toriyama’s masterpiece, Dragon Ball Z. I have to say I’m a fan of kick butt characters with attitudes! So I chose this character for a couple of reasons. First off I have a huge crush on him. ^///^ Second, his outfit looked quick and easy. At the time I had a pretty small budget and not a lot of time. By the way, I was wrong about the quick and easy thing.
Tell me about the process of making your outfit – was it easier or tougher than you imagine it to be ?
Well it felt like it took “Over 9000!” hours to make. Hahaha! I crack myself up. . . -sigh. For the armor I wanted something light and easy to work with so we decided to use craft foam. Craft foam is pretty easy to work with and to make it even better, you can heat it slightly and warp it into shape. We started by making a mock suit of armor with paper so we could draw on it and mark where we needed to cu and glue. After the paper armor was the way we wanted it we traced the pieces onto foam and cut them out. I had to cut out and paint all the bars for the stomach, back and shoulders. That took forever!!! After all the boarders and bars were made it was time to start gluing. I used a thick superglue called Quickgel. It’s cheaper and A LOT faster than foam glue and holds just as good. The left side opens so I can slide in and out of it. I used velcro to keep it together. A lot of time and even more trial and error went into making the armor. I’d like to thank Scott(Mrmanson86 on Deviantart.com) for his help on the armor.
I went the easy way and bought a blue unitard because sewing lycra/Spandex is not fun at all!
The wig I used was originally a white Hitsugaya wig from Cosplaymagic.com. Seeing as Hitsugaya’s hair is white and Vegeta’s is the opposite, I had to dye it. Before this I had never colored a wig, so I went with what I thought would be the fastest route, Sharpies! I actually hand colored the entire wig with industrial box Sharpies. Hahaha! I’d say it took about six-eight hours spread across a few days. I ended up going through three giant Sharpies.
The gloves and boots are made out of the fabric used to make blackout curtains. For the boots I used bed slippers with rubber soles as a base. I dissected these and used them as my pattern, I had to add a cone to the top, so they came up my calves. Once that was done I had to hand sew the rubber soles onto both, this took about three hours. The gloves were a pain! I used a pair of cheap leather gloves for my pattern. When using this fabric always cut on the bias, it makes a world of difference.
Any interesting stories from people’s reaction to your outfit at the con ? ^^
Ah yes! I think I few. The first time I wore this costume I was nervous about people would think about it. As soon as I walked into the main area of the convention everyone instantly turned to me and screamed, “VEGETA!!! What does the scouter say about his power level?!” I can’t remember how many times I was asked that, but I do know I replied, “It’s over 9000!” so many times I lost my voice. Heh.
I was standing about 20 feet from the entrance of the convention and someone walked up and asked for a picture. After the picture they told me there was a future Trunks cosplayer running around somewhere and it would be awesome if we got some pictures. Not even a minute after they mentioned it, I heard someone yell “FATHER!!!” I turned around to see the future Trunks running toward me with their arms open, coming in for a hug, Haha! Still to this day I have no idea why I responded to the future Trunks yelling “father” I guess it’s my inner Vegeta ego, hahaha!
Another time I was running around with my friends making a Katamari ball because one of them was dressed as The Prince. After a couple hours of Katamari rolling I went to take a break with my sister and another friend, we decided to go to the bar across the street from the convention center. About a half hour later I was sitting at the bar with my back to the window. I heard a loud knock on the window, when I turned around I saw my group with the Katamari, which was about ten times bigger than it was and two dozen of new people in the rolling group, haha! They were signaling for me to come back and join them, so I held up my drink. All of a sudden everyone started yelling, “CHUG, CHUG, CHUG!!!” So I did and everyone started cheering. it was hilarious and awesome!
How did you get started cosplaying and what got you interested ?
I’ve always loved dressing up. When I was about 10, I went to this thing at school they called Fall Festival. At this event everyone wore their Halloween costumes. I went as Cruella from 101 Dalmatians. I made my costume from stuff my mom bought at the thrift store. Except the wig, that was an actual Disney licensed wig. My mom forced me to enter the costume contest. I was extremely nervous but I ended up winning first place because it was original and homemade. Since then I’ve always liked to challenge myself to see what kind of costumes I can make. I also love seeing peoples reaction to my costumes.
What are the con did you first attended and what’s your favorite con that you’ve attended so far and why ?
Animazement 10, May 2008 was my first real anime/game convention. I would have to say my favorite con so far was Animazement 11. The people and atmosphere there is amazing. It feels like a big family reunion and I love every minute of it.
What does cosplay mean to you ?
I would have to say it means being able to dress as your favorite character and enjoy being someone else. I love being able to become someone else for a couple days and forget about everything. Cosplaying is my vacation!
If you had unlimited funds/technology/time, what is your dream cosplay ?
If I had the unlimited time, unlimited technology, and unlimited money? That’s a little hard to choose from all my favorite anime and games, but if it all comes down to one, I would love to put together Eva Unit 02 from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
