Sharon (Grantham, PA)
as Captain America
Why I picked this character:
Captain America is such an iconic male superhero, and I’ve always wondered how this character would have been represented if he were, instead, a woman during the 1940s. I love that Cap exudes strength and patriotism, but my favorite characteristic of his is that he is fiercely loyal to his friends and offers hope in the darkest of circumstances. I wanted to showcase that patriotism and camaraderie with this cosplay, and I cosplayed with a fellow Avenger, Thor. Together we created a duo of Avenger women, forces to be reckoned with. For my cosplay, I wanted to pay respect to the WWII era by introducing industrial “rivets” (actually made with hot glue!), which reminded me of details found on tanks and planes. I also incorporated period-specific makeup, such as bold red lips, and victory rolls in my wig as a nod to women’s style from this time.
The creation process:
I count myself blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends and fellow cosplayers, Cosplay 10.6, and whenever I needed help or a sounding board, they’d offer assistance and advice. I watched a lot of tutorials, researched online, and picked the brains of my artist friends. It was so rewarding to make these pieces by hand! Crafting the shoulder armor was interesting, because it had to function properly on my arm AND look good. Cutting, layering, and painting all those scales was time-consuming but totally worth it. The most difficult task was creating my leather and “metal” waist armor template. I had to cut all the pieces out of craft foam and edit them numerous times to ensure it would fit properly over my blue corset. Every stripe and metal strip is a separate piece. It was challenging figuring out how to design the lines of the stripes so they were flattering to my curves.
I think I am most proud of my shield, and I receive more questions and comments about my shield than any other component of my costume. My design was inspired by the comics’ and film’s WWII-era classic shield shape. I wanted the look to be immediately recognizable as Cap’s shield, but I chose to reinterpret it with a more 3D industrial and vintage look, complete with riveted strips and stars. I was a little concerned about the weight—after all, I’d be carrying it all day—so I created it out of craft foam curved with a heat gun, with a middle layer of chipboard for added stability. I painted the shield to look weathered, as though it had been through battle and cleaned several times. Though also made of foam, my mask looks like leather and my shield looks like painted and exposed metal. As an artist, I made color choices that helped to tell my cosplay’s historical story—colors that edify the vintage feeling to my cosplay, such as deeper oxblood reds, tempered navy blues, copper and hammered metals. I also added a real WWII-era pouch to my belt, as a constant reminder of our REAL heroes who fought and died for our freedom.
To me, cosplay is living, breathing art—the process of engineering and painting the costume elements, and then acting as this character, has been so rewarding. The best moments for me are when children and adults alike respond with excitement and questions. Comics are magic, and cosplay is magic. For me, cosplay is an outlet to express my creativity and deep appreciation for comic books and graphic novels. And if I can inspire kids to embrace their inner bookworm and artist, then I will have done my duty as a “real” superhero.
The following parts of my cosplay I made/did:
- Shoulder and upper arm armor and star on chest
- Red and white waist “cincher” armor
- White leather bracelets with stars
- Leather boot toppers with stars
- Shield
- Mask
- Makeup
- Painted and sewed the buttons to trousers
- Wig styling (victory rolls)
- (After these photos were taken, I also created a scaled breastplate topper, not shown.)
Finally, if I am miraculously chosen as a winner, I would plan on bringing my friend Kayley—she’s my “Thor”!—because she and I worked so hard on our cosplays together and have a blast as these characters interacting with people. (All photos taken by Adrian Gibbs.) 
Published: Mar 4, 2015 01:30 pm