The New Age Lara

Cosplaying always interested me. Well actually,I was pretty terrified at the prospect of participating in it!

Here's what I found on dear wikipedia:

"Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure^?), short for "costume play", is an activity in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea from a work of fiction. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centered on role play. A broader use of the term cosplay applies to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context."

I thought to myself: WOW. Dude. You can be, ANYBODY. Just adopt the persona to your own, whichever hero or heroine you idolize. Maybe then you'll soak up some of their confidence or strength or whatever characteristic you admire in them the most.

So my guy friends introduced me to PC Gaming, since like the loser I am, I didn't have an Xbox. I also started watching playthroughs of different games since, a lot of the cool ones I simply can't afford.

One of those brilliant new fancy games was the newest installment of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider games.
Who wouldn't want to be a busty, hot, kick-ass adventurer, and this time with a bow and arrow and an ax to boot?

So I dove in headfirst into research. The cosplay looks pretty simple at first glance.

Two tank tops: one white, one light blue.
Cargo pants
Army boots
leather belt
Necklace
watch?
Bandages
Fake blood, dirt. Lots of dirt.
dark brown wig.

Weaponry:
Holster for a gun,
Bow and arrow,
Ax.

Yeah, okay, as I was already swimming in the water at this point (after diving in headfirst) I realized I was in the middle of the pool and its like a mile to the nearest edge.

Started with the wig, talked to some of my friends who already cosplayed (Thanks Rima!) and they hooked me up with a nice wig for around 20 dollars that was decent quality.

As of now, its t-minus 20 days until the convention.... and I am nowhere near done. 

Last night I made her necklace. The damn thing is wayyyy more intricate than I gave it credit.

 I used sculpey clay (2.50) and some leather cord (1.00) from the crafts store. Baked the whole deal in the oven for like 15 minutes and VOILA!!!!!

Its ridiculous how proud I am of this tiny thing. It turned out a little too big for my taste, but I guess it makes a statement anyways :) Probably going to get a different cord though, the one its on at the moment is a bit too flimsy.


Still in desperate need of
- Cargo pants in my size
- Army boots
- Fake blood and bandages
- a weapon... any weapon..
- Holster? Leather holster? I cant find any that isn't like a gagillion dollars online.. sigh.


So as you can tell, I'm kind of floundering about here. It's crazy exciting though! I only pray my interpretation does her kick-assery justice. 

It can only go up from here right?