When I approached Melissa, I commented that her Leaf cosplay was the only Child of the Forest I had seen at the convention. “I kept getting, yesterday, people saying, ‘I wanted to do it,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, why didn’t you? We could have been a group!” she lamented. While she has cosplayed for around five or 10 years now, she developed a lot of her costume-making skills attending Renaissance fairs prior to that.
“The bodice is from Amazon and I painted all of it, so even the underside has all these swirls and everything else. And then tunic, bag — because I’ve got to get my swag — the boots are Minnetonkas that I painted and modified,” she told me, breaking down the various elements of her costume. “And then the dagger was a last-minute add on.” She also attended Con of Thrones last year, when she placed third in the cosplay contest with a Missandei costume.
Like many convention attendees, she went with a group of friends and fellow cosplayers, including Jamie, Alissa, Katie, and Mike, who are all members of the Austin’s Night’s Watch cosplaying Facebook group.
Members of the Austin Night’s Watch
Dan has been cosplaying for three years — always as Varys. It was his second year attending Con of Thrones; he also went last year, when the convention was held in Dallas. That time he rented his costume, even though it proved difficult to track down. “Varys is one of the least represented cosplay characters out there, just because you’ve got to look like Varys to be Varys, basically.” He eventually found a place in his home city of Kansas City, Missouri, that had one available, and it was a really nice one, too. He offered to buy the costume, but the company was not interested in parting with it, and for good reason. “Apparently, one of the original design artists for Game of Thrones actually designed it.”
So this time around, he enlisted the help of a few friends with sewing skills to craft a costume of his own — although as he told me, his role in actually making the costume was more of the assistant/emotional support variety. “I will admit I mostly stood there.”
It was Jennifer‘s first time attending Con of Thrones, but she’s a long-time convention-goer — she even runs one: CinciClassic Expo. She started cosplaying in 2007 “with anime and video game costumes” and now cosplays across a range of fandoms. She used to sell things on Etsy but said she’s moved away from that. “I’m more into [cosplay] for fun now.”
Her Margaery-in-the-Sept-of-Baelor costume — complete with tulle wildfire accented with working LED lights (much easier to see in the dark) — was far from her first Game of Thrones cosplay. “This is my second Margaery costume. I also did the quintessential, the blue wrap dress with the rose belt.” She has also cosplayed as Cersei and Melisandre and even dressed up as Daenerys back in 2012 when the show’s fandom was still relatively small. “About three people knew who I was. I had my dragon egg and people were just going, ‘Who is that weird, rough-looking bum with the egg?’”
Max has only been cosplaying for a couple of years, but he’s already invested in the DIY approach. “The only thing I didn’t make was the leather flask I have,” he told me. “I’ve always liked sewing because I just feel that’s an important skill to have. And I used to draw a lot, so [cosplay] is just a new creative outlet.” He even made his wooden sword. The hardest part of the costume to craft was actually the red robe, which he made out of a blanket he bought online.
“With this Thoros outfit I just kind of played to my strengths because I’m balding and I have long hair,” he said of his character choice.
Related Topics: Con of Thrones, Cosplay, Fandom, Game of Thrones
