Costume Summary - Demon Cleric

I am extremely pleased with how my Demon Cleric costume turned out. I didn't decide to buckle down and make it until, genuinely, 14 days before the con, but doing so was actually pretty easy. I had bought the fabric months earlier, and stash-busted everything else.

The most troublesome part was getting things painted. It was SO rainy the week of the con! It was very muggy outside, and my backyard is just The Woods, so while my items were sheltered from the actual rain in the spray paint tent, it attracted bugs... wauuuuggghhh. But I got it done in time.

I used whatever spraypaint I had on hand. I used a flat yellow instead of a metallic gold, without really thinking about it. The pieces (horns, metal hanging thing on front) ended up looking cartoony because of it, but... I actually like it??!?! Faking depth by coloring in the shading is kind of cute.

Things to improve for next time:

• Necklace. I intended to laser cut it from acrylic, and have a vector file for the task, but didn't have acrylic on hand. (i ended up handcutting it from foam and spraypainting the foam black LOL. dont look too close!)

• Put weights in the back of the robe hem? Might make it swish around. I tried putting plastic boning in there but it was too curly

• Remake the ears with fabric that has a shorter fur pile. Lol

• Make the hanging straps attach to something on the back of the robe--- a snap or something--- so it stays even on both sides

• Get new boots because the ones i used exploded lol

• MAYBE remake the horns?They work as they are, I think--- they'remade from paperclay--- but I didn't have time to really sand them well, so they're a bit crusty. If I ever learn to 3D model like I've been telling myself for 10 freaking years, maybe I can make a more lightweight pair. Because....

• The horn attachment contraption is kind of awful. LMAO it's literally a headband underneath the wig with two wires coming down to rest on the forehead.... And it worked, somehow, but it was a little bit painful. Also the angle on one of the horns is slightly off, so I'll need to remove and reattach it without blowing up the whole thing by accident. Remaking the horns with an attachment-forward design instead of "i'll figure out how to keep them on my head later" philosophy will probably be better in the long run...

• Have to remake my claw press-ons because I tossed the ones I made for this weekend

• Get a proper belt instead of borrowing my mother's

• Get jump rings in a nicer medium size so i can replace the 4 ones holding the metal bit in front with just 2

Parts I really like:

• Hat, especially in combination with the horns. It's very tall and attention-grabbing. Lots of people who didn't know what I was wearing came up to ask what I was cosplaying from! Also it made me much taller, so my friends kept seeing me in crowds from across the room lol. I had to remake it after realizing my first attempt was too small for my head, and I'm glad I did instead of stubbornly trying to make my failed first attempt work.

• Tail. It was bouncy and fun and shockingly easy to put together. I followed GinnyDi's tutorial, with the addition of putting wire into the foam tube so I could manipulate its shape. I kept forgetting I had it on, though, so I forgot to pose it for photos (crying) you cant even see it in the one photo i did get lol

• Makeup. At the last minute I decided to put a little red eyeshadow on the bottom lids of my eyes. Very cute

• Mask (lol). I didn't do anything special to it, but the cut of it on my face was nice. I didn't have to worry about what my face looked like in photos too much.

• Nails. Ive never worn press-ons before this, let alone claws. It was SUCH a fun detail, and also felt very fancy. Lmfao

• Metal bit on the front is painted so cutely. I love it. I just flew by the seat of my pants (what the fuck is dry brushing? Is this weathering. Am i doing it right) and it looked just fine!

Parts I'm not-so-proud of:

• The iron-on symbol on the front of the robes has bubbles in it from the iron i used. Aaauugugughghgh (screaming)

• I haven't used double-width bias binding that much before, and THOUGHT I knew how it worked, but clearly I did NOT know what i was doing because it extends past the edge of the purple fabric, and is light enough of a color that you can tell when you look closer at it. You can see the purple fabric fraying on the inside of it. (picture) Aaauuugghhh whatever

I will probably wear it to Western PA Cosplay's halloween photoshoot?.. I won't bring it to MAGfest since it's not game or music related. (not that there's a rule for that, but I like to dress appropriately for themed events, haha). Only going to two cons a year is kind of a bummer! I need a new spring con. Maybe I'll trek out to ACEN?