I wanted a more challenging costume for this one, and drow are something I really haven't seen done WELL very often. :| Everyone is using water-based makeup and pasted on elf ears, so my goal was to do much better than that, makeup-wise.
For the armour, I fabricated an "elven chainmail" pattern with an evening dress as the base. I actually had to make a muslin and I really wished I had a dressform thinger. I used a "satiny black mesh" that sparkled a bit, as drow chainmail is described in the game. :) It was recognized at the con for what it was, so I guess I did an okay job. I reused the pants, belt, and belt pouches from my Junefaire outfit, but had to get new boots from Museum Replicas (which are AWESOME). The cloak is a mostly unaltered Simplicity Pattern, though it did remind me how much I dislike working with Simplicity patterns. It's not really made of spider silk because I am cheap, but it ended up semitransparent in the light, which looks pretty cool. :)
EDIT 8/07: When I wore this costume to Sakuracon, I bleached my actual hair to WHITE for it. The hair you see in the first photos? That is not a wig. I was so proud of myself, but it was an incredibly stupid thing to do considering that it grew out and I had to go buy a wig anyway. I haven't managed a good wig for this costume yet. (I'm currently using a Santa wig I got for free and chopped up, but it looks surprisingly good.)
I've purchased bracers and belt pouches for this costume, as well as some nice costume jewelry, particularly earrings. I don't have any new photos yet, unfortunately.
I'm also experimenting with different ways to get the makeup working properly. I was originally using Ben Nye and Mehron oil-based theatrical paints, charcoal powder, and a spray fixative. While this gives a great look, it does eventually begin to sweat off, wears off quickly around the mouth, and wears off almost immediately on the hands. For Kumoricon I'm going to be trying Temptu Dura Bodypaints, which were used for Mystique in the X Men movies. It says the makeup should last between 2-4 DAYS even through showers, so I guess I'll see how that goes. If it still wears off too fast I might try Dura Platnium (lasts like a week or so). I really want to get this working perfectly!
EDIT 10/07: The Temptu bodypaints worked very well. I think that the problems I experienced were due to my own inexperience, not the makeup. The costume didn't go as well as I'd hoped during Kumoricon, mainly due to my wig still sucking so hard. I also had decided that I was going to get my ears from a 10 to a 6 a WEEK before Kumoricon, so I had to wear the costume while I still had the tapers in and not wear the pretty spider earrings I bought for this.
I'm going to run some more experiments with the Temptu makeup later, but when I'm only doing it for one day (like I will for halloween), it's just easier to use theatrical makeup.
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