What a crazy weekend! I am still recovering and it’s Thursday. Seriously, who’s idea was it to have my Irish music persona and cosplay persona collide? Two days of cosplaying at a convention with a concert and night of heavy drinking in between is not the best idea. Fun, but not the best idea.

Sif debuted at WonderCon and was a huge success. I was asked to pose for more pictures than ever before and got more complements than ever before, despite the fact that most people couldn’t identify my character. Oh well, they still appreciated the craftsmanship and the overall impact. I consider this to be my most successful cosplay to date.

There are many reasons for this, but here is a list of the biggest differences between Sif and my previous cosplays:

– I was the only Sif at WonderCon (I’m pretty sure) and this made me stand out. It also helps that I was nearly 6ft of bright red woman warrior. I did not blend in.

– I finally invested in a good quality makeup kit. It made a huge difference in the photos and the quality of the images that were taken at this convention. I felt a little ridiculous putting it on the first day, but the impact it had on my cosplay was undeniable. I looked good the morning after St. Patrick’s Day! I can’t  even begin to explain how amazing that is!

– I’m getting better at posing and working the convention floor. Despite my experience working at Renaissance Faire and performing on stage, it’s taken me a while to get comfortable as a cosplayer at conventions. I still have things to work on, but I’m getting much more comfortable.

– I picked a character very suited to my body type and physical features. This is always a smart move with cosplayers. A woman as tall as I am can look awkward in group pictures, but when you’re supposed to be a Norse goddess it makes more sense. I’m working on some cosplays for San Diego ComicCon that are not in my body type, we will see how that goes…

– My outfit is friggin’ leather. That’s just stinkin’ impressive and badass. Not to brag, but it is!

I still have improvements to make to this outfit, but overall I am incredibly pleased with how everything turned out. I’m hoping to have a photo shoot with this outfit very soon and will be posting a gallery once I finish collecting all the images off the internet. If you have a good picture, please email it to me! I’d love to see it!

I did discover that this is the best cosplay to wear in cold or rainy weather. It was POURING rain on Saturday. The cloak is very resistant to water and isn’t harmed by the rain! The hood flips up to protect my leather headpiece and makeup. Even the boots are actually pleather rain boots! It was unplanned, but it worked out very well on this stormy WonderCon weekend.

A goddess is not afraid of cold weather!

WonderCon was a very fun convention, and I hope it returns to Anaheim again next year. There is a bigger variety of vendors at this show since the booths are probably much cheaper than at SDCC. The crowds are also much smaller. Everyone says it’s like SDCC was 10 years ago, but I wouldn’t know. I love the current Comic-Con for all it’s crazy size and commercialism, but I really enjoyed WonderCon as well. The parking was a mess. The traffic in the whole area was terrible and the shuttle buses were a mess because of it. We spent a very large percent of Sat dealing with that situation. Not fun. I highly recommend getting a hotel in walking distance, or if you wait until the last minute like I did, get a hotel with a shuttle. Sunday was very much improved because of my Saturday night hotel stay and the parking/shuttle it provided. That was my only real problem with this convention, and it was made worse by the rain. I hope they can come up with some productive solutions for next year to keep the traffic flowing more smoothly.

Overall, it was an amazing weekend that I will never forget! I met and got to spend time with so many incredible people and revel in my two favorite pastimes, performing (cosplaying and an MWOW concert) and drinking. What could be better?