The most amazing picture of Merida you will ever see

Hello darlings,

So I did a photoshoot in the woods recently with the amazing Jonathon D. Courtot so I could get some quality shots of my Merida cosplay to share with you guys.  There are some AMAZING shots coming, but I have one here that deserves special mention.

Our location featured a small waterfall (a rare find in Los Angeles) and for our last shot of the day, we waded into the lake to stand below it and Jon, genius that he is, framed it to include the top of the waterfall, thinking we could do something interesting with it later.  And so, I picked out my favorites and sent them to the ever-remarkable Alex Rothauser for retouching and he came back with this:

Alex added the bear and will-o-the-wisps in addition to color correcting the whole thing to make it beautiful and as close to the movie as possible.  Alex and Jon are amazing and I cannot thank them enough for making this happen.

Stay tuned for more recent photoshoots and check out my YouTube channel for new videos.



CosPlay with me
-Angi

Up-Close and Personal with Merida (Brave)

Seeing as how EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER wants to be Merida for Halloween this year (which I think is totally the greatest thing ever btw), I wanted to toss out an up-close look at how I made my Merida costume.  As always, feel free to comment, email or tweet me any questions on the process.

Also, check out my Etsy listing for your own custom Merida costume including under dress, over dress, belt and free goodies! (I also offer special orders for the full dress and wig set)

I'm going to start this breakdown with a bit of a rant.  Anyone who follows me on Twitter or knows me personally has heard this already, but I want to reiterate it for those of you who have not yet made the mistake:

MERIDA'S ARCHERY DRESS IS NAVY BLUE NOT GREEN

I apologize if it comes off harsh, but there are a frightening number of people out there who are still convinced that her archery/lounge dress is green and it most definitely is not.

To those who may wish to argue this with me, here's how I know it's blue:

1)  Observe the following still from the film:

that sure looks like blue to me, you?

2)  Observe the following character doll approved and released by Disney:

I'm pretty sure Disney's been doing this long enough to not release a doll with the wrong color dress...

3)  At the Comic-Con 2012 Brave panel, an audience member asked the panel of creators what color Merida's archery dress is.  Their answer?  Navy Blue.

I will acknowledge to a slight green tint in a few photos, but her dress is most definitely NOT forest green like it is being depicted by so many cosplayers.  PLEASE, COSPLAYERS, DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!

</rant>

Now that that's out of my system, on to the breakdown:

I started with the under dress.  I've seen a number of people create Merida's dress as one solid piece, which doesn't look terrible, but I like to strive for accuracy and since you can see that she has 2 separate layers on in many shots, I decided to do it a little different.

For the "bodice" part of the dress, I used the Under Dress A pattern from Simplicity 2573:

BUT, I replaced the sleeves of the dress with the B/C/D sleeves from Butterick B5008:

Merida's under dress has ruffles on the sleeve cuffs and neckline

I sewed the dress as instructed minus the neckline ruffles.  Then I sewed the sleeves with two alterations: I closed the wrist cuff so it made a small tube, leaving a space open for elastic and I folded the ruffles in half because the pattern calls for them to be too long.

Next I added the sleeves to the dress.  Once everything was lined up, I cut the sleeves to fit the shape of the dress and added the neckline ruffles and elastic:

Once that was complete, I moved on to the over dress.  For this, I used Butterick B4827:

For this part, I started by basically just following the pattern, except I left the sleeves off and closed up the sleeve edges:

I also added a little block to the middle of the upper edge lining in preparation for the opening later.

For the sleeves, I sewed them together so they fit and then lined out where I wanted to cut them.  I cut both sleeves into two pieces and used the sections I had cut out to make the little straps between the sleeve sections.

I attached those to the sleeve opening on the dress and cut the opening in the front:

In the film, Merida has lacing holding the opening in the front closed, so I poked a few holes and strung a little extra leather lacing through:

The belt was very easy.  I used the belt pattern included in Butterick B4827 with a brown faux leather.  Once the belt was sewed and clasps attached, I overstitched the edges with about 5 strands of a very dark brown thread to create the look from the movie.

The final step was to style my wig.  For my costume, I curled a straight orange wig I bought off eBay.  Stay tuned for that tutorial.

For shoes, I purchased a pair of brown leather flats from Payless and wore a pair of white stockings.  In some images, Merida's shoes look like flats and in others they look like boots, but they are definitely brown leather and she wears white stockings under her dress.

Hope y'all find this helpful!  Feel free to ask questions or send me pics of your version! :)

CosPlay with me
-Angi

Who is Princess Merida?

I'll try not to ruin the movie for those that haven't seen it yet, but I do want to do a rundown of who Merida is for those attempting to cosplay her.

Merida is the headstrong protagonist of the feature film Brave released by Disney/Pixar in the summer of 2012.

Merida was born to royalty in the highlands of Scotland and was forced to adopt certain responsibilities and expectations as part of her upbringing.

From a young age, Merida tried to fight the role she was expected to fill.  She related much more to her brave, daring father than to her prim and proper mother, relishing the days when she was able to run free from the confines of the castle instead of learning to be a lady and future queen with her mother.

Merida is very much a free spirit and her character is reflected in every detail of her design from her wild, fiery red hair to her comfortable leather boots.  She's happiest on the back of her Clydesdale Angus, firing her bow into the distance and despises being forced to sit still.

Merida's one downfall is also the thing that makes her amazing; her free spirit.  She is so desperate to be free that it blinds her and leads to a life-changing event that threatens the safety and stability of not just her family, but the entire kingdom.

Merida is stubborn, hard-headed and determined.  She'll do whatever it takes to get what she wants and damn the consequences, but she's also able to begrudgingly learn a lesson, apologize for her mistakes and will do everything in her power to protect her family when the time comes.

Merida is the role model every little girl needs and the headstrong little brat in all of us.  She's the best and worst of every woman and someone we can all relate to.  To those out there cosplaying her, please keep this all in mind and help show the world that there's good and bad in all of us and we all have to learn from our mistakes and that's what makes us all human.

CosPlay with me

-Angi

A Super Special Announcement!

I'm going to Comic-Con!

I know that's not so big a deal being that I'm a comic book cosplayer, but here's the thing: this will be my first year EVER at Comic-Con.  After years and years of yearning, I finally get to go!

I will be at the convention Friday-Sunday.  If you want to make sure you see me, send me a comment/email/Tweet and we'll set something up.

Costume Schedule:
Fri: New 52 Catwoman
Sat: Merida
Sun: Black Canary

Maybe I'll see ya there! ;)




CosPlay with me
-Angi

Merida goes to see Brave

As I mentioned, I saw Brave opening weekend at my local theater (AMC Burbank 16) this past weekend and LOVED it.

I went with a friend of mine to a special Dolby Atmos screening and debuted my Merida cosplay.  I'd been working on my Scottish accent and made sure to get into character before we arrived.

I was a bit disappointed with the reaction from my screening's audience.  I only had 2 people ask to take photos and a handful even recognize who I was.  I did have one adorable little boy behind me on line who was terrified of my hair.  Poor thing.

After the screening, I was asked by one of the Dolby employees if they could take a picture and the insanity started.

I was asked by a number of groups before I left the theater to take pictures.  When I finally made it outside, my friend stopped to take a photo of me on the stairs with the giant Brave poster in the background and I wound up with line after line of little kids asking to take pictures.

I love doing things like this for kids, so I was happy as a clam.  I had a little conversation with each one and then took the photo.  I also had a few grownups ask.

One little ball of energy ran up wearing a Brave shirt and jumped with excitement for a while (video on YouTube):

One group of lively teen/young adult ladies were blown away by my accent, claiming I was "perfect":

**You can see these girls' adorable reactions to my appearance in the top right towards the end of the above video**

One sweet little girl stood around and had a whole 10 minute conversation about archery and Angus (the horse) and Scotland.  She asked where my mother was and why I didn't bring my bow and various other little movie-related questions.

I even had a cheerful older gentleman approach for his photo stating that his daughter insists these things are "childish", but he didn't agree (nor did I) ;)

One of my photographers happened to be a blogger himself and asked my permission to use the photo in a review he'll be writing for the movie (I'll link you all when it goes up).  It was lovely to meet you, Sam Fernandez.

After the excitement calmed down, I walked to the mall where I visited the ladies' room and encountered a poor little girl who was afraid of being flushed down the toilet.  I encouraged her through the stall wall to be brave and when we both exited I learned she had seen the movie the previous day and was extremely excited to see me.

this poor little angel was so shy, but we got along just fine by the end of it

check my mad bottle holding skillz lol

it was the girl in greens' birthday! I'm so happy to have been able to celebrate with her :)

If you happen to be one of the people pictured in this post or took a photo with (or of) me at the AMC Burbank 16 on June 23, please let me know so I can credit you accordingly (or add your photo).








CosPlay with me
-Angi

Brave: A Dream Come True

I've always had a thing for red-heads.  I've been drawn to them for as long as I can remember - from Ariel to Jessica Rabbit to Jean Grey to Alanna to Poison Ivy and on and on.  For whatever reason I relate to them the strongest.  They're always the headstrong, powerful, do-it-yourself women I want to be.

I tell you this to emphasize how long I waited for a character like Merida.  She is everything I ever dreamed I could be and most of who I am today - all the way down to the archery at age 5, Clydesdale as preferred means of transportation and clashing mother-daughter relationship.

I cannot express to you with enough fervency how perfect Brave was in the end.  I won't deny that the story is a bit predictable and doesn't offer much in the way of new material, but it doesn't need to.  At it's base, Brave is the story of a mother and daughter struggling to relate to and change each other to fit their own image and in turn growing and maturing as women.

I don't need to tell you that in a world where women are still fighting for equality and our children are growing up with diminishing positive media, we needed a film like Brave - A film that not only inspires young girls to stand up for themselves and fight for their own futures, but to learn from their mistakes and ask for forgiveness.

In addition, the film is expertly crafted - would you expect less from Pixar?  The sweeping views of the Scottish landscape are breathtaking and the attention to detail is incredible - as an archer myself, I loved seeing Merida line up her shot and breathe through it and then that beautiful arrow sway as it flew through the air.

I saw Brave in our new Dolby Atmos theater and was very impressed with the sound.  I was completely immersed in the film from the first audio cue and forgot everything around me until it ended.  If you've got one near you, I highly recommend checking it out.

As always, I recommend against the 3D.  It didn't detract from the film at all, but I didn't find it added anything either, so if you're on a budget, save the money and go see it in 2D.  I assure you, you're not missing anything.

Final thoughts:

The opening short was adorable - make sure you don't miss it.  Not only was it yet another incredible example of storytelling without the use of dialogue, but it was extremely appropriate to the theme of the film - family.

Make sure you stay through the credits.  You won't miss anything important if you don't, but there is a cute little scene at the end.

I had an AMAZING time at the movie.  Thank you Jonathan Johns and Robert Wilson for your donations.  I couldn't have done it without you.

I hope you all get to see it soon and enjoy it as much as I did.  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

CosPlay with me
-Angi