Amazing Time at Hero Con!

Yesterday I shared how easy it is to confuse the strong emotions fear and excitement. This weekend I had a great opportunity to practice feeling and expressing excitement during Hero Con!

princess zelda costume | zelda twilight princess

I’m Princess Zelda from the video game Zelda: Twilight Princess. The game is mostly about the hero, Link, that slices and dices bad guys through multiple levels in order to save Princess Zelda from the resident bad guy Gannon.

There were actually a lot more Link characters in costume than Zelda! Here I’m posing with a cute little girl who made her costume herself:

princess zelda costume | zelda twilight princess

This is what I love the most – seeing kids jump into sewing just to make a cool costume. Costuming really opens up lots of creative doors – sewing, 3-D sculpture, painting, shading, decorative leather work, embroidery – you name it, I saw it this weekend!

Dressing up as a video game character might seem like an odd thing for a 31 year old woman to do, but I honestly had SO MUCH FUN! It was a creative adventure to build the costume, and even more fun to dress up, put on my funky ears, and pose for people to snap photos on the convention floor.

princess zelda costume | zelda twilight princess

I also loved snapping pictures with other cosplayers dressed up as my favorite characters. This guy was playing Oliver Queen from Arrow, a very entertaining show you can find on Netflix!

Back in high school, I know I couldn’t have done this. My self esteem was once so low, I would never have allowed myself to pick a pretty character like Zelda to dress up as. I either wouldn’t have dressed up, or I would have completely hidden in a massive metal suit.

Attending some lectures and panels with other cosplayers, I began to see just how affirming and confidence-building cosplay can be. Yes, you’re going to find some Cosplay Police, just as we have Quilting Police, but for the most part these are adults interested in having dressing up and having a great time.

Cononel Sanders Costume
Cosplay is fun for all ages!

I feel encouraged not just to improve my Zelda costume, but to venture into the more popular Marvel super hero arena. Storm was my favorite X-Men character as a child, so she will be my goal for next year!

Let’s go Cosplay!

Leah Day

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

4 Responses

  1. Andrea R says:

    There's a similar convention here next weekend! I never get a costume ready for it, but will be going with my granddaughter. She'll be wearing her Elsa dress I made for her at Christmas.

    I will be touching up my hair color. It's PINK.

    Yes, I am a grandma with pink hair. 😉 The number one comment I get? "I wish I were that brave."

  2. You look beautiful! What an awesome job you did on your costume!

  3. MC says:

    You make a great Princess Zelda and really nailed the look! This is by far my favourite series of games and a great occasion to dress up.

  4. swakins says:

    Just my luck, by the time I read the blog it's sold out.
    Awesome costume, you really look the part! And I love Josh's Invisible Man idea, great pairing with Captain America.

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