Toph Bei Fong Photo Gallery

Toph Bei Fong was my second complete cosplay and the first one I ever took photos of.  She was also my first attempt at extreme wig styling, whatever that means...well, just look at Toph's bun.  THAT'S what it means.  This cosplay had a lot of firsts.  At Anime Kaigi 2011, Toph was the first cosplay I ever entered in a cosplay competition...and I won!  I won best in journeyman division, yes.

I finished this cosplay in July 2011.  I do not remember a lot about how I made it, except that I looked specifically for fabrics with character and a bit of ruggedness, but that still looked elegant.  Toph is an earth bender, but she comes from a wealthy fabric.  She would wear nice fabrics, I think.

Toph's arm and ankle cuffs were a mess and a half to make.  They have corset closures using those crappy eyelets you buy at Joann's.  Now I think of it, before I wear this cosplay again I'll replace them with eyelets from Tandy's.  Those are much better quality.

The wig is a combination of two really crappy grocery store wigs.  Given that, it came out REALLY REALLY well.  I cut up a long wig and used it to cover the bun, which is a giant piece of fleece cinched shut over a bunch of stuffing.  Then I stitched the whole thing onto the main wig.  The headband covers a whole lot of ugly stuff, though.  I'd like to remake this wig sometime when I have time and money.

My camera seems to have ended up in a strange setting during this photoshoot, so that's why some of the photos have weird colour schemes.  Sorry about that.  I'm hoping to redo the photoshoot sometime in the future.

UPDATE 23 August 2014:  Repairs have been made to some of the corset closures on the costume, and a new photoshoot was taken to get better photos.