I knew as soon as I saw Amilyn onscreen in The Last Jedi that I wanted to cosplay her because I'm pretty sure she and Leia were a couple and you can't convince me otherwise. They came off so queer, and this is supported by her characterization in the novel Leia Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray. Also, to me she represents what is really lacking in the Star Wars universe: caution and female sensibility. I must say that one of the things that really cut me when I wore this cosplay at Anime Boston 2018 were all the bros who complained about how "mean" Amilyn was to Poe, and all I can say is that they've missed the whole freaking point. Poe almost singlehandedly defeated the resistance by disobeying orders in the first battle sequence and then proceeded to come up with a plan that not only undermined Amilyn/Leia's plan to save the resistance but also ultimately resulted in a lot more loss of life. I'm sorry that that doesn't support the "action hero" narrative that so many of these guys seem to want, but there, I said it.
ANYWAY, since we are here to talk about Amilyn's wardrobe, all I can say is that this is one of the hardest costumes I've ever made. A few people told me at Anime Boston they were thinking of making it because it "looked easy" and all I can say is, "oh, you sweet summer child." I'll leave the details to the progress post, but let this serve as warning that this is NOT an easy and NOT a quick costume.
The quick rundown is this: this costume took a full eight yards of mauve bamboo jersey. I redid the neck drape three times before I was satisfied, and it still should undergo a few more adjustments. The wig is an Arda Bucky that I custom-dyed to get Amilyn's gradient effect. It took six hours to drape the back so that it formed Amilyn's signature swags. You can's just gather this, it must be hand-pinned or you won't get the right drape. The back of the dress is extremely heavy. All of the seams have 1/8" twill tape inserted to prevent over-stretching, and there is a piece across the back as well. The shoulder seams are held in place with cape ties that pass over my shoulders and under my arms and hook in the back, pulling the back drape taut. The latter led to a somewhat funny situation while we were handing out trophies after the Anime Boston masquerade; as one of the contestants was leaving the stage, he dropped something in front of me and I reached to grab it, ripping out my cape ties. At least the cosplay took a little while before it started ooching backwards, and by then I was safely offstage!
I have an official photoshoot scheduled for May or June, by which time I will have a pair of boots covered with the same fabric as the dress.
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| During a break in masquerade judging, I got a photo with Jacqui from @Jacquistuffnthings on IG. She won big two weekends in a row, both from us at Anime Boston and at C2E2's Crown Championships of Cosplay! |
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