London film and comic con Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Easy (Disney) Cosplay Tips

October 16, 2015 by Bel 1 Comment

So as you know, I love to make costumes and I love to cosplay. I’ve been to a few conventions now – LFCC last year, London MCM in May of this year, SFCC in August and a small Lincoln one in September, two of which I cosplayed for. However not everyone has the ability to sew (or the money to buy handmade) so I decided to share some tips about costumes you can threw together easily, using clothes readily available in stores and online.

For MCM Comic Con, I was originally choosing to go as Go Go Tomago. If you haven’t seen Disney’s Big Hero 6 then you’ll have no idea who that is – and if you haven’t seen it, then you should! Go Go is an awesome female character and her “everyday” look is really easy to replicate.

The costume is basically made up from a black leather jacket, white t-shirt, black (and purple) leggings, black shorts and black trainers. Depending on how exact you’re wanting to be with your costume, sourcing the exact items might prove tricky. However if you’re happy to improvise, you should get most things fairly easily.

I started with the leather jacket. Of course I wasn’t going to get actual leather, as that would be expensive. I headed off to Ebay to find something cheap and secondhand. The important thing to note about Go Go’s jacket was it’s style – the way it zips up, neckline etc.

Pokerun_Womens_Marylin_Leather_Jacket_zoom

Can you spot the difference between the two?

After the jacket, the rest should come fairly easy. A simple white t-shirt, relatively non nondescript. Black leggings, with purple poking through rips – either a double layer of leggings, black over purple with tears cut in the black – or black leggings with rips, patched up underneath with purple material. Black fingerless gloves. Black trainers. Black shorts. Depending on how close you’re wanting to match, I’m sure you can find black trainers with a splash of purple and black shorts with a splash of red. Failing that you could always add your own – paint for the trainers and ribbon for the shorts.

Last but not least, this leaves the hair. Of course if you’re radical you could cut and dye your own (I actually tricked all my facebook friends into thinking I’d done that) or you can buy a wig.

So long as you plan fairly far in advance (allowing time for shipping from China) you should be able to pick up a relatively cheap cosplay wig. Mine was around £10 mark and took about 3 weeks to arrive. There are some great bargains out there, for all things cosplay, the more time you allow and the further it can travel from!

Day 3: LFCC – London Film and Comic Con (July 11th-13th)

July 17, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

Day 3 and my final day of LFCC – Sunday! This day, there was going to be 8 of us instead of the 5 from the other days. Our friends, Nat, Tom and Jon had joined us the evening before and so together we were all attending for the Sunday.

Having ended up in a long queue the day before, we were all prepared for a long wait that morning too. We were prompt getting away from the Travelodge, this time with all our bags in tow too. Luckily we could leave everything in the car at Hounslow, as we caught the tube to Earls Court yet again. We weren’t dressed up and for that I was glad. As much as it had been nice to Cosplay the day before, I missed my jeans and t-shirts! The eight of us headed out of Earls Court tube station and were very pleased to see a lot less signs of queues than the day before. However, it wasn’t long before we realised the queue was just being a bit better organised and wandering in a different direction. It was still almost as long as the day befores! That said, the queue moved steadily from the moment we joined it and it wasn’t long before we got inside.

There were quite a lot more celebrities there for signing on Sunday and so we made our way around, deciding if we’d want anyone’s autograph or not. As we were mostly in pairs now, we all split up to wander around and it was really nice just spending time with Chris as a couple. Though it was still fairly busy (and got busier as the day wore on) it wasn’t as hot or as busy as the day before. Also, as we’d seen and done most things, it was nice to just browse and take some time to buy some last minute souvenirs. Since I wanted to take something back for the girls, I ended up buying a Time Turner necklace for Megan, a Minecraft plush for Lily and then some Hogwarts biscuits for them both.

My only really grumble about Sunday was that the cash machine inside Earls Court was out of cash and on top of that, only a few of the stalls would take card payment. As such, midway through the day, Amy and I ended up heading out to find a cash point – only to find that 3-4 along the way were actually out of cash too. In the end, we stopped at a Co-op, bought some food and a drink and claimed some cash back. After that we headed back to the convention, buying the last few bits that we wanted.

I bought this beautiful canvas (as you might remember, it matches the decal on my laptop), along with some film clip pictures – ones of Tron for Chris and one of Harry Potter for myself and the girls.

Eventually, even though it was only about 1.30pm, we decided to call it a day. We had to get back to Hounslow, then drive back to Lincolnshire, and all of us were looking forward to getting back to the kids. All in all though, it was an amazing weekend and I’m so glad we went. I genuinely can’t wait to go to another Comic Con or another LFCC specifically.

My most prize posession/buy of the whole weekend, is by far my Funko Pop figure of Stan Lee. It’s a Limited Edition, LFCC 2014 Stan Lee Collectible. It’s taking pride of place in my dining room right now!

Tomorrow I will be posting all about the various costumes and cosplay that we saw at LFCC. I will also be writing about my own cosplay and how I made my costume – so please look out for that!

Day 1: LFCC | Day 2: LFCC | Day 3: LFCC

Day 2: LFCC – London Film and Comic Con (July 11th-13th)

July 16, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

Yesterday when I started my post about LFCC, I had fully expected to write about all three days in one post. However the more I wrote, the more I realised it would be better as separate posts. So if you’d like to read about my Friday, and Preview Evening at LFCC, you can read my Day 1: LFCC post here.

Today I want to focus on the Saturday – by far my favourite day of the whole weekend. The five people in our group, had all agreed to dress up. As Amy had decided to be Ariel, after much thought, I decided to go as Vanessa – Ursula in disguise. My brother and his girlfriend decided to go as Han Solo and Princess Leia, while my partner Chris went as Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist.

I got up at 7am and jumped straight into the shower. I knew it would take me a while to get ready and we wanted to be out of the Travelodge around 8am. Once I was showered, I got straight into my costume and this is pretty much how I looked:

Next I moved onto my makeup. Since Vanessa doesn’t really wear makeup (or at least she doesn’t seem to) so I kept mine fairly basic. I’m not really one for lots of makeup anyway to be honest, so I preferred it that way.

Once everyone was ready, we set off for Hounslow again. While we waited on the platform, we took a group selfie. When we got on the tube, we took another. It was actually great fun, getting on the tube all dressed up – especially as no one really batted an eyelash.

On the next carriage over, there was another group of cosplayers, all dressed up in DC Comic themed costumes. There was The Joker, The Riddler and Harley Quinn. When we arrived at Earls Court, the first thing that hit us was just how much busier it looked today, than it had the night before. As we walked towards Earls Court 2, the queues looked huge (and chaotic) and we knew it was going to be some time before we actually got into the building! However Optimus Prime and all the other Transformers were outside the building and this time I wasn’t going to miss photographing them!

Eventually we found where we were supposed to queue. We had Early Bird tickets and the queue ran up one way and then back the other, but it didn’t seem so bad. We started to queue at around 9am but it soon became obvious that we would be queuing a long time. Though it had appeared to be a short line, the queue in actual fact went right around the building, way further than you could see. It was actually about 10.30am before we got inside of the convention hall. Even then, it was obvious to see that it was much busier than the night before, so we quickly wandered around to see whose autographs we might want, grabbing a VQ ticket. I got 176 for Anthony Head and 726 for John Hurt. Chris also got one for Casper Van Dien. I would have loved to also meet Jamie Bamber, T.J. Thyne, Edward James Olmos, Jenna Coleman, and Milo Ventimiglia, but unfortunately funds couldn’t run to that! Instead we then wandered off around the stalls, popping back every now and again to check what numbers our VQs were at.

The rest of the day isn’t so much of a step by step guide, but instead a vague relay of what happened. Chris met Casper Van Dien, we both met Anthony Head. Our group split up for the majority of the day, but every now and again, especially when it got too warm in the building, we’d all meet up outside and sit in the shade for a while. We had lunch, we checked out the West Brompton building and then we wandered around some more. There were definitely parts of the day when I wished we could go home and change. I loved my costume but it was just such a warm day that I wanted to trade it in for my jeans and a t-shirt. We also had to hang around for the Game of Thrones screening and commentary at 7pm, so it did feel like a bit of a wait at times.

At around 5.30pm, after checking John Hurt’s queue loads of times, it was finally my turn to queue! It felt a little rushed and almost like we were being herded into the autographing area, but at that point I didn’t care. I was about to meet Mr Ollivander!

I have to admit I went a little fan girl after meeting John Hurt! It was a long day and he wasn’t personalising autographs, but I still got to say how nice it was to meet him and he said it was nice to meet me too and then we shook hands. I almost skipped out of the signing booth!

By that point, the convention was starting to wind down for the day. Amy and I ran around taking shots of all the different celebrities, as the queues to meet them died down. Afterwards everyone had to leave the hall, but we re-queued as we needed to get back in for the GoT screening. Again it was another long queue and while it was supposed to start at 7pm, it was actually 7.30pm before everyone was even seated.

Even then it was 7.45pm before anything actually got started. We watched an episode of GoT, with a commentary from Finn Jones, Kristian Nairn and Daniel Portman. It was pretty fun but at the same time there were moments that just felt a little awkward. I also thought it was a bit of shame that Showmasters had advertised a Special Guest and then it was just a Joffrey piñata. That said, it was an awesome piñata and now I want one!

The screening finally finished around 9pm. We had friends waiting outside for us – two of which had been to the Harry Potter Studio that day, the other of which had caught the train up just to meet up with us. We all headed back to the tube and then back to Hounslow. There we got Pizza Hut and KFC for dinner before heading back to the Travelodge. Outside the hotel, we got chatting to someone who was running a stall at Comic Con. We also saw Optimus Prime in the car park again! Finally though, we all headed to bed, knackered from an exhausting day and ready for another the next day!

Day 1: LFCC – London Film and Comic Con (July 11th-13th)

July 15, 2014 by Bel 1 Comment

Although I want to carry on with my #LincsBlogMeet company focus posts, I am absolutely desperate to tell you all about my amazing weekend. The weekend just gone was London Film and Comic Con by Showmasters and I really had one of the best times of my life!

Many months ago, Amy and I decided we wanted to go to a convention, largely to dress up. When looking through all of the available options, LFCC stood out the most, due to its sheer volume of celebrities attending. Not only that but it was the furthest one away, datewise, and still had more people listed than some conventions that were happening only a few weeks away. We also noticed that over the weeks that passed, more and more celebrities were added to their “attending” page and this totally sold it for us. On top of that, Stan Lee would be attending and he has long been my hero. It was also to be his last European appearance and so if there was any doubt, this sealed the deal!

We booked our tickets, way back in February and they arrived in April. I was so super excited to actually receive them – tickets for the whole weekend and a photo shoot with Stan Lee. Originally the weekend consisted of myself, my partner Chris, Amy, my brother Chris and his girlfriend Erika. However over time it developed into being Tom and Nat for the Sunday and then eventually even our friend Jon for the Sunday too. In all honesty, I know a lot more of our friends would have liked to come but there are only so many people you can fit in a car!

In order to keep things cheap, we booked a Travelodge at Heston, planning to catch the Underground into London each day. When the numbers grew, we also swapped from taking my own car, to taking my mum’s car, which I think is slightly more fuel efficient. On top of that, we spent months planning what costumes we may or may not wear.

Finally the day was here and though I was working until 1.30pm on Friday 11th, I was so excited to finish and get on our way. We left Lincoln at about 2pm and arrived at our Travelodge around 5.30pm. We checked in and stayed only briefly, before heading to Hounslow where we would catch the Tube to Earls Court. We paid for 3 days car parking there, topped up our Oyster cards and then we were off. The car journey had been only myself, Chris, my brother and his girlfriend, as Amy was arriving a little later. When the four of us arrived at Earls Court – left via the wrong exit and walked all the way around – it was about 7.30pm and so we got straight into the convention. My brother and I headed straight over to where the Stan Lee photoshoot was as we both had tickets, but our partners went off for a walk while we were queuing.

The wait wasn’t really that long and we managed to find plenty to talk about while we queued. My brother and I were really excited to finally see Stan Lee, even though we knew it would only be for a few seconds. Just as we were about to head into the photoshoot area, Chris and Erika joined us again, both having found where the programmes were being sold. They waited though while my brother and I went in for the photo and while it was literally only 2 seconds with Stan Lee, it was actually awesome.

For a little while I walked around like a giddy girl, chuffed about how Stan Lee had said “Hi” to me as I stood beside him and how I had said “thanks” after the photo was taken. I was also incredibly pleased for how the photo came out, half expecting to look fat or be sporting a double chin.

The four of us then wandered around the convention hall, seeing who was there to offer an autograph that evening. Many people were saying it was the best time to meet people and get their autographs as they had a lot more time on a Friday night. This was true about a lot of the things that evening to be honest. We soon spotted the Game of Thrones, Iron Throne. There was absolutely no queue and so we all jumped in to get a picture!

Again, I was really pleased with the photo, thinking it came out pretty well. Everyone else seemed pleased with their photos too. The rest of the evening we spent walking around the hall, up and down each aisle, looking at all the stalls. We were well behaved and didn’t buy anything, knowing we would have a proper look over the next few days.

Amy text to say she was outside and actually the evening was drawing to an end anyway. I was excited to get outside and photo the Transformers who had been outside when we arrived. However when we got outside, the Transformers were gone. I was really disappointed but I figured they’d be back the next day and would just be sure to photograph them then! We met up with Amy and caught the tube back to Houndslow. There we decided to get food, some of us getting kebab and the others getting KFC. We ate outside on a wall near the station, before finally getting in the car and heading back to the Travelodge. There we got a wonderful surprise, spotting Optimus Prime parked in the car park!

We spotted him out of the window and quickly stopped to take some photographs. However I knocked my can of coke over in the car and since it was Mum’s car, we all panicked a bit, parked up quick and cleaned up the mess. Once we’d all dropped off our stuff in our rooms, my brother and I headed back outside to take a few more photos. We both took pictures in front of Optimus Prime, just to prove we were actually there!

Finally we headed back to our rooms and all just went straight to bed. It had been a long day, I was tired from work, the driving and of course heading straight out to comic con. We were all really excited for the next day, as it felt like it would be the main day of LFCC.

Come back tomorrow for Day 2: LFCC – London Film and Comic Con (July 11th-13th)

Week 28 – Monday Round-up

July 14, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

I’m not feeling very well this evening so I can’t really be bothered to post. However I feel like my blog has been neglected enough as it is this last week.

Monday to Friday was work as usual, but this week was better than most as it was the last before summer holiday break. Sadly it was also incredibly busy, with an extra evening shift, a function day and a packing/moving day. Otherwise though, work was fine and actually quite fun at times.

What wasn’t that fun, was Megan being away on a school trip for 3 out of the 5 school days. I actually ended up posting about it over at Twice the Mum – Missing Megan. The first day was pretty hard but Nat came over in the evening and occupied most of my time. Tuesday was by far the hardest day as I didn’t get to see Megan at all and by Wednesday I was almost desperate to see her. In fact, when her coach pulled up outside, I burst into floods of tears.

That whole day wasn’t great to be honest. After I picked Megan up from school, we were all supposed to be heading to Pizza Hut for dinner. Instead Chris got knocked off his bike again and we spent an hour and a half in A&E car park. After that we just did drive thru KFC and went home. It was a pretty depressing evening, especially as it was my only one with both the girls as I was working Thursday night and away on Friday.

However, Friday was a fantastic day. When work finished, it was the beginning of a great weekend, as well as 7 weeks off! I felt brilliant and so glad to be off work. On top of that, we were straight off down to London, a 3 hour trip to our Travelodge and then another half hour on the tube into Earls Court. We headed straight for Comic Con and I had a photo shoot with Stan Lee all lined up!

The next day we dressed up for Comic Con and had a fab day doing so. It was tiring and it was hot but it was so worth it. Our whole group – myself, my Chris, Amy, my brother and his girlfriend Erika, all had costumes. I’m sure at times we regretted it, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat too. After Saturday’s Comic Con, three more friends joined us – Nat, Tom and Jon. We’d planned it so they stayed in the same Travelodge as us and the next day we all attended Comic Con together. While we only did about half a day before traveling home, it was still amazing fun. I finally got back to my kids around 6pm and after a quick cup of tea we all headed home. The girls were pretty much straight to bed and I was so knackered I didn’t really do much at all. Obviously I plan to post separately about Comic Con though so look out for that!

I had a long and tiring week but its plus points were most definitely anticipating the weekend, plus knowing I had seven weeks off after all the hecticness. LFCC was such fun and I can’t wait to go again. While it was a very draining week, both emotionally and physically, in the aftermath of Comic Con it all leaves the memory of a very good week!

Get “Tangled” up in Cosplay!

May 23, 2014 by Bel 1 Comment

Guess what? Less than a week has passed and already I’ve changed my mind about the costume I’m wearing to Comic Con! Yup, I didn’t even stick with my “final” decision.

You may remember that I posted about some of my costume ideas here and then made a final decision here but only a day later and I’d changed my mind about it all. In fact, my actual final decision, wasn’t even one of my original ideas!