The Fire Nation’s footwear is just as iconic as the rest of their armor with stiff spikes and a color pallet of red, yellow, and black. This post will go over how I made Azula’s boots to be both functional and screen-accurate.
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Continuing from my previous post, today I’ll go into greater detail regarding how I made the leather armor for my Azula cosplay.
In season 3, Azula wears a few pieces of armor, including bracers, chest/back plates, upper arm guards, and a cowl. I went back and forth a lot on what materials I wanted to use, as different options have different pluses and minuses. Here’s what I thought about, what I ended up using, and the tools I used with it.
I’ve finally moved away from the first layer of Azula’s outfit, and now I’m on to the second. In this post, I’ll share how I made the vest she wears over pants and a shirt, and under her armor.
I’m not really a resolutions person, but I do set achievable goals at the start of each year that cover a variety of facets of my life. When it comes to cosplay, I have a several goals I hope to accomplish before 2019 is up. Here’s what they are and how I plan to check them off the list.
This year, I’ve had the opportunity to capture two of my cosplays in a more formal photoshoot setting. Until this point, all the photos I had were either work-in-progress shots I took or photos my boyfriend/friends captured at a convention. The first shoot was over the summer when we went to a large forest preserve to capture my BotW Link in the woods. The most recent, and most epic, was traveling to Stronghold Castle in Illinois to shoot Cersei.
The first layer of Azula’s outfit consists of a matching shirt and pants. In my previous post, I walked through making the pants. Today, I’ll show how I made the shirt.
To recap, I used a burgundy, paisley-print fabric for both garments. The pattern gives the costume some extra depth, and I think it looks like smoke. I also used the same trim for both pieces to tie the look together. Overall, I wanted the first layer of Azula’s outfit to look like a typical kung fu performance uniform, with some extra flare. Now seeing the two together, I think I’ve accomplished that goal.
Every year, my friends host a Halloween party in their apartment. They’re the kind of people who leave their spooky decor up all year and send out Facebook invites to the event more than a month in advance. I always know where I’ll be Halloween weekend, and I always dress up.
However, I tend not to go all out for Halloween. I usually have other, bigger projects going on, so prepping a costume becomes a last-minute effort. That usually involves putting together items from my closet mixed with quick sewing projects.
This year, my boyfriend and I decided to do a couple’s costume based on one of our favorite shows: Steven Universe.
Continuing my recent kick of cosplaying antagonists, I’ve started working on Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender (specifically her season 3 outfit). Though Azula is clearly a villain, there’s a lot I admire about or identify in her. She’s talented, hardworking and (mostly) confident. She knows what she wants and will go after it with single focus.
Another reason I’ve wanted to cosplay her is because of her martial arts prowess. I study kung fu, and though I’m only a beginner, I thought it would be fun to bring together two things I’m passionate about: costumes and kung fu.
Envy was the perfect character to cosplay in a short amount of time. With only a few elements and a forgiving fabric, this project was a lot of fun. I wore the final outfit at C2E2 2018, which took place in Chicago in April. Here’s a look back at the whole process of making and wearing the costume, the things I’d do again, and the steps I’d change if I did it over:
The Pen and Needle 