I’m somehow playing catch-up again, still archiving costumes from SDCC 2009. But better later than never! This costume/project was as much fun as it was work – heaps of both. Considering I had already figured out the mechanics of crafting a Witchblade gauntlet from my prior two costumes, the execution itself wasn’t overly strenuous. It was the organization that got a tad overwhelming.

Being a bit of a detail-oriented nutcase, I went out of my way to chronologically map (complete with written descriptions, illustrations and character-specific cosplay references) every bearer in the Witchblade universe before finally beginning to invite cosplayers to join the group. That on its own took a few weeks of long nights. I had it in my mind that we would secure 15-20 cosplayers for the group, and  we did at several points in time. But as SDCC drew closer the number participating waxed and waned, leaving us with seven dedicated Bearers of the Blade when July rolled around.

I decided to go as Una for the group, the very first Witchblade bearer. I’ve always thought dressing as a cavewoman would be a fun excuse to go wild with hair and makeup, so went with it. Considering that Una is literally from a land before time, I opted not to sew anything. Instead I tied together all pieces of the outfit with thick leather cording, hoping to make it look that much more realistic. Same went with the earrings, necklace and other accessories. Everything was pieced together by hand with as little man-made material as possible. The spear was easy enough. I used a curtain rod for the base and made the spearhead out of Wonderflex. The shoes, however, were most definitely manufactured – I found awesome leopard print wedges and couldn’t resist! As for the gauntlet, I followed the same procedure as last time. Una’s variation features three giant red stones which I sprayed with paint and secured onto the glove with Wonderflex. The processes was much easier this time around and the craftsmanship obviously better, although my original gauntlet is still my favorite.

Working on our costumes from different areas of the country was tough, primarily because I opted to help make the gauntlets for the girls who didn’t have access to supplies. They shipped me any extraneous things I needed and I went to work. Jessica – dressed as Enola – used my original gauntlet from last year so not to let it go to waste. I made the awesome Takeru glove with the same method as my own, adding rubber snakes and lizard tails to the end to look like the tentacles. It’s hard finding things that look like tentacles. After finishing three gauntlets, Maria’s dainty wristband was easy enough to polish off in an hour.

Months and months of preparation culminated at SDCC, with all of us stoked to meet up at the convention. Funny enough, Yaya Han actually joined the group only two days before the con. I had originally asked if she wanted to participate but she wasn’t able because of time constraints. When our Sara Pezzini fell through at the last minute I went on a hunt for a replacement, knowing that they could hop into my red dress variant from last year. Yaya responded with enthusiasm, using my gloves, shoes and wig paired with a red dress she already owned. Then she whipped up her own gauntlet in less than 48 hours. That’s dedication.

Before leaving for the convention floor on “Bearers Day,” I had my lovely San Diego makeup artist Hydred do my hair and makeup. She did an awesome job with the hair – tying in feathers, randomly braiding portions and adding a thick, kinky textured weave in certain places. The makeup was even more fun, with dark eyes and red smears across my face to look like paint.

Meeting up in costume for the first time was awesome. The Top Cow guys even had us pose at the booth for an hour, advertising the time and everything. We were able to snap photos with all the top artists and the fans really seemed to like what we came up with. The effort was well worth it in the end.

For reference sake, I’ve got the full list of Witchblade bearers below (sans historical figures), along with links to personal pages for each of the cosplayers involved.

Hope you enjoy the photos!

Bearers of the Blade
American Comic

Una – Prehistoric (Me!)
Nissa – Second Century B.C.
Lysandra – 7th Century B.C.
Princess Raquel – 1000 B.C.
Samantha McRenald – 229 A.D.
Zara, Queen of Bones – 359 A.D.
Leung Lin Yao – 722 A.D.
Katarina – 1175 A.D.
Annabella Altavista – 1213 A.D.
Maitea – 1288 A.D.
Joan of Arc – 1429-1431 A.D.
Queen Kijani – 1510 A.D.
Shiori-sama – 1632 A.D.
Yuka-chan – 1635 A.D.
Roxanne Laroque – 17th Century A.D.
Anne Bonny – 1718 A.D. (Ashley Hay)
Enola – 1876 A.D. (Jessika Malic)
Bernadette – 1888 A.D
Josephine Valmont – 1898 A.D.
Tasya Federova – 1942 A.D.
Colin X – First Male Wielder
Kimberly Tossovova – Alternate Reality
Sara Pezzini – Present (Yaya Han)
Yancy Butler – Present
Kenneth Irons – Present
Ian Nottingham – Present
Lara Croft – Present
Danielle Baptiste – Present (Randi Lee Ann)
Gerard Irons – Present
Ivy Pezzini – Near future
Selina Alice Lauren – 2100 A.D.
Debbie Santalesa – Near Future
Akane Nakiko – Future
Persephani – Far Future

Bearers of the Blade
(Anime)

Masane Amaha – Far Future
Reina Soho – Far Future
Maria – Far Future (Mandy Decker)

Bearers of the Blade
(Manga)

Takeru Ibaraki – Undisclosed (Melissa Kay)

(Special thanks to Kevin Green and Dan Glitch for the photos!)

Update: Witchblade 2.0 images added!

I will admit that this costume scared the crap out of me when I decided to make it. First, I had no idea how I was going to make the Witchblade – and considering what a huge fan I am of the comic – I was not willing to do it half-assed. Second, wearing 100% latex is a frightening thought. Still, looking back, the costume was a blast to make and I am pretty happy with the results. I am not completely finished with the costume – I think I am going to add a bit more of the Witchblade armor to the boots and my chest, but I am close enough to done that I am going to keep wearing it out to conventions.

Michael Turner's Witchblade

I chose to do this outfit because I think it is one of Sara’s more iconic costumes. Everyone who knows Witchblade knows this dress. She was wearing it when she first came in contact with the Witchblade. That and it was when Sara was still drawn by Michael Turner. Turner made Sara who she is today. It also helped that the dress was a bit more conservative than my other options – as there was no way in hell I was just going to do the metal bikini. How funny is it that a latex dress and thigh-high boots are conservative for this character??

As far as making the costume was concerned, I learned from making my Elektra costume that I am not good sewing with tricky materials. I had a hell of a time sewing spandex, so I knew I was not going to try sewing latex by myself. I found the red boots on eBay a few months back, and decided to commission the dress through an online store specializing in corsets. They were fantastic to work with and I highly recommend them.

Stejpan Sejic's tribute to the classic Turner Pose

I sent them one of my Witchblade action figures who happened to be wearing the dress, picked the color, and they completed it with my measurements. They even made the gloves as a gift – which were made to my size as well. I am really happy with the results, but I might take in the bottom of the skirt a bit more. When I asked the Top Cow guys what they thought of the costume, the said that they loved it – but that it was not tight enough. Easy enough to fix!

For the Witchblade, I thought long and hard about how I was going to approach making it. Eventually I decided to use Wonderflex. However, even after testing, I was still struggling with the fingers. I decided to buy a glove from a costume shop and use it as a base. I started with a plastic gauntlet and slowly added piece after piece to form it into what it is now.

Sara's infamous red dress

When I added enough Wonderflex, I painted it silver and added texture and detail work to the glove to make it look more realistic. I love what the Top Cow crew is doing to the Witchblade in the current story arc – but I prefer the style of Witchblade from the beginning of the series. The current Witchblade is pretty – it has gold and silver and gems and looks like it was carefully forged. The original Witchblade looked raw. It looked like it was alive and it was something that you would not want to mess with. That is the Witchblade I tried to make.

After finishing the gauntlet I added the gems and secured them down with a seal of liquid latex. The gems are just clear beads with red and blue painted on the underside. After that, I was pretty much finished with the costume. I bought a long brown wig because my hair is not quite long enough to rival Sara’s length, but I hope to be able to eventually use my own hair.

As I said, I am going to add some more armor to the costume and shoot it professionally (meaning outside of a convention) soon. I want to mimic the chaos and destruction of the first time Sara came into contact with the Witchblade, so the shoot is going to involve quite a few people. Now that I have the gauntlet done as well, I plan on doing a bit more of a “plain clothes” Sara in her cop garb. That way I can rip up the shirt and not feel bad about ruining my costume! Look forward to that!

Original Witchblade Gallery

Witchblade 2.0

So the update is complete! Over the period of several months I worked on improving my Witchblade armor. This included making a breastplate and knee pieces to break up the large mass of red from the boots, dress and gloves. I also reworked the face pieces to make them conform a bit more to my bone structure.

The chest piece was by far the most difficult and I burned myself several times in the process of making it. When finished I glued a protective layer of felt on the inside, as the hardened wonderflex tore up my arms and chest the first time I wore it. Not fun. As a final touch, I took in over eight inches off of the dress around the waist, and shortened it up a bit. The one comment I got from the Top Cow staff at SDCC in 2007 was that the dress wasn’t quite tight enough. Fixed.

Shooting the costume was a blast, as I got to work with my favorite photographer Scott Miron again. He also introduced me to a makeup artist named Katie Ballard, who pulled off the perfect balance of glamour and toughness that is iconic of Sara Pezzini. I cobbled together a plainclothes version of Sara for the shoot, as I wanted to capture Sara in her cop garb. Although it was a much simpler costume–the bracelet took me all of an hour to make–I really enjoyed shooting it and am happy with how the photos came out.

We shot at various locations in Scott’s studio including against a blue background that he uses to add special effects in post production.

All and all I am very very happy with the photos and I feel pretty confident that I captured the character well. Thanks to Scott and Katie for their effort!

Witchblade 2.0 Gallery