Akasha

I won the London Film and Comic Con Cosplay Championship 2015 with this cosplay! I saw a redesign of the character by fashion illustrator Hayden Williams and fell in love with it so I decided to use it as a base for my recreation. I had started making the base for the breastplate a year before and never got around to finishing it, so when I decided to compete for LFCC I asked my friend Dwayne to send me the base for the breastplate via mail from Trinidad to save me some time as I was living in the UK. When the base arrived months after it was mailed, customs had punctured holes and cut the worbla pretty badly so I had to spend some time repairing it before moving on to adding all the details. Moral of the story, do not mail your costumes internationally! It took me around 2-3 weeks to complete from beginning to end and I employed some techniques for the first time! The 3d glittering effect was achieved by using automotive metallic flake mixed with varnish and I created the headpiece using wirebending techniques from Trinidadian Carnival Mas makers. The skirt was made using 3 layers of chiffon and hand sewing belly dancing coins along the hems (This was done on my 3 hour train ride to the convention!) Getting it to stay on with just chains and hooks took a bit of engineering and clear bra straps but all in all it was very secure and stayed on through multiple wears! The photos were taken by my friend Kevin Bowen who had flown in from Barbados to attend the convention. We asked the guesthouse/hotel we were staying if we could use their living room!