To quoth the Raven, costumes based in puns are utterly fantastic. I may be paraphrasing. Still, I think the Raven would appreciate maker Beth Grimes’ Edgar Allan Poe Dameron costume. Grimes debuted the poet and Star Wars mash-up at CONvergence and got attention from attendees and then the internet at large with this photo by Madeleine Vasaly:
https://twitter.com/victrolavixen/status/884322386404941825Grimes has been into costumes and makeup since grade school and has been cosplaying at conventions since 2009. She told Nerdist about her interest in puns and how they infiltrate her life. For example, her cat’s name is Catsian Andor. Yep. Grimes serves on the board of directors for the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center and said she and her friends are always thinking of visual gags to use in shows. She’s put her pun costume skills to the test before with a Garth Vader cosplay, a mash-up of Wayne’s World‘s Garth and Darth Vader, and Purple Rey, a combination of Prince’s Purple Rain and The Force Awakens’ Rey.
Purple Rey
She came up with the Edgar Allan Poe Dameron concept shortly after wearing Purple Rey, but she didn’t start construction until the day before the convention. Grimes started with found items. “I was frantically going to thrift stores and army surplus to find pieces. I found a Poe-worthy black wig, a black flight suit, some vintage military boots, and several men’s webbed belts to use for the leg harness. I found a plastic electronics case and a vacuum hose to use for the chest box and covered with with foam core and spray painted it. I attached white suspenders to it for straps,” she said.
Her creativity didn’t stop there. She found a puffy red winter vest at the surplus store and envisioned Poe’s vest. She applied multiple layers of white spray paint and added padded belt panels. For the final touch, she added a BB-8 raven to the ensemble. Grimes explained, “I cut the head off of a BB-8 cat toy we had and made the raven a little hat. I also gave it an orange bow tie. I was still hot gluing and spray painting Saturday morning. I debuted the costume that afternoon.”
Oh, and this was ALSO her first time applying greyscale makeup.
Visit the gallery below to see more of the making of Poe and to get a look at Garth Vader. Keep up with Beth’s future puns by following her on Twitter.
Do you cosplay or take photographs of cosplayers? Then I want to see your work so we can talk about highlighting your creations in a future Cosplay Friday gallery. If you’re a photographer, maybe we could focus on your images from a single convention. If you’re interested, please get in touch with me at alratcliffe@yahoo.com and send photos you’d like me to feature–the more high-res the photos, the better. Be sure to provide credits for the cosplayers or photographers for each image because giving credit is good manners–bonus points if you include links to relevant Facebook pages or websites. Though I wish I knew all the nerdy franchises, I don’t, so please let me know who or what is being cosplayed.
Featured Image: Madeleine Vasaly
