02. The Smuggler - Costume break-down

So you've gathered as much research as you possibly can on the costume. Now's the time to break it down by listing each piece that makes up the costume. See image below.

See all the different layers? I went the extra mile and made a really rough scale mock-up of the costume on a little artists mannequin. It helped me get my head around what pieces I needed to make and the basic shape of the pattern pieces.

With the Smuggler, you have:

Costume (red):

• puffy sleeved under-shirt
• shirt collar and bottom part of the shirt (not a complete shirt)
• leather-plated tunic
• skirt panels (front)
• leather armour skirt
• cloak with the 3 layers + hood
• underskirt panels
• blue sash thing under the shirt front
• pants with the ruffled white lining

Accessories (purple):

• Templar brooch
• boot covers
• gloves
• cloak chain
• belt 
• metal vambrace (forearm)
• hidden blade + bracer
• boots
• metal greaves (legs)

This is where you make construction decisions. Like with the shirt tails/collar - do you want to make it as one shirt, or cheat and make it two separate pieces? You won't see the mid-section of the shirt anyway because it's covered by the leather tunic, so do you really want to do that extra detail work? It also gets pretty warm in the leather tunic, so do you need that extra layer as well? Is it worth sacrificing comfort and time for design?

I'll expand more on the inverted hidden blade and the greaves in their own posts.

Tip: print out the image of your character and sketch over the top of it. It helps you picture the shape of a piece, especially if you need to picture what the back of the leather skirt looks like (as an example).

01. Researching 'The Smuggler'

Research: one of the most important things you need to do before any project! If there's one thing I've learnt in all my years of design projects, it's that you never stop researching. It's an on-going process because you'll discover things as you go along which can make or break your project. I believe that you can never have too much research.

So where do I usually start? Google. Enough said :P Then books, the game, etc.

The only tutorial for the Smuggler cosplay that I have managed to find (so far) is SubitoAllegra's. Not so much as a detailed step-by-step tutorial, but more of a process diary. It was still pretty useful though. To sum up what Allegra says:

Research not only includes images, but also:

• character profile
• types of fabrics suitable for the character's profession and environment
• where can you buy certain items (ebay, local craft stores, etc.)
• the construction of clothes, patterns, etc.
• other cosplayer's versions of the same costume (tumblr: here and here, WorldCosplay 01 / 02, DeviantArt)

You can get a great hi-res image of the Smuggler in basic gear at the Assassin's Creed wiki.

It's also a good idea to brainstorm possible poses and photo compositions for when you've completed the costume and are ready to face the paparazzi. This just ensures that you can actually move in it and how much detail do you need to put into it that you want the camera to see?

Why the Smuggler (aka Lia de Russo)?

(c) 2013 Glen Yeo

This was a bit an ambitious choice for a first cosplay, but I'm extremely pleased with the finished result.

One of my friends has been into cosplay for many years and she always dressed up for conventions. It was only in the last few years that I discovered the nerdy fun of conventions and wanted to be part of the cosplay action, but I was always too shy and scared to.

Check out this concept artwork:

(c) Ubisoft

Look at all that detail! The one on the left is the in-game base character, while the centre and right images are the Smuggler in her elite gear (a fact I didn't discover until much later on) that you can unlock in multi-player. The elite gear just appealed to me. Maybe it was the puffy sleeves, and the cloak! I love cloaks...

Originally, I thought she was an assassin because of her weapon of choice - the inverted hidden blade. But she wears a Templar brooch and I remember reading on SubitoAllegra's Smuggler tutorial that she's paid by the Vatican. I thought I read somewhere that she works for herself so she could go either way. Maybe I just made that up; I honestly can't remember.

Funnily enough, Allegra's tutorial didn't scare me away from attempting the Smuggler.

PAX Aus 2013: Saturday

What a busy two weeks it's been. First Oz Comic-Con, and then the first international PAX Aus held in Melbourne at the Melbourne Showgrounds the last few days.

I only went the Saturday, and despite not actually playing any of the games and the weather being a typical rainy Melbourne winter, I had a lot of fun. I mainly went for the Ubisoft booth who did show a demo of AC4: BF, but it was gameplay I'd already seen online from the Sony E3 panel. Oh well, fingers crossed for EB Expo in October in Sydney for an actual playable demo.

I cosplayed once again as The Smuggler. Between OCC and PAX, I had accepted to help my cousin sew the jacket for her 'Yang' cosplay from Rooster Teeth's new series, "RWBY' so unfortunately a lot of my time was taken up with that instead of fixing up problems with my own costume. Once again, I was up late and experienced PAX on 4 hours sleep, and was literally pinned into my costume. That white ruffled layer of the pants is driving me nuts! But I think I have another possible solution so I have to try that at some point... Those boot covers were re-made as well since the original had unsightly paint marks on them.

PAX opened at 10am but I didn't arrive until 10:30am-ish and didn't get into the venue until 11am because I took time to adjust my costume at the car, but I was able to just walk straight through the Queue Room. The line to get into the carpark took at least 20 minutes just slow crawling it in. It didn't help that there was a weapons and mililtaria expo going on at the same time in another part of the Showgrounds.

The day was spent mainly wandering around the Expo Hall and meeting up with a few friends. I liked that PAX had organised tunnels of undercover marquees to herd people around and keep us out of the rain. Good job!

At 3pm, a cosplay photo shoot had been organised on Facebook in the Queue Room and I was able to meet up with some fellow AC cosplayers who I had been talking to through the group. It was great to be able to share tips and ideas on the making of the costumes and props and just meeting some very talented people overall. While we were hanging around in the Queue Room, one photographer went to take a photo of me and 'Connor', then asked, "Were you Mulan at Comic-Con?" which took me completely by surprise. I thought I recognised him too, but I wasn't sure (turns out it was That Guy Jye.)

(c) 2013 Jye O'Toole (That Guy Jye)

PAX Aus Cosplay FB group
Credit: Michael Anderson

My bent 'hidden' blade :(
Credit: Brett Woolgar

The Smuggler and Sharpshooter. Multiplayer characters, oh yeah.
Credit: Lisa Bryant

Ok, so I may have taken the liberty of wearing the Assassin's logo necklace which I know is not part of The Smuggler's outfit (she wears a Templar brooch), but I figured if no one knows who I am, then at least they know what game I'm from (if the costume design wasn't enough of an indicator).

Credit: Lisa Bryant

Connor and Sharpshooter, including all the props (minus the guns) were made by Lisa (DeviantArt / Mudget Makes). And I can tell you, she did a hell of a great job! With my new-found friends, we headed back over to the Ubisoft booth and took this photo:

"Home, sweet home"
Credit: Lisa Bryant

Thank you to the Ubisoft staff member who took this photo for us :) A lot of people thought I was a variation of Ezio, even a couple of the Ubi Aus team!

My own experience at PAX was amazing. Like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed myself just wandering around in cosplay and observing. For others who waited in line for panels, etc, I've seen some not so nice comments, so it all depends on who you talk to, I guess.

Again, thank you to everyone who complimented my costume. I noticed that my hood was crooked in a lot of them >_< and I know I looked a bit tired in a few. *sigh* It's because I was.

I'm looking forward to EB Expo in October. I promised myself and my bank account a break from cosplaying/sewing, but it seems my brain, in it's over-excitement has other ideas. It's already eager to start working on another AC cosplay in time for the release of AC4 and EB Expo and if it works out, coordinating my cosplay with Lisa and her boyfriend's AC4 cosplays. Let's see how we go, shall we? ;)

Oz Comic Con 2013 Saturday: Mulan cosplay

Credit: Jye O'Toole (That Guy Jye)

Ta-da! Revealing my second cosplay: Mulan! I originally had one made by a friend back in 2005 for the Melbourne City Romp, but it was a rushed job and I didn't like my design choices/alterations. The maroon overskirt is recycled from the first version. This costume has been a long time coming. 

I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to make. It looked simple enough. Yeah... this took longer than expected and I only just finished it before I went to OCC. The shirt is still missing that blue frilly part of the collar though. I had work from 3am-11am on Friday and was up until 2am Saturday working on the corset. I managed to only get 3 hours sleep within a 45 hour period. Yep. I'm surprised I even managed to last the whole of Saturday because I went to 'Disney on Ice: Princesses and Heroes' the same evening. Not in costume though. But, saying that, this is actually a fairly good costume for beginners because you can make it as simple or advanced as you like.

The sleeves went through 2 re-designs and the corset was completed in about 3 days. I've never made a corset before and it was a lot of work, but not nearly as scary as it seems. I had a couple of fashion corsets that I'd bought from Charlotte Russe during my time in Orlando, FL so I was able to analyse their construction which helped. After many Google searches for patterns and how-to videos on drafting patterns, I managed to find one and made my own alterations to it (lengthening it and making it fit over the bust). Luckily the girl's measurements were similar to my own. So glad I didn't have to draft one from scratch.

I've noticed that a lot of Mulan cosplayers go for satin materials which I like, but, ironically, it's too costume-y for me. I decided to use a suiting material called 'Panama Stretch' for the shirt and skirt instead. It hangs really well and doesn't reflect. My hairstyling skills are non-existant, so my Mulan is after her failed Matchmaker visit.

I bumped into these girls on the upper level:

  

Royal Exhibition Hall. Renaissance inspired architecture.  I can imagine Ezio jumping his way through this building.

These Aladdin and Jasmine cosplayers were brave. It was absolutely freezing outside!

Jealous, Jasmine? (Aladdin's idea)

I also met Cary Elwes (Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Princess Bride) who loved my costume and we ended up having a conversation about his visit to Kyoto, and I also met Bill Farmer, the voice of Goofy.

If anyone has any photos of me, please share them! I hope they turned out alright >_<

Supanova 2013: Assassins Assemble!

Here's a couple photos of some AC cosplayers I met at Supanova. There were a lot of Ezio's walking around, even a group of Fem-Ezio's and a lot of Connor's in those jackets (see below). Can't remember if I saw any Altair's. There was a really good Juno cosplayer which I also saw at Melbourne Oz Comic-Con on the Saturday.

Comparing weapons

Desmond and Ezio

Kylie Chan, author of the 'Dark Heaven's' and 'Journey to Wudang' Trilogy's. Also a huge AC fan! I mentioned that I was planning to cosplay as Shao Jun in the future and she asked me to come see her again if I do.