Nerd in Real Life: Captain America The Winter Soldier Cosplay (Style, #Fashion)
A few weeks ago, my sister and I attended Animazement in Raleigh, NC. Animazement takes place every Memorial Day weekend and over the span of three days, nerd, geeks, anime and comic lovers, gamers and general lovers of all things sci-fi and fantasy come together to express their inner nerd. Last year I ordered a costume from Amazon and went as a rather sexy Thor. This year however, I put my inner nerd to the test and decided to create my own custom costume. I wanted to wear something I’d spent time working on so I could say I had that experience. In this post I’ll share with you my half-made half-purchased Captain America the Winter Soldier Cosplay.
The Shield…
The shield was by far the hardest part. If I screwed it up then the whole outfit would essentially fall apart. So, I spent an entire week constructing the perfect shield. And let me say, it was an EPIC HIT at the convention!
I used an old cardboard box from a recent Macy’s purchase as the base for my shield. I drew an outline of the shield, free-handed mind you, and the cut it out with a box cutter and trimmed the edges with scissors.
The materials I used: Heirloom Red Paint Sample from Lowes hardware, Royal Blue Paint Sample from Lowes Hardware, red and blue glitter $3.00 each from Walmart, and paint brushes from a previous project.
Though I didn’t take a picture of it, I used red duct tape and lined the back of the shield twice before I painted it. I also used scraps of cardboard to create 2 handles. Lastly after it was completely painted, I added glitter and stars. NOOb tip: Hot glue over glitter does not work…glue first — then glitter. Or you will be scrapping off glitter to get the stars to stick (like I did).
The Hat….
My hat went through a similar process. I paid $4.00 for a velvet cowboy hat at Walmart, $2.00 for some stencils, and used some old white paint I had. I taped down the A and painted over it twice. Then I put white glitter (similar to the ones above) over top of the paint and let it dry.
The Costume…
All items, with the exception of my boots which were a Christmas present and blue leggings which were purchased at Forever21 for $3.00, were purchased from Amazon. ( Bodysuit $17.00…Corset $17.00…Team USA Leg Warmers $7.99…Red Gloves $7.00)
Verdict: I spent roughly $60.00 on the completed look, which in hindsight is about the same price I would have paid if I purchased a costume. EVERYONE loved it! I took so many pictures with people it was crazy! I think I was officially a BADA$$! 🙂
you most definitely looked freakin’ awesome! great job on that homemade outfit!
Why thank you! Glad you like it!!
i most certainly did! and i honestly would not have known that your shield was made of cardboard! wow! have you done any other costume ideas? just curious.
Yeah, the hardest part was cutting it into a shape without it falling apart on me. And no, I usually buy my costumes but I hope to continue to make more. Not sure what I’m going as next year. Always open to suggestions though!!