Comic-Con International: San Diego 2011 - Costume Recap

So, just as a promised, I've got a costume recap for SDCC 2011.  Same warning applies - long and image-heavy.

Thursday.  Because it was our first year at the Con, and because by some stroke of luck everything at the top of our panels list was all in the same room during the first two days, we spent both Thursday and Friday in Ballroom 20... all day.  This was on the one hand kind of amazing because we got to see and hear some amazing people and things; and despite it by necessity usually taking up a full day, I really recommend people attend some panels at least once because it is very cool and it's part of the whole experience.  But on the other hand, it meant two days less in the Exhibit Hall and around the convention center to see everything else.  Including all the costumes.  So I actually have no costume photos for Thursday, not even from the walk from the car to Ballroom 20 strangely enough.

Friday.  We had a much longer wait to get into Ballroom 20 that day, which while admittedly tedious did allow for some costume viewing.

I didn't manage to get a photo of the front, but this was a stunning 18th century masquerade ensemble.

A Na'vi behind us in line.  That's all blue paint, not a body suit.

First proper Stormtrooper sighting.

It's hard to tell from this angle, but that was Abby from NCIS, which thrilled me to no end.

Doctor Who group.

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Poor guys kept switching between posing for people in line and for people - like us - inside through the window.

No idea.

Marvel ladies.

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Tia Dalma!  Her costume was amazing, and this photo doesn't do justice to all the detail on it.

This guy had the right idea: clever and comfortable.

Mr. Jones and Mr. Jones.  They had a knight with them too.  Wish I could have got a better shot of them.

Saturday.  This was our first day walking around the convention center and browsing the Exhibit Hall, so it was our first chance to really see a lot of costuming.  We were also in costume ourselves, which makes the Exhibit Hall much more interesting than it already is (a word of advice, though: if you plan to walk the Exhibit Hall in costume but also actually want to see everything there, make sure you go back another day in "normal" clothes; the time lost while stopping to take photos every few minutes really adds up and you won't make it through the entire hall, which is hard to do in one day under normal circumstances).  We managed to get in to the Masquerade that night too, as some people working the desk were nice enough to give us some extra tickets (apologies for the blurry Masquerade photos - they were taken of the screens, not of the stage).

Genius.  (He was back for 2012, as well.)

At the time, I thought this was the strangest thing.  Now of course I know better, because it's obviously Lady Rainicorn from Adventure Time.  And extra points to them, because while at SDCC 2012 Adventure Time was everywhere, it didn't have much of a presence that I noticed in 2011.

Conan booth babe lady.

Amazing Magneto and Mystique.  That's not an easy costume to pull off, and she did it well.

Rubie's Costumes booth.

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I honestly don't remember if I was creeping on the Stormtroopers - very likely - or actually trying to get a good photo of the DeLorean.

Great Jawa complete with glowing eyes and sound effects (I also wonder if this is the same glowing-eyed Jawa I saw at 2012).

I pretty much lost my cool when we started coming across these film costume displays.  Captain America's uniform from The Avengers.  (I wish they'd had the Captain America uniform too.)

From The Dark Knight.  The Joker...

Harvey Dent/Two-Face...

And the Batman himself.

Prop Store booth.  Abe Sapien from Hellboy II.

C-3PO circa The Empire Strikes Back.

My undisputed favorite Catwoman, from Batman Returns.

Sword from Gladiator.

This kid was hilarious, deciding how much he wanted the photo and how close he'd have to get.

Zombie-Trooper?

Very cute and well-dressed steampunk couple.

Steampunk lovelies.

Lady Mechanika.

More steampunk lovelies.

The Amazing Hatman... who we probably saw about four times that day.  Seeing the same people multiple times at somewhere with such a high and varied attendance never fails to surprise me.

Captain Reynolds.

The lovely ladies of Vamplets.

I always feel bad for these guys.  Those suits have to be extremely uncomfortable.

Joker and Harley.  Always a classic.

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Another one we thought was there with Marvel.  (And we only just discovered a few days ago that she's not.)

Again, the photo doesn't do it justice, but the costume and makeup were amazing.

Very elaborate and beautifully-done steampunk.

They were good sports.  Love the lantern hanging from her belt.

Brute Force Studios.  Didn't see them in 2012, which is probably a good thing because I would have been tempted to buy something.  That arm was unbelievably in person.

More steampunk.  Love her helmet and goggles.

Silk Spectre I (by the lovely pinkgeek on Cosplay).  Easily one of the best Silk Spectre I's I've seen, in person or otherwise.

Costume illustrators panel.

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My fellow history nerds from the Mezzanine invading the lobby.

Indy and Carmen.  This needs to be a real thing.

Steampunk Maleficent, representing one of my favorite unofficial costuming categories: personalized, reworked, and updated.

Black Swan.  Props to her for wearing real pointe shoes.

Harley.

Rosie!  Out of the whole weekend, this wins a spot for one of my favorite costumes on theme alone.  I'll probably take history and originality over spot-on accuracy and technical perfection any day.  I mean, come on, she's even got the backdrop!

I'm usually very hesitant to post photos of myself, let alone have them taken to begin with, but this was too good to pass up.  We can do it!

The family that steampunks together, stays together.

(They were all back in different costume for 2012, too.)

Another of my favorite unofficial costuming categories: really adorable and well-done couples.

Star Fleet officer hanging out by the 501st booth.  Classic.

Han c. A New Hope and Slave Leia c. Return of the Jedi.

The fabrics she used were beautiful.

Hatter and Hatter.  A little of the old and new.  (That's my roomie and fellow Con adventurer on the left.)  We saw quite a few new Hatters that weekend, but this guy was probably the best.

We saw this  guy later actually riding that thing down the street in front of the convention center.  Much cheering ensued.

Ghetto Vader, the disinherited cousin of Darth and Chad (who came back for 2012, as it happened).

Wouldn't be a con without zombies (though they were in much shorter supply than 2012).

More steampunk in Gaslamp.

Loved her vest/cincher/belt/thing.

An American, a German, and a Russian walk into a bar...  This was actually a totally perfect fated moment.  The Russian and German were together walking away from us, and just as I stopped them for a photo, the American came walking by.  (I got a few photos with them too, but none turned out very well because we had that problem of too many cameras taking photos at once so everyone ends up looking at a different camera.)

This guy actually made his entire turtle suit to promote his comic.

Death on vacation.

Bats.

Me: "Can I get a photo with you guys?"  Them: "Anything for you."  Clearly they knew of my weakness for Stormtroopers.  Hence my impromptu and non-photo friendly laugh.

Couple o' pirates.

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Nice little Disney group.  I'm always impressed with people who can make really good costumes from animated things, because that can be a hard transition from animation to reality.

More steampunk.

Chewbacca!  Best one I've probably ever seen (and I do love that I've seen enough to make that distinction).

The Pedros!  Another of my favorite unofficial costuming categories: the makeshift humorous costume.

Yes, they had an extra sombrero for people who posed with them.

Color-coordinated steampunk-ish.

Great Witch-king.

I loved the fabrics and that cute little ruffle along the collar.

Sexy Vader, Ghetto Vader's publicly indecent sister.

Costume designers and illustrators panel.  And thus a dream was reaffirmed.

Very large Avatar: The Last Airbender group.  I only caught a few of them at the tail end of it.  Again, very impressed with the costume quality since they were adapted from an animated show, especially since the Avatar costumes are tricky anyway.

"My cabbages!!!"  Another of my favorites from the weekend.

Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes posing together.  This just feels wrong.

Cutest little dogs.  The "injured" one was causing quite a stir, but of course it was just fake fur matted with fake blood.

Zombie bride, perfectly in character.

Uh... Superman.

A very brave Leeloo.

The start of the Masquerade.

This kid had one of the best Spider-Mans I've ever seen.

Her Ty Lee costume was good as-is, but the performance really made it.

Original design.

Original design.

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Beatles group.

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Poison Ivy.

That's an incapacitated police officer - played by her husband - at her feet.

Original design.

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Space Ghost group.  Wacky antics inevitably followed.

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This was stunning.

Space Balls.

He started out as the Warner Bros. frog, dance and all...

But soon became Hypnotoad.

Nice historical couple.  The bell shape of her skirts seemed a little off to me - a little too circular - but the detail on the costumes was amazing.

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Star Wars meets Grease.  Because of course.

The evil stepsisters.

Started out as a Chicago-infused Batman...

And became a Moulin Rouge-infused Batman.

Charlotte from The Princess and the Frog.  This was incredibly well made.

We especially loved that she didn't cover her tattoos.

I'm pretty sure she was back in 2012 too.

Remarkable Abraham Lincoln lookalike.

Some Civil War shenanigans.  I wonder what this could be leading up to...

Ironclad-Man!  It couldn't be anything else.

So, inevitably another of my favorites: history + originality + reworking/updating.

The bromance that might have been.

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Sunday.  As usual the floor was a little slower and just slightly more empty - not by any normal standards, but and least compared to the rest of the weekend.  We also had to leave in the afternoon rather than evening since we were meeting some friends for an early dinner and then making the long drive home.  So unfortunately I didn't get many costume photos.

Poison Ivy from the Masquerade the night before.  Really great idea, saving a costume to wear/premier at the Masquerade Saturday and then wearing it on the floor Sunday.

Captain Jack Sparrow (though I don't see a ship anywhere, Captain).

Hypnotoad from the previous night's Masquerade.

These guys were awesome.

And that was it.  It was an amazing time, and we were already plotting how to make it back for 2012 before the weekend was even over.  And 2012 ended up being just as amazing too.  So here's to 2013!

*All photos are property of their respective owners me.