Cosplay Princess
The next in our 'Women of Strength in Cosplay' series features Lydia otherwise known as Celery Moon Designs
Here is what Lydia had to say about cosplaying and the characters she chose for our shoot.
"I started cosplaying in 2009 although technically I guess I've been doing it a lot longer, I just didn't know what it was called! My first attempt at cosplay was a hastily thrown together Penny costume for a trip to Tokyo Disneyland using my own clothes as guests can dress up during halloween. However, for my first actual convention I didn't actually cosplay. I was completely unaware at the time that cosplay was a thing in the UK.
After that first con, I decided that from now on I would cosplay at events. I wasn't expecting my hobby to spiral so crazily though! I've gone from sewing a waistcoat because I couldn't do sleeves to full blown princess dresses and digitigrade faun legs. Cosplay has allowed me to meet new people and experience amazing things that I wouldn't have before.
The first character I picked to shoot with Geekzania is Navi from Legend of Zelda. This costume originally started as a painted jacket with everything else from ebay. From there I altered an exisiting costume, made by a family member, to finally creating this in it's entirety. This costume represents my journey into cosplay and is my favorite for sentimental reasons. Navi was the first character I embodied and she gave me the confidence to talk to people and even enter masquerades. Anyone who has ever played Legend of Zelda is familar with Navi and it is always incredible fun cosplaying as her. She has this great cheeky spirit and you can get away with lots of things when in character! Navi always gives me such a boost to my confidence.
My second choice was Princess Peach. One of my favourite female characters of all time, I outright refuse to play MarioKart if I can't play as her. I remember Princess Peach being one of the few standout female characters from my childhood and as soon as my skill set increased I knew I had to cosplay her. I wanted to focus on a more realistic version of her rather than the cartoony style so my Peach probably isn't as accurate as she could be, but to me that doesn't matter. Cosplaying Peach is the chance to relive my childhood and although a lot of people write her off as a typical damsel in distress, Peach was a prominent female character in an otherwise male dominated world for me. I was a tomboy as a kid but even I could recognise kicking butt and taking names in a poofy pink ballroom dress was pretty fun.
Rapunzel was my third choice and is probably my favourite modern princess in the Disney family (although Tiana is a close second). I love her feisty and passionate nature and although this version is ballerina themed, her personality still shines through when I am in cosplay. Rapunzel is such a great role model and sends a great message to kids and although she's not the first princess with such a message, her creativity and sense of adventure really resonates with me.
Finally, I chose Elsa as my last cosplay. Frozen is a weird film for me, as I love the music, the characters and the gorgeous design but I'm not a fan of the actual plot! Nevertheless, Elsa is an amazing character and I love her strength and raw power. I love becoming her in cosplay as it's hard not to feel all powerful and bad-ass when dressed as her."
"I started cosplaying in 2009 although technically I guess I've been doing it a lot longer, I just didn't know what it was called! My first attempt at cosplay was a hastily thrown together Penny costume for a trip to Tokyo Disneyland using my own clothes as guests can dress up during halloween. However, for my first actual convention I didn't actually cosplay. I was completely unaware at the time that cosplay was a thing in the UK.
After that first con, I decided that from now on I would cosplay at events. I wasn't expecting my hobby to spiral so crazily though! I've gone from sewing a waistcoat because I couldn't do sleeves to full blown princess dresses and digitigrade faun legs. Cosplay has allowed me to meet new people and experience amazing things that I wouldn't have before.
The first character I picked to shoot with Geekzania is Navi from Legend of Zelda. This costume originally started as a painted jacket with everything else from ebay. From there I altered an exisiting costume, made by a family member, to finally creating this in it's entirety. This costume represents my journey into cosplay and is my favorite for sentimental reasons. Navi was the first character I embodied and she gave me the confidence to talk to people and even enter masquerades. Anyone who has ever played Legend of Zelda is familar with Navi and it is always incredible fun cosplaying as her. She has this great cheeky spirit and you can get away with lots of things when in character! Navi always gives me such a boost to my confidence.
My second choice was Princess Peach. One of my favourite female characters of all time, I outright refuse to play MarioKart if I can't play as her. I remember Princess Peach being one of the few standout female characters from my childhood and as soon as my skill set increased I knew I had to cosplay her. I wanted to focus on a more realistic version of her rather than the cartoony style so my Peach probably isn't as accurate as she could be, but to me that doesn't matter. Cosplaying Peach is the chance to relive my childhood and although a lot of people write her off as a typical damsel in distress, Peach was a prominent female character in an otherwise male dominated world for me. I was a tomboy as a kid but even I could recognise kicking butt and taking names in a poofy pink ballroom dress was pretty fun.
Rapunzel was my third choice and is probably my favourite modern princess in the Disney family (although Tiana is a close second). I love her feisty and passionate nature and although this version is ballerina themed, her personality still shines through when I am in cosplay. Rapunzel is such a great role model and sends a great message to kids and although she's not the first princess with such a message, her creativity and sense of adventure really resonates with me.
Finally, I chose Elsa as my last cosplay. Frozen is a weird film for me, as I love the music, the characters and the gorgeous design but I'm not a fan of the actual plot! Nevertheless, Elsa is an amazing character and I love her strength and raw power. I love becoming her in cosplay as it's hard not to feel all powerful and bad-ass when dressed as her."
Navi From Legends of Zelda
Princess Peach
Rapunzel
Elsa
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