To Cosplay, Or Not To Cosplay, That Is The Question:

Hi everyone! Hope you all had lovely weekends. I've been quite lazy this past Fourth of July weekend. I mostly spent time at home, playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf, BBQs, fireworks and being completely lazy. Oh and I finally cleaned out my closet and switch to my Summer clothes. Now I have a pile of Fall/Winter clothes to donate. So now it's back to the work grind and it's been super busy but I am trying to get some post out. I know some of you have been waiting to see my nail polish collections. I'm working hard on it! I want to take pictures and list every single one of them, so bear with me.

As I was lazily lounging at home, I came across a BuzzFeed article, DC Comics Superheroines Dressed as Modern Hipsters.  These character illustrations are by Elizabeth Beals. Her illustrations are a mix of modern and Art Nouveau, my favorite art style. She draws her own characters and does commissions, as well. Check out her website and tumblr. 

Anyway, she just released this illustration series, Hipster DC Girls, at HeroesCon 2013. They are currently available as prints. I think they are AMAZING!  I think these are seriously unique and totally capture the feeling/personality of each character.  Also, I'm super happy to see that the bodies on these girls are varied and much more realistic than their comic book counterparts.

Here are few from her Hipster DC Girls series.
From left top to bottom right: Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Batgirl, & Supergirl.

What really caught my interest was that these illustrations were also featured on Nylon Magazine's blog. They loved the rendition of Wonder Woman and her fashion style.

They even mentioned where you could find a pair of shorts just like the ones she is wearing. That got me thinking...

"Wouldn't it be awesome to cosplay as one of these hipster DC characters?"

So I picked my favorite out of the group: Harley Quinn.

If you don't know much about her, here is a short bio. Harley Quinn is a super villian in the Batman series. She is usually dressed as a harlequin jester in red, black and white. She actually started as Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist, where she meets The Joker and falls in love with him. She helps him escape but once the Joker is captured and placed back in Arkham, Harleen quits her job and becomes the Joker's right-hand woman/girlfriend. 

I'm not an expertise at sewing and I don't really have any pieces like her outfit. I decided to search on some clothing websites to see if they have anything similar to what she is wearing. Here is what I found.

Forever 21, Slanted Flap Pocket Blazer in Red - $34.80

Forever 21, Diamond Printed Sweater - Was $19.80 / On Sale for $15.64

American Eagle Outfitters, Skinny Jeans in Black - Was $49.95 / On Sale for $39.99

Zappos: Madden Girl Tremor in Cognac, $49.95

Payless Shoe Source: American Eagle Brady Convertible Crossbody and Backpack in Brown, $26.99

I wear black-rimmed glasses when I don't feel like wearing contacts and I would have to make the POW keychain. As far as wigs go, I'm not a huge fan of buying and wearing. I've worn wigs before for two costumes, but I hate getting all sweaty and feeling like it's moving around after wearing it for so long. I will have to debate about the wig.

Point is...

I like seeing modern takes on characters from movies, stories, tv, games and comics. It's another way to show off your inner geek without wearing a cape or cat suit. Plus, most of these pieces I would totally wear on a daily basis. We'll see if I do cosplay this for NYCC or Halloween. It would be awesome to get a group of ladies to dress as these characters.

What do you think of my selections? Would you cosplay as a modern-day character? If you did, who would you choose? (TV, movie, video games, books, etc.)

Liked these illustrations? check out these other modern-day characters -

• 14 Disney Characters As Modern-Day College Students
• Hipster Disney Princesses
• 39 Stylish People Who Are Secretly Disney Characters