Vader and Maul: Sith Lords just wanna have fun

This week we're posting another dress-up we did a while back. For Halloween 2015, our favourite comic book store (Red Claw Comix) decided to host a cosplay event, and of course, we jumped at the chance to portray the Dark Side.

Marius went for the tattooed Zabrak look, going as Darth Maul:

We do not yet have the latex and face paint skills to create our own believable Zabrak faces, so we opted for a mask, but Marius (oops, I meant Darth Maul) built and painted his own lightsaber with parts sourced from hardware stores in our area. We created a basic cape, hood and red sash using cheap fabric we bought at a sewing store, and with some tips from YouTube cape-making tutorials. Rubber gloves and boots from the hardware store finished the look.

Annalene decided to go as a female Darth Vader:

This costume also took some DIY skills to create. Marius made a really cool electronics control panel with real buttons on it, and helped Darth Vader to create her own custom lightsaber as well. We bought one of those Vader masks with the voicechanger for added effect, and also created a cape from black fabric (all you have to do is thread a ribbon through a few holes in a rectangular piece of cloth - no sewing skills required!).

Homemade Vader electronics

Going for the female look

We had a blast hanging out at the comic book store with other like-minded individuals. Here are a few more photos of the event:

Force choke

Check the epic lightsaber

Ready for cosplay events: Maul, Vader, Viking and Valkyrie

We ran into the Joker and Harley Quinn, among others

Vader and mini-Vader

The Geeks Do Rugby

We've posted quite a few weird and cool geeky dress-ups on this blog. We post boardgames, figurines, cosplay, etc. Today, we want to show a different side to our love for dressing up for things we enjoy: watching rugby. Yes - sports. As in actual rugby, not the PlayStation game.

Marius, in addition to loving every possible kind of digital and board game, is also a fan of the game of rugby, and being a born Free Stater, he supports the Cheetahs, and of course the Springboks. Annalene does not always know what's happening in the world of rugby, but she does enjoy going to see live games, and even though she grew up in the Western Cape, her heart has settled in the Free State and she cheers for the men in orange as well.

Of course, we don't enjoy doing anything half-heartedly, so we tend to dress up for the occassion when we watch a game. Today, we'd like to share a few pictures of our rugby adventures, just to prove that Star Wars is not the only thing that can get us away from the PlayStation.

The Springboks also get special treatment, even though we haven't yet been able to go to a live game. This is what we looked like during the last World Cup (please note rugby-themed snacks).

Support shirts

Marius' mom joining us in support of the Boks

Alien Party

Before we jump into another dress-up party description, let's get one thing straight: you do not have to spend thousands in order to look cool for a dress-up or cosplay. All it takes is some creativity, effort and commitment. Of course, it helps to buy a few things, but you don't have to order a R5000 costume online if you can make it work with some household items!

Last year, we were invited to an Alien-themed birthday party (based on the Alien movies, not just any old alien you felt like). We rewatched all the movies in preparation, and since we usually go big, decided to go for some of the more challenging characters: Annalene would be a xenomorph, and Marius would be a chestburster victim.

We seriously considered making the chestburster using a stuffed sock and some googly eyes from a craft shop, but we came across these in Red Claw Comix and just couldn't resist bringing them home:

Aren't they adorable?

We spent at least an hour playing with them and taking pictures when we got them.

After buying the facehugger and chestburster, we decided to use what we had at home for the rest of the outfits. Marius found an old shirt and cut a chestburster-sized hole in it, splattering the area with some red fabric paint for added gore. The result looked quite painful:

Luckily, the chestburster toy has quite a long tail which could wrap around Marius' body and tuck into his belt, keeping the creature in place. 

For Annalene's xenomorph, we had to take some creative liberties - a true-to-life one is very tricky to pull off!

We used an old Alien bandana and the facehugger soft toy around the face area, and then added to Annalene's black outfit by using Halloween skeletal rubber gloves that were lying around in the props chest. She finished off her look with black eyeliner on her lips and an alien 'tail' made from cardboard in her hair. It looked pretty scary, and we think people got the idea that she was a xenomorph.

At the end of the day, it was a pretty decent party dress-up. It helps to have a collection of odds and ends from previous dress-ups lying around, but if you think and plan ahead, you really don't need to spend all that much in order to look awesome. We could have found a way around buying the plush facehugger and chestburster, but we kind of wanted them around. 

Here are a few more action photos from that night:

Ripley and a xenomorph facing off

The chestburster finds a new victim

Marius has finally succumbed to his wounds

New family member: Orgrim Doomhammer

On a Warcraft movie high (the movie was WAY better than the critics rated it, and the world of Azeroth was beautifully rendered), we recently popped into Red Claw Comix in Bloemfontein just to browse a bit (never a good idea - we invariably end up leaving with something we absolutely HAD to buy).

This comic book store has quite a large section of Funko Pop figures, and we were immediately drawn to this guy:

Orgrim Doomhammer from Warcraft just looks so badass as a Pop figure! Of course, in real life he is way bigger and scarier:

We decided to take him home with us. We would have loved to get the Durotan and Lothar figures as well, but they had already been sold out. Those two also look stunning, according to the pictures we've seen.

Neither of us really believe in keeping our collectables 'in original packaging', so we threw away the box before these photos were taken.

Welcome to the family, Orgrim!

Onesies

Okay, so onesies were a pretty lame idea until we saw the superhero ones. And seeing as winter is upon us, what better way is there to keep warm and snuggly when we're hanging out at home?

We were doubly excited to finally find onesies that were tall enough for Marius this year - the trend really seems to have taken off, and more stores are starting to sell onesies for grown men.

The women's sections are still quite boring though, so we mostly just shop in the guys' sections where they have Superman, Batman, dinosaurs, and other cool things. The best places to look, in our experience, are Pick 'n Pay Clothing, Checkers Hyper, and Ackermans. If you find cool onesies anywhere else, please tell us!

Apart from making you feel awesome and heroic, these things are also incredibly warm. The only downside, of course, is having to practically undress whenever you need to go to the bathroom. So make sure to at least wear a shirt or something underneath for extra protection.

Here are a few pictures of us hanging out in our superhero onesie gear.

Batman onesies (Ackermans) and coffee cups (Checkers)

He is the hero Gotham needs...

Nananananananana Batgirl

Brooding hero

Superman is super excited to get a onesie that fits (from Checkers Hyper)

Superman in Viking disguise

We had to throw in these amazing Darth Vader slippers from Checkers Hyper

Very warm and snuggly Batman onesie from Pick n Pay Hyper