Hi! I'm Chelsea :]

Hello!

I'm Chelsea, a new Slave Leia, but an avid convention goer and cosplayer. I made my bikini as a humorous alternate costume for Celebration VI since I already had a Maris Brood cosplay I'd worked on a bunch, but I (unexpectedly) had a ton of fun as Leia! If you were there you might remember the beads. Instead of the classic look, I handmade myself a "Rave Leia" costume, using beads, glow sticks, neon paint, a gold bandana, etc. What I thought would be a one-day project, befitting of a lame yet previously unexplored pun, turned into a full week of stringing, designing, sewing, and molding.

Totally worth it! Though the costume took so long to make, I still consider it a quick and dirty version. I'd like to try my hand at making a more sturdy or screen-accurate version sometime soon. Though I like the looks of Jamins bikinis I see half the fun of cosplay in the challenge, so I'd like to try doing it myself.

Like other have said, I loved the feeling of community I got from other Leia cosplayers at Celebration!! You're all awesome and should be proud of the confidence you show by wearing this costume! My least favorite thing about the bikini, except for strong breezes, was people who said things like 'you can wear this because you're skinny, other people shouldn't be doing that.' I completely disagree! Women of all sizes should embrace the resilience of Leia in the bikini. By embracing and redefining the costume meant to degrade and objectify, strong women everywhere and of every size show that it takes a lot more than a Hutt or some nasty comments to stop this Princess.

I'm moving from Connecticut down to DC soon, so I'll hopefully be at Otakon and Dragon*Con yearly. I went to both this summer and had a blast!! And, naturally, I'd love to head back down to Florida for the next Celebration- here's hoping CVII is in Orlando!

Here are a few pictures of my bikini:


As you can see, it didn't last very long before sort of falling apart >.<
[picture via People of Cosplay on Facebook]


At the Belgian Jabba at CVI


Chillin on Hoth w Master Yoda and Luke