Fit Cosplays (For the First Time) as Rey!

I’ve known what my Halloween costume was going to be for almost a year. As soon as I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I knew I wanted to be Rey. She was such a cool figure in the Star Wars universe, a different female role than in any previous Star Wars film–she inspired me! Beside that, I had a lot of people tell me that they were really reminded of me when they saw Rey in the new Star Wars. I knew I had to do it!

When does a costume become a cosplay? Perhaps when you create a costume based on a “real” character and put real effort into simulating that character. Then you really play that character (see what I did there). I’m not quite sure. But I do know for a fact that I have never put this much effort into a costume before! I’ve never really wanted to be a certain character very badly, but I was so drawn to Rey!

You know what comes with creating a great cosplay? Crafting. Womp, womp–crafting has always been my LEAST favorite activity. For the costume, I got a few things ahead of time. I got the base (kinda meh) costume from Disney as well as a well-made leather bracelet and double-belted satchel that made the costume click. I was very happy with the look even at this point. However, I needed to tackle the big project…Rey’s trusted staff!

Creating the project gave me a little anxiety–as I said earlier, I am NOT the one for crafting. As my dear friend, Robyn, commented, that was always my least favorite part of summer camp. I am also not known for my patience. A bad combination for someone making a weapon from scratch. But… I was determined. I looked up a bunch of DIY guides and they looked doable. As a back-out, I told myself if it just didn’t work and I gave up, I could always just go with an-already created lightsaber. Spoiler alert: I didn’t give up and I created a pretty cool staff!

I used this DIY video as a guide, but rifted and improvised on it a lot. I ended up using a lot of electrical tape, PVC pipe, and gorilla glue (the last of which I do NOT get along with). Other random things added to the staff included cardboard, iron, and a telephone cord. I then coated it in layers of black flexidip (type of spray-on rubberized paint). In the end, it may have taken eight hours, I created a badass staff that I am incredibly proud of.

Noke wasn’t sure what I was doing either….

My friend, Meagan (dressed as Adele for Halloween), was nice enough to do my hair—I may have scrounged up the patience to craft the staff, but me doing my hair would be the last straw. She glanced at this tutorial and whipped it up in less than ten minutes! It looked just like the actual character’s! I was amazed and grateful.My last touches were, on the morning of Halloween while walking Noke, to collect dirt and sand. I then took the dirt and sand and rubbed it all over my costume and staff to give it that “I’m a poor, orphaned scavenger” look.

I had a blast being Rey all day at work as was very sad when I had to take it off at the end of the day. It was a very rewarding project and I look forward on improving the costume and staff and, more so, using the cosplay again soon and frequently at nerdy events! Use the Force to stay hungry and fit!