Author: Courtney Coulson

Artist, costumer, podcaster.

Cosplay Couture Peter Pan

From the archives, January 2014:

Cosplay Couture interpretation of Peter Pan

Costume and styling by Courtney Coulson

Photography by Luke Milton

Location University of Western Australia

Re-read Barrie’s Peter Pan if it’s been a while. I forgot how clever and twisted it is. Peter is an anarchic supernatural character who does whatever the hell he pleases. We’ve become too familiar with the watered down film versions so, once we returned to the original text, I was especially excited to explore a more tribal and chaotic Pan. Once again we were very lucky with local environments. You could travel quite far to capture this lush, jungle-like wilderness which is really just a patch of garden not too far from here.

– Luke Milton

Disney has the power to completely dominate people’s imaginations to the point that they can’t imagine certain characters any other way. After being pleasantly surprised by Frankenstein I wondered what other classics novels I was missing out on, I love the Peter Pan animated film but it doesn’t quite capture Barrie’s unique way with words nor the darker side of Neverland. Indeed it seems beautiful and inviting but this is a world where there is but a thin line between fantasy and reality and time, there’s this vague implaceable sense of unease.

Peter Pan embodies these qualities, his memories and imagination are interchangeable and he seems to be able to influence his world with his thoughts alone. Peter is ultimately an antihero, he can come off as a sociopath at times because he is so selfish and unempathetic, but these are the qualities of a very young boy, which is fine except he’s really centuries old and the leader of the Lost Boys, there’s an air of danger about him. He’s unpredictable, driven by impulse and seldom listens to reason, he’s also quite powerful.

Barrie is intentionally vague about Peter’s appearance, a beautiful young boy still with his first teeth  and “clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that flow from trees”. So I wanted his environment to influence his costume, not just nature but from what he had scavenged from the pirates and the natives.

As a nod to the Disney film I couldn’t resist adding the bandana as a take on his usual cap, I believe it’s what makes the character instantly recognisable.

-Courtney Coulson

by Categories: cosplay coutureTags: Leave a comment

Cosplay Couture Khan

From the archives December 2013:

Cosplay Couture interpretation of Khan Noonien Singh/John Harrison from Star Trek: Into Darkness

Costume (Shirt, jacket and coat) and styling by Courtney Coulson

Photography by Luke Milton

Location Claremont Quarter carpark

I love Star Trek, Benedict Cumberbatch, Khan and the costume designer Michael Kaplan and this year they all came together in one to create a seriously cool villain.

The moment I saw Khan I was in love with his fashion-forward look, Benedict always rocks the long coats and high collars. And that hair, I had to get it cut like that whether I did this shoot or not, it’s so damn cool!

My auburn hair has kind of become a signature part of my look throughout these shoots, but every once in awhile I find it’s not approriate for a certain character, Khan being one of them. I used a temporary rinse, the auburn still kind of shows through, but it’s darker at least.

I spent a long time really considering the designs and styling, I redesigned the silver coat a few times. The black jacket is a reference to the shirt he wears once he has been taken aboard the Enterprise with subtle nods to the other variations of the Starfleet uniform. For these designs I was looking at asymmetry and complex lines, triangular shapes being my main inspiration. There’s something about triangles that are aggressive and masculine to me.

Khan wears five coats in total, two silver, one black and one brown, the fifth being the alternate brown coat he wears in some promotional photos which has a similar but distinctly different look to the one used in the film. My silver coat is a mash-up of all of them. I chose silver because nothing sells the idea of futuristic like silver. The upper half is lined with a silk/cotton which was originally peach, when I dyed it grey it still retained a lot of that pinky quality on the other side. Unfortunately it doesn’t really read on camera but it does have an odd shimmery quality, grey with flecks of pinks and purple. The collar and right lapel is quilted, which was the most time consuming part. The lower half of the coat was left deliberately unlined to keep it as light as possible, it creates quite a dramatic look when walking or it’s windy.

And it was pretty windy when we shot, great for the coat, but not so much for the hair. I had to use so much product and continually comb it to keep it up. Thankfully Khan has it down just as often as he has it slicked back so I had options to play with.

The last time I “played” Benedict, in my Sherlock shoot, I kept the make-up fairly subtle and androgynous, it was all about trying to emulate the shape of his face. This time around I did pretty much the same thing with the exception of the eyes. I went with a really heavy all black smokey eye, because nothing says fashionably badass quite like it!

Finally the biggest challenge turned out to be body language/mannerisms. I have spent quite a while studying the way Khan moves, it’s this distinct, rigid economy of movement. He’s got the posture of a supersoldier as you would expect. Although he gets to move around a lot in combat, his general state of being is standing or sitting perfectly straight with only the slightest robotic tilts of his head. Usually I try to mix a bit of fashion modelling in there, but it felt wrong for Khan, in fact a lot of things did. So Khan ended up being more subtle in a way, I focused on channelling that imposing unnatural posture, the intense facials expressions.

-Courtney Coulson

Courtney is by far a bigger fan than I am of this particular character, and to be honest it wasn’t something I was overly excited about when we first started discussing this one. However, seeing the amazing designs for the jacket quickly changed my mind. I love the sleekness and audaciousness of futuristic clothing – it’s hard thing to get right, but I think Courtney managed to find that balance. I knew straight away that the silver jacket was going to be the star of the shoot and she ended up making the very impressive black under jacket as well.

Location wise this was all about finding sleek, white, metal environments. The car park is a little grungier than I intended but I still think it works. Khan is often seen operating within the futuristic city in the film, so it’s not a bad fit, even when nondescript signage and things appear in the background. I really wanted these to almost look black and white, with the main bursts of colour being the lips and eyes. The goal was to make things as slick as absolutely possible.

Luke Milton

by Categories: cosplay coutureTags: , , , , Leave a comment

Metal Gear Triptych: Postscript

I tried to get this comic done in time for the one year anniversary of the hit-and-run on July 22nd. Then I had a power outage in my house for nearly an entire week. Oh well, my life is just a series of challenges. This comic is something of a closer, a postscript, to my journey of healing.

One year ago I nearly died, I couldn’t walk, couldn’t trust my own brain, I was abandoned and threatened by my family. MGSV allowed me to both escape my pain and confront it. I was Venom Snake, waking up with amnesia to a world that didn’t make sense, sadly there was no Revolver Ocelot on a white horse to save me. I was Kazuhira Miller, burned by my own rage, rendered unable to walk, thankfully they were able to put pins in my broken leg and save it. Then there was the nerve damage causing a constant phantom pain all over my body.

I’m stronger now than I was before the accident, I’ve started bodybuilding, and practicing Krav Maga, I’ve nearly returned to full-time work, finally got my driver’s license and I’m trying to join the army reserves. Metal Gear saved me from suicide, it’s inspired my art and costumes and writing, it’s motivated me to live and become something formidable.

All this pain, reminds me of what I am, I’ll live, I’ll become all I need to be.

by Categories: ArtTags: , , , Leave a comment

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater- The Boss

This was a fun project, I didn’t make this costume from scratch, I altered one I ordered from a Chinese cosplay website. I replaced the vinyl fabric buckles with metal ones, replaced the vinyl straps with webbing, and made the knife holder out of leather. All touches to give this costume authenticity. I wore it for the first time to a convention today, it’s sweaty and there isn’t much flexibility, but overall I think this costume was decent. Not many people recognised the character, most thought I was Black Widow.

Photos by Steam Kittens

by Categories: CostumesTags: , , , 2 Comments

Cosplay Couture The Bandit

From the archives, November 2013:

Cosplay Couture interpretation of the Bandit from The Fall

Costume (mask, cape, butterflies) and styling by Courtney Coulson

Photography by Luke Milton

Location Karrakatta Cemetery

Courtney and I recently watched The Fall together and we’ve both fallen crazily in love with this film. The Bandit has a relatively simple costume but I was determined to find a setting that did the character (and film) justice – not an easy task considering the exotic locales that feature prominently in a film where every single shot is a work of art. 

We actually had two attempts at this over the course of two days. Our first idea was to use the “blood” soaked sheet as backdrop but the wind proved to make this a near impossible task. Losing light we ended up shelter in the carport where I was surprised to capture some unexpectedly quirky and colourful shots. It was the second day that we went out on location and ended up shunning perfectly manicured gardens to hunt out pieces of exotic architecture. All of these were small details and corners of buildings that were otherwise completely unsuitable but the bleached surfaces carry the illusion well. If these images intrigue you and you haven’t seen Tarsem’s The Fall then I urge you to do so!

And I got to keep the mask.

– Luke Milton

I’ve long been fascinated by Tarsem’s work since I saw the Cell years ago, he has an incredible visual style that defies comparison, he often worked with the late great Eiko Ishioka, whom I consider to be one of the greatest costume designers of all time. She worked on all of Tarsem’s films, including the Fall where her costumes were integral in establishing sympathetic characters who have very little dialogue and creating a fantasy world that was truly fantastic.

I just so happened to have many pieces in my wardrobe that resembled the Bandit, but masks are always such a challenge, because if you’re just a millimetre off in any way it changes the entire look. I made three before I got it right. I used corduroy to imitate the texture and I put boning in the “nose” piece to give it shape.

What I love about all the costumes in this film is that each of the characters have such a distinct and dramatic silhouette. The Bandit is very fitted and narrow on the torso, but from the waistdown he has samurai pants and then on his head he has a mask and a wide brim hat. More than any of my other costumes I felt this one could change so much depending on the combination of accessories and what stance I assumed.

-Courtney Coulson

by Categories: cosplay coutureTags: , Leave a comment

Metal Gear Triptych II: The Wounds Let the Light In

The Brain Comforts Itself (A trilogy of dreams)

After several traumatic incidents leaving me severely injured and profoundly alone, my subconscious provided me a place in which I could retreat. This place was not devoid of pain or danger. No, each time I visited I was made to overcome a challenge, face some aspect of my real pain, the difference from reality being that I had someone stronger and wiser than I was to walk with me. This phenomenon has been known by shamans all over the world perhaps before the written word itself. The ancients speak of spirit guides and tulpas, beings that visit our minds to provide us with unique guidance. 

This is an ability I’ve had my whole life, but I dismissed my fantasy worlds as childish or shameful. After my near-death experience followed by the most intense dreams of my life, I decided I didn’t want to keep these things locked away in my mind anymore, they don’t deserve to die with me. 

These characters might belong to a video game, but I don’t think that matters, these are the forms my subconscious assumed because these are figures who represent meaningful qualities to me. Snake, Miller, Ocelot, each in their turn taught me something important on my journey to recovery. 

This project took me down all sorts of surprising avenues of research, from the self-insert fantasies of Dante Aligheiri to the dissection of the subconscious by Jung. Our private relationship with our fantasies or even the fiction of others is significant, this triptych demonstrates the providence my own mind offered me as protection from my pain. 

The Dream:

The dreams I had featuring Kazuhira as I recovered seemed to mostly focus on pain and our relationship with it. I struggled often with the urge to harm myself, perhaps as a means of feeling control over my other pains. This is the wisdom Miller imparted onto me after a particularly exhausting day of battling those urges.

Part 1:

https://wordpress.com/post/traviandesigns.com/2793

by Categories: ArtTags: , , , Leave a comment

Cosplay Couture Kazuhira Miller

Photography by Vespa Photography

Despite Miller’s limited wardrobe and static body language, I find him endlessly inspiring. The challenge of portraying him through cosplay, and reenvisioning him through fashion is all about subtlety and the little details. I kept the silhouette functionally the same, but draping the trenchcoat like a cape to entirely obscure his missing arm added a touch of theatre. Essentially I built everything around the velvet double breasted blazer, it read to me as the formal fashion equivalent of his military uniform.

Most of this costume was assembled, the most work I did was cut the wig myself. I’m surprised what I could get out of a $15 eBay wig, it’s a half-wig too, it needed to be thin enough to fit under the beret. The downside is I could only cut it so short, but I think this length works for what I’m going for.

by Categories: cosplay coutureTags: , , Leave a comment