Archives for May 2018

The Joy of Hooping

May 26, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 4 Comments

There are few greater joys in life than finding that one physical activity that you love. I’ve never been a gym rat or fitness nut (no offense to those who are, it’s just not my cup o’ tea). I’ve been blessed with naturally thin physique, so that coupled with a severe dislike of lifting weights (i.e. I focus on all the pain!) has kept me looking for alternative forms of exercise.

Thankfully, I got involved with martial arts early in life and developed a love for exercise that engages both the body and the mind. Later on in high school I discovered dance which opened up a whole new world for me in terms of isometric conditioning and mind-body interaction.

Then in college came hooping.

Oh yes, you read that right. Hooping. As in ‘hula hoop'(ing).

I adore hooping. Be it simply moving with the hula hoop around my waist or eliciting oos and aas from an audience with some crazy off-body movement. It’s fun, it’s energizing, it’s calming, it’s refreshing, it’s simple, it’s hard, it’s all of these things. There’s so many different things that one can do with a hula hoop. So many different things that can be brought inside that circle (pun intended). It can be a soulful dance, full of slow explorations of what your body can do or a fast-paced frenzy of wild energy. I never get tired of picking up my hoop and learning a new trick (or better yet, sharing the simple joy of hooping with others). There’s nothing quite like it.

I had hoped to take my hooping further to become an instructor and spread this joy to others (or even to choreograph my own hoop routines and do geek-themed videos ala Lindsey Stirling). But alas, those dreams got put on the backburner when my accident happened.

But my dreams didn’t die in the car accident. They just took on a different form. Hooping became a small part of my recovery, with hooping with my arms, then eventually my waist was used as an unofficial part of my physical therapy. Now, I’m back to the level I was hooping at before the accident (with the exception of not quite being able to dance fully just yet. My left leg isn’t quite up to strength. But soon!).

Right before these pictures were taking by my friend James, I had been invited to a cosplay dance-off at Atlanta’s anime convention Momocon. I’ll confess I was quite nervous as I hadn’t hooped in public since before the accident. But as you’ll see in the video below, I had nothing to fear.

Dress: Double slit maxi dress from Bebe
Photographer: James “Frameshot” Garner (photos used by permission from Anime Geek Gaming Nation)
Video: The Aficionados

Southern Summer

May 24, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 1 Comment

Southern Summer

Another southern summer has finally begun.
Beads of sweat glisten like pearls in the sun.
Days so hot and heavy with heat.
The wind that blows brings no relief.
I know of a place that is nice and cool.
But it’s not an ocean or even a pool.
It’s a river the shade of whiskey where the water flows.
Where time stands still and a cool breeze blows.
The riverbank sand is the color of gold,
and to my eyes it is a sight to behold.
When the sun goes down and day turns to night,
the fireflies come out to dance in the moonlight.
Frogs and crickets sing in perfect harmony,
a southern summer song, a sweet melody.~ Tia White

Southern Heat by Michael Nelson Studio featuring model The Lady Nerd.

As you might surmise from the lovely poem above, it’s now Hotlanta time. I’m lucky to have a cool room, but I’m dreading the heat I’ll likely be experiencing consistently on set when I start back on The Gifted. But to look at the brighter side of the heat wave, I was reminded of this photoshoot I did with Michael Nelson when I first moved to Atlanta. I had never done a casual shoot before (i.e. no crazy makeup, hair, or high fashion). I was feeling mighty out of my comfort zone, but Michael and his team made me feel just as lovely even plain Jane as I was in this shoot. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the pictures when I got them back (as they were so different than how I was used to seeing myself), but I’ve grown to love them over the years since. The top picture has become one of my all-time favourite modeling photos! I mean who wouldn’t like a broken doll posed model wilting from the heat of a southern summer? Seems mighty appropriate for most times of the year!

Southern Afternoon by Michael Nelson Studio featuring model The Lady Nerd. Photographs: Michael Nelson Studio

Allon Book Series – Shannan Costume

May 13, 2018 by Briana 8 Comments

Since today is Mother’s Day, rather than sharing the typical “I love my mom!” (which, obviously, I do), I thought I’d switch things up and share of the fun work my mom has done. Did you know she’s a published, legit author? True story! She has written screenplays for children’s television (Bravestarr, anyone?), historical fiction novels, and an ongoing allegorical fantasy series called Allon.

A few years back, Mom asked me to create a tangible costume for one of the lead characters to accompany the artwork in publicity. For background on the character, Shannan is the female heroine from the first 4 books. From birth, she is destined to bring back the return of the mysterious Guardians and help Prince Ellis take his rightful place as ruler of Allon. She is a strong, but caring girl, wise beyond her years (and needs to be to deal with a young, hot-headed Ellis!) and an expert hunter. Her grandfather whisked her away upon her birth as she was marked for death by the Dark Way (Why, you ask? Well, you’ll just have to read the book! 😉 ). As such, Shannan lives in the secluded forest of Dorgirith away from prying eyes and invasive questions.

This was actually my first attempt at creating a full costume from start to finish. But being the costume enthusiast I am, I was quick to take up the task. I knew that I wanted to make a movie-level costume (or as I like to say, a “Weta-level” costume, named for the illustrious Weta Workshop in New Zealand). This particular costume is from the beginning of the book where Shannan’s character is introduced. It a forester’s costume in basis, but with it being in the world of Allon, we tred to stay away from the cliched medieval look. The era of costume I designed for Allon is patterned roughly around the renaissance period, but with a fantasy aspect as well (as Allon is a fantasy world not unlike Middle Earth). Stealth and ease of movement in Shannan’s clothes are essential. So I designed the costume to keep with a utilitarian fashion.

Then comes the icing on the cake – the photography. Lauren Athalia is one of the most top-notch photographers I’ve ever met. Not only does she know how to wield a camera to maximize the beauty of a naturally-lit scene, but also knows how to use that light to bring out the best qualities of her models. (I have a difficult time with photographers not lighting my face properly and thus my weak jawline becomes my undoing – i.e. my face and neck tend to appear to blend into one another in most photoshoots. I know when I look in the mirror I have a jaw! It’s probably a minor point to most, but Lauren managed to capture my usually elusive jawline on camera and I couldn’t be happier.) I wanted to give both my mom and Lauren the best pictures I could and boy did I get them.

The really special treat with this photoshoot was that I had a co-star, and a four-legged one at that. One of Shannan’s companions in Allon is a wolf named Torin. Lauren has a knack for procuring incredible sets, props, and animals. So my co-star was a full-blooded Timberwolf named Breeze. Now Breeze is not a pet. I’m not sure about all the details, but she was a rescue. She was a bit skittish at first around us, as wolves usually are around strangers. It took about 30 minutes for her to warm up to me, but it wasn’t long before we started to call her Miss Kiss-n-Run, as she’d quickly lick my face off and then bolt away. I hate to sound cliched, but it was a dream come true for me to be playing alongside a real wolf. I’ve always had a deep loves for wolves. (I think one of the first jobs I ever wanted was to be a zoologist just so I could work with wolves. It was a sad sad day when they got rid of them at the Nashville Zoo.) But before I get sappy, here are Lauren’s beautiful photographs.

For those interested, I have older blog posts written of how each piece of the costume was created.

The Concept: http://theladynerd.com/shannan-costume-the-concept/

The Cowl: http://theladynerd.com/shannan-costume-the-cowl/

The Undershirt: http://theladynerd.com/shannan-costume-the-undershirt/

The Jerkin: http://theladynerd.com/shannan-costume-the-jerkin/

The Sleeves and Bracers: http://theladynerd.com/shannan-costume-the-sleeves-and-bracers/

The Pants & Boots: http://theladynerd.com/shannan-costume-pants-and-boots/

The Quiver & Belt: http://theladynerd.com/shannan-belt-and-quiver/

The Pouch & Wineskin: http://theladynerd.com/shannan-costume-pouch-and-wineskin/

The Wig: http://theladynerd.com/shannan-costume-wig-and-winter-shoot/

My 30th Birthday Party

May 11, 2018 by The Lady Nerd Leave a Comment

This post contains affiliate linksWhile I’ve never been a big birthday party person, my friends have had other ideas the last few years. It started back in 2014 when I realized many in my various circles of friends hadn’t met each other. For the Atlanta geek community being the size it is, I was honestly surprised at this. So I orchestrated a party under the disguise of personal merriment to introduce some awesome people other equally awesome people. I’ve had friends find their significant others, new best friends, or cosplay partner-in-crimes at the parties! (Which my comprades aptly named “Brianacon” due to the theming put with the first iteration of my Atlanta birthday festivities).

For reference, here is a list of the themes of years past (would you folks be interested in seeing photos from those other years? If so, leave a comment and I might see about writing up some other blog posts about them. 🙂 ).

2014 – Off Duty Superheroes
2015 – No theme (after my accident)
2016 – Firefly
2017 – Time Travel
2018 – 1988

This year is the big 3-0 for me so it took me a hot minute to try to figure out a good theme. I almost went for my first and most beloved fandom – Star Wars, but I also thought that I’m only going turn 30 once, so why not get personal with it with a theme of 1988, the year of my womb escape adventure? (I later expanded it to 1980s for costuming purposes.)

Then came my costume…

I’ll admit struggling to find one as there wasn’t much in 1988 (costume-wise) that I identified with or felt went with my whole Lady Nerd vibe. I wanted something either personal or something I would feel pretty wearing (after a long bout of depression and house renovations – i.e. dressing dumpy). Being a Disney fan, I looked for what came out in 1988 and was disappointed to find no major Disney film came out that year. It was an inbetween year for the major animated features. But I did stumble across a stunning rendition of one of the characters from Disney’s Oliver and Company done by Major Sam Cosplay. She personified Georgette, the diva poodle, into a jaw dropping human starlet outfit.

But I felt it was unprofessional and disrespectful to simple recreate her original design without her permission, even for just a birthday party. So I nervously messaged Sam about my request. To my surprise she answered back not only with permission for the party but to enjoy wearing it wherever, even with conventions! What a darling.

So, although I wasn’t able to recreate it to the same level, I was able to style it together last minute for the party (thank you Amazon and parental units!). And boy did I need it…I had felt quite terrible for various reasons leading up to the party, but when I put that Pinup Girl Clothing Gia gown (you might recognize it from my Bride of Frankenstein post) and that blue wig, I felt like a million poodle-y bucks.

A lovely family from church offered their stunning home for the party’s location (you might see this home pop up from time to time on my blog as a popular destination as the the host are AMAZING party people. They regularly throw large parties for Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movie releases). My friends started arriving, decked out in their best 80s costumes and fun party was had by all. So without further adieu, here are some pictures of the festivities!

My Costume Notes

Wig: Amazon
Bow: Party City
Necklace: Dollar Tree
Dog Tag: 3D printed by a friend
Dress: Pinup Girl Clothing
Fur Stole: Poshmark

Dark Rey Cosplay

May 5, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 2 Comments

2018 is the year I’m catching up on The Lady Nerd blog. I am woefully behind…(but on the bright side, it gives me lots to post when I’m unable to come up with new content! #silverlining). I just realized while I’ve shared these pictures on social media, I have never posted them here. This photoshoot is from 2016. 2 YEARS AGO! Oi…While I could heave a heavy sigh about this timing travesty, instead I’m going to finally post this shoot on this particular day because yesterday was May the 4th…

Today is Revenge of the Fifth.

Behold Dark Rey.

This outfit was a last minute decision, borne out of an unfortunate circumstance. I had just endured a traumatic breakup and hadn’t left the house yet. After a week, my dear friends at Kuiosikle Props did what they do best – cheer me up with cosplay. Our local geek bar, Battle and Brew, was having a cosplay night with the theme of villains. I didn’t have anything for it, but they brainstormed helping me put together a dark version of Rey from Goodwill pieces. It took a minute for me to get into it, but soon I realized the challenge was exactly what I needed.

So off to Goodwill we went! For $10 we found a dress to mimic the original wrap dress and a second dress with Kylo Ren-esque sleeves that we cut off to make gauntlets. I added my paltry attempts at dark eye makeup and set off to the event. So many of my friends were there and surrounded me with such love that Villains’ night turned into Hero night for me.

Then comes Kyle Matthew Williams.

“I HAVE to shoot your Dark Rey!”
“What? That was just a crappy thing I threw together for a couple bucks for cosplay night at B&B. It’s not a thought out design wise…”
“I don’t care. I HAVE TO SHOOT IT.”

My attempts to argue fell on deaf, but excited ears. Soon after we met at Mount Arabia to shoot. This is when I learned that when you have a good photographer who really knows their craft, they can make even a cheap, haphazard Goodwill costume look amazing.

So….Did anyone else think Rey was going to go dark in The Last Jedi?

The Last Jedi Rey Cosplay

May 4, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 9 Comments

This post contains affiliate links

December 2017 premiered one of my favourite Star Wars films to date (more on that later. I’ll be doing a video with a friend on this particularly controversial statement). I had no intention of doing another Rey cosplay, but I loved The Last Jedi so much that I knew I had to pay tribute to it in some manner.

I sat on the idea for a while as summertime Georgia doesn’t lend well to Skellig Island-esque views. But an opportunity presented itself in the form of a cross-country trip to the mountainous misty regions of the Pacific Northwest. What a perfect location to mimic Ahch-to, right?! Well, so I thought…alas, due to me being relegated to a tight cruise schedule and ever-changing weather, I was not able to do a photoshoot with the outfit I had put together specially for the occasion.

I was devastated.

I had excitedly told followers this shoot was happening as well as folks I had bought pieces from. I wasn’t able to hold up my end and so I sat on the outfit for months. But all was not lost. In a rare sequence of events, everything lined up just right to the epic pictures that follow.

While I was still feeling bummed out, I knew I still had to shoot the outfit. So, I approached one of my favourite photographers, Michael Rivera (who did my Bride of Frankenstein shoot, Spider-girl, etc.) to try to figure out how to shoot this look with the less-than-ideal locations we had locally. We decided on Stone Mountain and hoped for the best. Little did I know what was waiting for us at the shooting location…

We arrived at Stone Mountain on a quiet grey day and were greeted with the most stunning fog. I was beside myself with joy! While it didn’t necessarily look like coastal Skellig Island, fog always makes for interesting pictures.

Truth be told, grey days have never been my favourite – those sullen days devoid of colour, of happy light, and lacking warmth. Being a creature that seems mainly solar powered, rainy days usually worsen my depression and keep me chained with lethargy away from being productive. I loathed rainy days.

That is, until recently.

Thanks to a combination of shows like Outlander and Game of Thrones, with their ethereal locations to dreamily sighing over beautiful misty aesthetics on social media, and finally my own trip last year through the snow-laden Rockies and glacier covered Alaska, I have come to love misty days. There’s something truly fantastical about them; the way fog descends onto the treetops and eerily kisses the ground.

Now that the epicness has been addressed, let’s rewind to the outfit, shall we?

Rather than doing a full cosplay, I decided to go the ‘inspired-by’ fashion route. (Of course, once I put the pieces together I realized it looked like a cosplay and not an everyday outfit. Ah well…Rey closet cosplay!) I bought the vest and fingerless gloves from Elhoffer Design‘s first run of the Galactic Scavenger Sweater (she has a cropped version up now). The material is incredibly soft and fits me like a glove!

I purchased the shirt off Amazon from a lovely lady with her own clothing line. The hunt for pants was a bit frustrating as I had terrible luck finding anything remotely like brown capris at the time. Thankfully, my friend Kayla came to the rescue and gave me her old Rey pants as she worked on a new pair. Coupled with my Rey belt from 2 Player Game Cosplay and Props, scavenger bag donated by another friend, and the amazing 3D printed staff from The Helpful Nerd, the look completely came together!

Last but certainly not least are my beloved Po-Zu boots. I was blessed to be among the first to get the Piper brown boots when some of us steely-eyed cosplayers discovered the boots from this small London shoe company. They’ve gone on to get a license with Disney and have a whole line of new Star Wars footwear! I’m so happy for them! They certainly deserve it with their wonderful customer service and did I mention RIDICULOUSLY comfy shoes? Wearing my Rey boots are like walking on clouds (memory foam insoles are the best!). They’re made of all sustainable materials – tweed, cork, natural rubber, and coconut fibre. I can’t recommend them enough.

May the Fourth be with you!

Photograph: Michael Rivera
Hair: Gina Rivera (because I’m HORRIBLE at those stupid buns…)
Vest & Gloves: Elhoffer Design
Top: Amazon – Ooh La La
Cape: Elhoffer Design
Pants: Elendriel
Belt: 2 Player Game Cosplay and Props
Bag: Gifted
Shoes: Po-zu
Staff: The Helpful Nerd

The Last Teaser

May 4, 2018 by The Lady Nerd Leave a Comment

For May the Fourth (be with you) tomorrow, I will be releasing one of my favourite photoshoots to date! Here is a teaser of what it might be of. Stay tuned for some epicness in a galaxy far far away…

Photography: Michael Rivera
Cape: Elhoffer Design
Staff: The Helpful Nerd

A Paler Shade of Stark

May 3, 2018 by The Lady Nerd Leave a Comment

As a follow-up to the previous post of my Femme Tony Stark, I thought I’d do a twist on the typical black blazer and slacks combo. Stark is always cutting a slick and fashionable figure, so it stands to reason that his female counterpart would do the same. Thus I opted for a sleek blazer from H&M a few years ago with its partnership of corporate khaki and rebellious leather. How very Tony Stark.

Although they’re not pictured here, the khaki and leather blazer perfectly matches my Express slacks (seriously, it almost looks like they’re cut from the same fabric). It would appear the black blazer also has the same advantage. This pleases me greatly.

Jarvis, hold my calls.

Photography: RBC Image

Hair: Abraham Saucedo

Makeup: Courtney Walters

Khaki Blazer with Leather Sleeves: H&M
Black Blazer: H&M

Arc Reactor: Custom made by Pixelbash Props

Black tank top: H&M

Watch: Target

Belt: Target

Pants: Express

Shoes: Aldo via DSW Wharehouse

Female Tony Stark

May 2, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 9 Comments

Enter Femme Tony Stark.

Also known as Natasha Stark in an alternative universe labeled as Earth 3490. (In comic lore, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four went searching alternate realities for a universe in which the Civil War did not happen, thus avoiding the atrocities that came after.)

But how would a female version of Iron Man look? I imagine fairly similar, with the same air of arrogant sex appeal that Tony Stark does. As my makeup artist for the shoot put it, “Stark looks like he bought a $5,000 Armani suit, went home and slept in it. Then got up the next morning and walked into a photoshoot. All that money, a bit of bedhead, marinated in scotch.”Alas, I don’t have Stark’s bank account (or Marvel’s movie financing division either) so I had to settle for a little less on the expensive scale. I will fully admit being a fan of the store H&M as their clothes almost always fit my oddly proportioned body (loooooong torso, short legs. Heels are my proportionate friend). The prices are on the lower end, which my wallet is grateful for.

I’m always on the lookout for a well-cut blazer on my meager budget. H&M didn’t fail to deliver. I went to simply browse the store’s summer collection only to walk out with not one, but two sharp blazers (I’ll feature the second one in tomorrow blog post).

“…What are you?”
“Genius, billionare, playgal, philanthropist.”

I’m female.

FE = Iron.

Male = man.

Therefore, I am IRON MAN.