It is here.
The moment we’ve been waiting 10 years for – the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Avengers: Infinity War! I’m excited to see it this weekend! For the obvious reasons of course, but also because I had the pleasure of being cast as an extra for two different alien races. Apparently I was specially requested for my “chameleon face”. D’aww, shucks…though I suspect it was because I made them laugh at the stifling 2am call times.
*arrives on set a little too bouncy from early morning adrenaline*
“Ooo, Avengers facial time!” *snuggles into the chair with a dopey smile*
“She just called the next 4 hours of us putting makeup and prosthetics on her “relaxing…”
“Yeah, and?”
“Can we work with you all the time?”
With that I got to check off one of my bucket list experiences – undergoing body makeup and prosthetics on a movie or TV show. Can’t get any bigger than Avengers: Infinity War!
Alas, I didn’t have the resources to pull together an Infinity War inspired outfit in time (story of my life, eh?), so instead I thought I would do a throwback to one of the favourite villains of the MCU.
Shortly after the first Avengers film came out, a friend suggested that, in no uncertain terms, I should do a female version of the title trickster, Loki. After a few rounds of online research, I came to the conclusion that the only femme designs created at the time were cocktail dresses or short Lolita-esque frocks (not that I mind anyone wearing these sorts of things, mind you. The designs just didn’t quite jive in my head). Loki has a flair for theatrics, so I figured if everyone showed up somewhere in cocktail dresses, Loki would show up in a full-fledged gown. Why? Because she could. So I quickly sketched out a two-piece gown inspired by both the film and comic version of Loki. My representation is not as exact as I wanted to keep a high fashion element to it. Thus Vogue Loki was born.
The biggest deviation on this costume design was that I pulled from my experiences as a model and love for high fashion to craft an haute couture look. This ended up being the main influence for the photoshoot, to push it more towards looking like a magazine editorial.
COSTUME NOTES:
Hair: My own hair simply blowdryed, brushing the hair back from the face then spraying the heck out of it for sheen and staying power.
Makeup: MAC makeup artist Aisha Daly did the honours. She did a mixture of black and green eyeshadows with green glitter eyeliner on the top and gold glitter eyeliner on the bottom, complete with false eyelashes and black glossy lipstick. (We also opted to go for a “no eyebrows” look, common on high fashion, but also because that is the look Female Loki in the comic sports!)
Dress: All one piece made by Angelica of Angelly Cosplay – https://www.facebook.com/angellycosplay?fref=ts (I designed it completely, but I can’t sew to save my life, so I left that in her much more capable and talented hands). The green fabric is 100% polyester made to look like silk dupioni (we used the wrong side because it had a nicer sheen to it). The skirt has 13 panels in it to give it that wide, flowing look. The black material is actually a polyurethane psuedo-leather skirt from the 80s we hacked up for the vest-like piece. On the shoulder, we put in a brass zipper from Hobby Lobby, pulled apart with separate strands on each shoulder.
Necklace and cuff: Forever 21
Tights: DKNY
Shoes: Aldo
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Picture 1: Brownlee of RBC Image (https://www.facebook.com/RBCIMAGE)
Pictures 2-6: Kyle McLaughlin (http://www.studiokgm.com/)
As the sun rises, a new year dawns. So begins 2018. From the ashes of 2017, a year filled with both trepidation, fear, and loss, but also joy, excitement, and hope. We find ourselves, this January 1st 2018, to be a day of old ends and new beginnings.
Appropriate that this day marks the 200th anniversary of a literary life given form. Very few books have quite captured audiences as has Mary Shelley’s 
So after another year seemingly designed to tear me apart, I choose to greet this one with hope and hunger. Rather than resign myself to the chains of years past, I choose to do better with the God-given gifts I’ve been given – to create, to make beautiful, to inspire, and spread joy. The gift of creation is a truly amazing thing (spoken more in line with the innocent awe of the Monster, in a body broken, scarred with a heart and mind torn apart by the harsh realities of this world, but filled with wide-eyed wonder rather than Frankenstein’s feverishly insane drive to be like God). Every day that goes by is another blessing, another day to live, another moment to cherish.
I decided to take this new year’s inspiration from this cultural phenomenon, as each year I end up creating, cutting, revamping, and resurrecting old concepts into new. A crossing of multiple industries and projects into one, hodge-podged together to create something, hopefully, marvelous. Best intentions have a way of being bushwhacked by life’s plethora of monkey wrenches. Many plans get made. Most go under. Not all of my discoveries and experiences have been positive, so alas, my plans for The Lady Nerd fell by the wayside due to the ever-present realities of bills, health issues, and things beyond my control. But no more. This shall be the year of adventure! Glorious, glamorous adventure! I’ve got old habits to kick and new frontiers to explore. And by God’s grace and sheer determination, I hope to accomplish it.
So to marry those desires with the 200th anniversary of a iconic novel (because I’m a nerd. True story, says so right on the front page), I created this photoshoot to highlight what The Lady Nerd is all about – geek made chic. From burying my nose in nerdy research of Frankenstein in literary and cinema form to styling this old Hollywood glamour shoot with a lavish Pinup Girl Clothing gown and finally collaborating with local (truly incredible) talent to bring my vision to life. I present to you The Lady Nerd’s 2018 
Sometimes one has to go through a painstaking process of custom building a piece for a cosplay or outfit, shelling out more money then we really care to admit. Other times, we get lucky. Really really lucky. I found myself in the latter group last night as I watched Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Holdo glide across the screen in a slinky, but regal mauve number. Suddenly a closeup of her arm appeared and I audibly squealed. I recognized the bracelet. I have the EXACT SAME ONE. I bought it in 2012 from Forever 21 for my 
But lucky for you guys, it appears the same cuff bracelet is being sold right now! Below are links to where I could find it. (I’m including multiple things as I know how us cosplayers can get. We find a screen accurate item and snatch it up faster than you can blink!) Now it’s gold, so you’ll have to get crafty and paint them to match Admiral Holdo’s. But it certainly beats making it from scratch. Good luck and happy cosplaying!
Behold Loungefly’s 
The Rebel Alliance metal plaques on the front and tab appear to be made out of a metal that in some lights looks silver and others, gold. (So it will go with both your cool and warm tone outfits!)
I was pleased to see that this bag is a medium size, approximately 13 inches wide by 10 inches high by 5.75 inches deep. It feels not too small nor too big, but just right. It can be carried by the handles by hand or at the elbow. Thankfully, it also has a removeable shoulder strap (I’m definitely a shoulder strap bag kind of gal) so there are multiple ways to wear this bag to your personal comfort level.
Fun Fact: The faux leather material this bag is made out of is known as “Saffiano” leather. The name refers to the crosshatch pattern that was pressed into the wax that coated the leather. It originated from a particular tannery in Italy and was an exclusive patent of Prada, but has now spread to many different countries and design houses. So this faux leather version is wonderful nod to those luxury lines.
My only gripe with this bag comes with the interior design. The top is an open one, with one half-loop tab that magnetically clicks into place. This neither protects from the elements or makes the bag easy to get into as the tab hangs in a rather awkward space. Granted, this may be because I’m not used to this sort of closure, but from my purely subjective standpoint, I would’ve rather had a simple zipper to open and close the entire top.
The interior is divided into two sections with pockets on either side with a beautiful art deco X-Wing pattern (Another bonus for me as the X-Wing Starfighter is my favourite sci-fi spacecraft). The front has a convenient open pocket to slide your phone into while the back has a zippered pocket for any valuables. I have not yet tested the limits of how much can be put into the purse, but it’s perfectly suited for my minimalistic needs (although it does fit an 
Currently, the bag retails at $70 USD, though Amazon has had some sales on it, but be quick! This bag has sold out once already (looks to be selling out fast again)! So keep checking back daily on the links below. Here’s where you can purchase it:
