Wonder Woman Wednesday

In honor of Wonder Woman Wednesday: 

Taken right after I realized that I was experiencing a wardrobe malfunction.
You can see my arms trying to keep a grip on my armor. Good times. 

So, this past Saturday, I did a thing.

I took my daughter to Animazement in Raleigh and cosplayed Wonder Woman.  

That’s right. I wore a costume to an event outside of Halloween.

Even though I wasn’t the only adult in costume, I would wager that I was the only one who had no f*king clue what I was doing. I felt like a noob. I mean, technically I was a noob, but I also LOOKED like a noob. And after a few hours of the cosplay life, I definitely gained a newfound appreciation for the art. Yes, it’s an art. Not just because most cosplayers make their own costumes, but they also get into their ‘character’ on demand.

You’d think I would already know this from my kid doing this every year, but I’m usually the one standing off to the side like a ‘dance mom’ miming poses for her to do while I’m holding my bag, her phone, drinks and any swag we pick up or purchase. But I digress ...

For me, showing up and walking around in costume was the easy part. But I wasn’t ready for people to ask to take photos of and with me. For some reason I thought that I’d still just be bodyguarding my kid – who was dressed up as Sailor Pluto – as people asked to photograph her like every other year. Except this year I’d be in costume.

Carrying around a plastic sword and shield.

Getting flagged down on the way out.
My daughter took this pic of me while
I was 'posing' carefully for someone else.

However, that was not the case. We weren’t there a few minutes before the photo requests started. At first, they just wanted pictures of my daughter. But then, I got my first one. Like a deer in headlights, I stood there for what seemed like the longest minute while the person taking the photo just waited.

What were they waiting fo - oh.

They wanted me to pose … as if I WAS actually Wonder Woman.  Put on a show. Look bad ass. In my bad ass costume.

I wasn’t ready for all of that …

Before I continue, let me tell you about my bad ass costume. It was/is spectacular. I had it custom made to fit my measurements by a guy I found on Instagram who does amazingly detailed work. It looks exactly like the new movie costume – except with a lace up corset back. Putting it on, I thought it would be smart to wear spanx and support hose to slim my curves and to perhaps even help the costume go on more smoothly. I literally packed myself in like a sausage. From the boobs down, nothing was jiggling or moving. I didn't need to wear Spanx, it just made me feel more secure in the costume.

With that in mind, I felt like I could strike almost any pose and I would not have to worry about any part of my body poking out. And I did! With each photo op, I got more and more brave - pulling my arm back, reaching for my sword, standing like a boss warrior babe. People seemed to dig it.

In my mind, I was straight FIRE. But reality caught up with me a little late into the day and boy was that ever so humbling … and humiliating.

See, I wanted photos of me and my daughter together before she took her costume off, so we went to one of the photo stations. We took a few together and then I had her take some individuals. As I was getting into my first ‘hero’ pose, the photographer stopped me immediately and rearranged my body, explaining, “To keep your side boob from showing.”

Um, first of all, I didn’t have side-boob showing when I initially put the costume on.

Y’all, my costume had slipped down a bit sometime during the day and all the curves I had shoehorned into my shapewear started to squeeze out the top like a push pop. And it wasn’t side boob - it was my curves slowly expanding out like a busted can of biscuits under my arms and around my back.

#dead

I was (and still am) slightly mortified, wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, and I’ve been

The only photo I found of me on IG. 

frantically checking Instagram to see if any of those photos have been posted (I’ve found only one and thankfully it shows nothing). I couldn’t even pull it back up without undoing the corset back because it was so hot in the convention center and I had sweat a small river inside the armour causing it to suction to my body.

So, I just clamped my arms down on the sides hoping that would help. But at that point, I just gave up - whatever was going to happen could not be worse than what had already happened.

Through that, I still had a great time at the con with my daughter. She was – like always – my biggest cheerleader. I also love my costume and plan on wearing it again – without the spanx and maybe do a little research on posing.

Wonder Woman has been my favorite since I was a kid. I loved the TV show, comics and I enjoyed the new movie(s). But I never wanted to be either version of Wonder Woman. I just wanted to be a Wonder Woman. It only took me 40 years but I actually got to be me - Dawn Elizabeth - as Wonder Woman.

And my daughter finally got me to cosplay to one of her conventions.

#winwin

Until next time - ciao!

Costume by @JEFX - check out his page on IG or visit his website: www.jasonevansfx.com.