THE COSPLAY: When Fearne was first introduced in Critical Role’s Exandria Unlimited series, I was immediately drawn to her because of her flowy, beautiful, and flowery design. My sister and I were actually both inspired by her and shared the desire to cosplay her, but it ended up with me wearing the final costume.

Looking closer at her design, we both had so many ideas on how to make her gravity defying look work in real life, and just needed to eventually make it. That chance came with this Fanime, which was a great comeback after two and a half years without cons or cosplay for me. 

WHAT DREW YOU TO YOUR CHARACTER?

As mentioned, it was really her gravity defying design and also curvy silhouette that drew me in and made me really want to put on that costume and be Fearne. I wanted to become this beautiful, hilarious, and shameless fae druid and embrace the chaotic energy her character brings to the campaign in the cosplay itself. The original plan, over a year ago, was for my sister (@craft.by.day) to wear Fearne just for fun, but after she did an amazing make up test for Orym, we came to the conclusion that she would make a great Orym, and I would also be a pretty great Fearne. It definitely helped that I had the body shape to bring her shapes to life with the hefty faun legs and a good amount of cleavage to spare, and that’s what we love about her. 

WHAT WENT INTO THE CREATION OF YOUR COSPLAY?

The creation of the cosplay was a collaboration with my older sister. She started gathering the materials quite a while ago, and then we set the plan of action in motion when she came home for Fanime. 

I made the stays with a duct tape pattern of myself, a mock-up, and lots of boning. I made the final set to be used to help give me the sleek shape to bring in my waist line and bring out my cleavage. The dress was nearly all my sister's work. I helped out with the math, measurements, and decision making, then she sewed it all together, finished the hems with some fishing line to give the voluminous lettuce hem, and fit it to me. 

The cape and staff were quite a true collaboration. We planned out how to distribute the weight of the many flowers on her cape by adding an invisible interlining of tuule to allow the fashion fabric to avoid the strain, and added some hefty snaps to attach it to my stays so there were no visible straps. The staff is actually the same staff that I used in my Keyleth cosplay back in the 2019 Cosplayer Annual! We gave it a new life by wrapping it in armature wire, aluminum foil, plaster, and finally foam clay for all the detail work. My sister gets all the credit for the amazing snake heads, however. She did a fantastic job bringing life to those little friends. 

To make the fuzzy faun legs and hooves I got my entire leg wrapped in duct tape to get a form fitting pattern of my leg, then we split it up into pattern pieces and cut out the fur to make leggings. We added some stretchy material to the inner leg and waist to help it stay snug and able to more easily be put on and not be as bulky near the waist to keep the silhouette. The hooves were a bit of a challenge, but we just found a pair of boots, sculpted some hooves onto the toe, and then added fur on top to enhance the illusion of hooves rather than a pair of heels. 

Lastly, the wig, ears, and horns, the finishing piece that really helped bring it all together and make this cute outfit truly Fearne. We used a pool noodle, armature wire, foam clay, and a good paint job to make the horns in that iconic curly shape. The ears were actually finished up by @miracle_gem to give the basic layers of wire and fur I gave her into the cutest and fluffy doe ears to tie it together.

WHAT WERE YOUR STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPHS?

While the whole cosplay was a great challenge to our crafting ability, I struggled more with my own body image while prepping for, not only Fearne, getting back to cosplay in general. Over the last 2.5 years    a whole lot has happened, a lot of things have changed. I struggled a lot while making patterns (making patterns from scratch is always hard anyway) and taking my updated measurements, but got through it and thankfully loved the final products we put together. I had several other cosplays in mind to bring to this Fanime 2022, but couldn’t get myself to finish them because of these mental setbacks. 

Fearne became a perfect project to finally craft something that I felt great wearing. It took the things I was feeling poorly about, and became the part of this cosplay that I loved the most. I think that is likely the biggest triumph with this project. Making me feel more comfortable in myself than I have felt in a very long time. 

Not to say that I am not extremely proud of the beautiful dress with the gravity defying silhouette and draping, the gorgeous haunches we made with the fur legs and hooves, and the mesmerizing snake heads on the staff that were everything we hoped they would be. These were also great triumphs, but I think the most meaningful one was just for me, which hopefully also shines through in the amazing photos we got. 

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?

I feel like the thing I am most proud of is that we were able to actually create the vision we had in mind. The final cosplay hit all the major goals we were trying to achieve and pitfalls we wanted to avoid. Each individual element has its wins, flaws, and potential improvements, of course, but when putting all together it became almost exactly what we had in mind. That final image is what I am most proud of, we achieved our vision and it felt amazing to wear.


BIO: Y NAME is Gillian (she/her), but I go by Gilly online from my username of gillysagoldfish. I am 22 years old, got a Bachelors in Kinesiology with a minor in Athletic Coaching, and am heading off to get a Doctorate in Physical Therapy! A fun fact: my dad makes movie props as lawn decorations for fun (Helms Deep, the Cheshire Cat, the Krusty Krab, and more), my sister is an amazing artist and cosplayer (as I have mentioned quite frequently), and my brother has made an entire TTRPG system from scratch (including the math/statistics system, he is wild). So apparently being crafty runs in the family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START?

I have been dressing up as characters for longer than I can remember with help from my Mum and Nana, but I first started calling it cosplay in 2014 when I was 14 years old. With a very simple Wonder Woman from my Mum’s collection of Halloween costumes, I visited my sister at Fanime and actually got some photos taken. I think that was it for me and why I really made it my thing, because that made me feel really good. I started with some popular anime pre-mades for my first Fanime in 2015 with my sister and her friends. Then delved into making my own for Fanime 2016, my first version of Keyleth from Critical Role, with much assistance from my sister.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT COSPLAYING?

Being the youngest sibling comes with its pros and cons, and while I absolutely love my older sister (and all the older siblings I have claimed through my cosplay community) there is always the struggle of being compared to the sibling that came first. I love art and creating things, but because my sister is such an immensely talented artist, I never really felt like I could pursue the arts without being in her footsteps and being compared to her achievements, which I never stood a chance against. Thankfully I am also a massive nerd and chose medicine as my route to adulthood, which I am loving so far, so I am able to thrive in my career and keep a creative hobby as just that, a hobby. My sister and I found cosplay at similar times, and got to grow our skills together, and it especially gave me a creative outlet where I felt that I was contributing to the results nearly as much as she was, especially once we got into the larger projects. 

Cosplay gives me a way to express my creativity in a unique way and also includes my interests in make-up and body painting. I also have been a performer for a large part of my life, and I have found that being in cosplay at conventions or taking photos scratched a very similar itch as when I was in color guard and performed in front of an audience. Seeing the faces of others who see me and ask for photos or hugs or to just discuss our mutual interest is one of my favorite parts of the cosplay community. I also thoroughly enjoy the love I get from others when I cosplay their favorite characters or when I get told that I embody their head-canon for how a character would look in real life. Inspiring that joy and love in other people is a large part of why I love cosplay so much and continue to strive to get better with every project. Cosplay gives unique challenges with each design I choose to make, and it also gives great opportunities to problem solve with other people, brainstorming ideas and techniques to try and make something a reality.

As I continue to grow, the surprise from my parents about my skill in this hobby and their acknowledgement that I too have some artistry in me, has made it even more validating and motivating. I love being able to dress up as someone else and get to be someone else for a little while, because if I am not loving who I am at the moment, I can throw on a homemade outfit, a wig, and some make up and feel like a new person. It is an escape for me, and that is why I love it so much. I’ve been cosplaying for 8 years. This number doesn’t quite reflect the 2.5 year hiatus I took after January March 2020 however. I started with pre-made cosplays in 2014, my first being a group cosplay for Attack on Titan. The first cosplay I made (some of) was Percy de Rolo from Critical Role in 2016. I’ve grown quite a bit since then, made many cosplays, practiced more sewing skills making everyday garments, and while I don’t currently have as much time as I used to, cosplay is a very important hobby of mine.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START?

My friends. We were a bunch of nerds who had never cosplayed before but were all into the same shows. I had also never been to a convention before, but I’d been told that it was more fun to go if you were dressed up. At the time, I also had the exact same haircut and color as Erwin from Attack on Titan, so it was super easy to choose a character. Sophie (part of our current cosplay group) was one of these friends that was with me from the very start! She had been going to Fanime for many years, and was the reason I felt comfortable going to a con in the first place. I can’t thank her enough. And when the next year rolled around I had the same haircut and color of Oikawa from Haikyuu!!, and the same group of friends were into that show, so that was a super easy choice as well. It just kept going after that!

I’d also been dressing up for Halloween and other events since I was a kid, and it never really stopped. My parents are also the type to like dressing up for events too, so they were super supportive the entire time as well. So even before I chose to go to a convention in costume, we had a lot of outfits and props lying around the house already. 

My sister is also a major influence on me. She was the one that really committed to building more complex costumes, made friends online for us to collaborate with, and is always down to do sibling/twin cosplays with me. She’s incredibly talented and persistent, and the inspiration that keeps me to continue pushing myself. 

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT COSPLAYING?

I love the artistic challenge of creating the cosplays, and the community it creates. I love the challenge of problem solving translating a 2D visual reference into a wearable 3D costume. I feel like every challenge I face, the more skills I build, and the more challenges I can face in the future. I also find searching for fabric one of my favorite things ever. Sewing is my favorite part of cosplay. I’m also very lucky that I can rely on my sister for foam work and props.  

At cons, you bring a lot of smiles to people’s faces, and it is so easy to make friends with shared interests. Since I graduated I’ve had this itch under my skin that came from not making as much art as I did during school. But now that I’ve been spending more time on cosplay, the planning, the construction, photoshoots, that itch is totally gone! And what makes it even more fun than illustration (which is what I majored in) is that it can be a group activity! You get to hang out with people, learn from and inspire each other. Cosplayers are always so fun to talk to and meet. 

Somewhat related, but cosplay actually led me to a much more healthy lifestyle. It changed my diet and exercise habits and I feel so much better physically and mentally than I ever did in school. It inspired me to take care of myself better! 

COSPLAY AND WORDS BY @GILLYSAGOLDFISH
PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN BY BRIAN NISHIMOTO