Fem Captain America Age of Ultron Costume Build [Edit: Completed w/Pics]

AnElvenPrincess

New Member
So, I've been hanging around the RPF for a while now, and finally decided to post my fem Cap build, to get some feedback: suggestions, compliments, criticism, whatevs. ;)

Notes and disclaimers... almost this entire costume was made by my own hands, excepting the boots, shield, and gloves, on a very tight budget. It's no where near the level of perfection that some of you costume makers are at *cough smp designs cough* BUT I had a ton of fun making it, and learned quite a bit from the experience.

This is my 4th official cosplay (the previous three where Middle-earth costumes), and was the most difficult project I've encountered to date.

It gets better as it goes along, I promise. ;)

Oh also, this was not meant to be 100% screen accurate. I love playing around with ideas to improve upon the costume, and especially since this is a fem version, I think I had a bit more right to play around with details.

Anyway, getting right into the build. I should have started this thread months ago, when I first started creating it, as now I'm now in the final 5 days of work, set to be finished for the Age of Ultron midnight (or rather, 7pm? What's up with that anyway? :p) premiere.

It began with a tentative start, working on the bodice.

Blue fabric: Got it from a local thrift store (like I said, tight budget). It's some type of athletic fabric, with great breath-ability, gorgeous navy/midnight shade, just enough stretch to keep its shape but still give a bit, easy to work with, aaand it's got a sweet looking weave going on:

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To reinforce the stripes, I sewed the red fabric to upholstery leather (left over from another costume). This made achieving the right shape fairly easy, plus added a bit of the 3D detail a la the real costume.

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Red accent fabric: Also from the thrift, bold red, sturdy and heavy weight, which works great for the angular accents. A bit brighter than it should be, but it works. Playing with the idea of using some black shoe polish to weather it, as well as the entire ab stripe section. Opinions?

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Very rough draft of the upper bodice; I just drafted it and did some experimenting/pinning until I was happy with the fit and the look. Plenty of modifications to this later on.

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Details of the side ab stripes:

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What the costume is looking like so far in the process:

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Then was work on the back and ab section, adding the last two stripes plus adjusting fit.

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Rough start to the back:

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Idea of what was to come... other stripes ready to be sewn (tape because they were too thick to pin, plus it would have punctured the leather underneath), and mock up star, made from aluminum foil and paper backing.

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Pants base created:

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New apparel leather for gauntlets, belt, pouches, and shield harness:

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Start on the gauntlets:

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Zipper (attached to collar for necessity) for the back:

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New and improved back ready to be sewn:

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Sleeves WIP:

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And the updated top and back:

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Avengers symbols, made of craft foam, for the shoulders:

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Another post coming, with all the work I've done since this point. Thanks so much for reading through this, and I'm excited to share the rest of the costume with you awesome people of the RPF. ;)
 
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Re: Fem Captain America Age of Ultron Costume Build

Lots of new stuff going on: bodice is 98% finished, with only the bottom hem to complete, pants are finished, gauntlets are finished, and all that's left to do now (in the four days I have left) is buy some fingerless gloves (because making them myself was an utter failure) and make the utility belt and shield harness. So excited with how this is turning out -- though I never want to make a costume this close to the deadline ever again. ;)

On to pics!

Pants got redone, with red down the side of the thighs and knee pads, to emulate a bit of the look of Cap's actual pants (while avoiding some of the [imho] frumpiness).

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Now the gauntlets -- they're only barely screen-accurate, but I do rather like the simplicity of this design. As you can see, they've got elastic to hold them on, plus the first of the three elastic pieces around the arm has a bit of hidden velcro so I can actually get the things on. :p Just need fingerless gloves to go underneath them now, as I said previously.

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Next up, I worked on the red stripes around the chest star:

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Then finished the collar:

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How it's looking at this point:

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The final detail for the bodice: the star, hand made by moi from aluminum (oh how I wish I had just bought the version from cosplaysky -- I'm so unhappy with the imperfection of this one. Oh well -- I suppose I will just have to deal with it for now). Backed it with craft foam so it was flatter, then added velcro triangles at each of the points to attach to the bodice. I was originally going to try sewing it directly to the bodice, through the foam, but decided the velcro would work much better (and it did!).

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Bodice COMPLEEETTTEEEE [except for the hem] hallelujah. ;D

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And the final update for today, spray painted the belt buckle and tri-glides silver. I'd actually never used spray paint before, but now I am an avid fan. The stuff is absolutely magical. ;D

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And that's a wrap for today. I'll update again when I get some progress on the belt, pouches, and harness. :) Cheers!
 
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Re: Fem Captain America Age of Ultron Costume Build

Well, I meant to get the build updates finished BEFORE Thursday, the Age of Ultron premiere and a photoshoot, but that's okay. ;) Now to make a finish the details of what happened to complete this monstrosity...

Firstly, I wasn't able to make the utility belt pouches and I'm really sorry about that. It ended up working out okay, though, just because the belt looks much more stream lined and feminine without the bulky pouches. But still -- SCREEN ACCURACY. Not that I've been very good about that with this costume *anyway*... :p but regardless, the belt.

Fairly simple build, just whipped up a pattern, cut out the pieces from both leathers (apparel and upholstery for reinforcement), then sewing. And adding the buckle with extra apparel leather strips.

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I don't have pictures for the gloves, but I just bought a vintage pair from my local antique-type shop and cut off the tips to make them fingerless.

And lastly, the shield harness (which I'm really happy with how it turned out, considering I made it in a day :p) Free handed the pattern, same leather technique as the belt (apparel wrapping the upholstery), sewing the finished pieces to the buckle, then added extra leather pieces for the decorative tri-glides.

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And the build is finished!! Just have to add the boots and the shield...
 
Re: Fem Captain America Age of Ultron Costume Build

That's brilliant. I like how you've adapted it and on a budget. (Yay! to all budget cosplayers) My femme capt america looks a bit boring in comparison. You've definately given me ideas for upgrading my cosplay in the future.
 
Re: Fem Captain America Age of Ultron Costume Build

Looks great, well done!!

Excellent! Very professional work and end result.

bravo!!! beautiful work.

That's brilliant. I like how you've adapted it and on a budget. (Yay! to all budget cosplayers) My femme capt america looks a bit boring in comparison. You've definately given me ideas for upgrading my cosplay in the future.

Thank you all so much for the kind words!! 'Twas quite a fun project, and I'm so glad I could inspire you, Ladydetemps (and I took a peek at your own fem!Cap build, and it's looking great!! YAY for budget cosplayers!)
 
Wow, I love this build, I can't believe it was built on a budget!

I love that shade of blue too, it looks great. Well done!

Are you considering getting a cowl/mask, or do you prefer wearing the costume without it?
 
Wow, I love this build, I can't believe it was built on a budget!

I love that shade of blue too, it looks great. Well done!

Are you considering getting a cowl/mask, or do you prefer wearing the costume without it?

Awhh, seriously, thank you, I so appreciate your words of affirmation. :) I was quite pleased with the shade of blue as well -- thrift stores can have surprisingly nice finds. :D

Yeah, as far as the cowl/mask, I decided early on in the process that I wasn't going to attempt making one, or buy one. I didn't think it would look very good with my longer hair. Plus, we all must admit, I think, that it's just a little bit dorky. x) So, yes, I just decided to nix it, and help simplify the build a bit.
 
So whats the next cosplay?

As far as the next cosplay, well, I was wanting to make something for Ant-Man in July, but so far all we've seen is the antman suit, and I don't have a desire to recreate that as a fem version. I'm still holding out for Evangeline Lilly to get a Wasp costume, but, so far, we haven't seen that. SO. My next idea will be some costume for Star Wars ep. 7. Thinking about recreating Rey's costume, but what I really want to do, is make Kylo Ren's costume, as seen in that costume exhibition they released a week or so ago... PLUS that sick lightsaber of his, to go with. We'll see tho. Hey, any opinions? Always up for feedback. ;)
 
As far as the next cosplay, well, I was wanting to make something for Ant-Man in July, but so far all we've seen is the antman suit, and I don't have a desire to recreate that as a fem version. I'm still holding out for Evangeline Lilly to get a Wasp costume, but, so far, we haven't seen that. SO. My next idea will be some costume for Star Wars ep. 7. Thinking about recreating Rey's costume, but what I really want to do, is make Kylo Ren's costume, as seen in that costume exhibition they released a week or so ago... PLUS that sick lightsaber of his, to go with. We'll see tho. Hey, any opinions? Always up for feedback. ;)

Your suit looks really cool! I like the no helmet aesthetic.

Also, you should totally go for the kylo ren costume, I really dig it. And if you're up for it, the scarlet witch costume with the headpiece from the AOU concept art book would be fantastic
 
As far as the next cosplay, well, I was wanting to make something for Ant-Man in July, but so far all we've seen is the antman suit, and I don't have a desire to recreate that as a fem version. I'm still holding out for Evangeline Lilly to get a Wasp costume, but, so far, we haven't seen that. SO. My next idea will be some costume for Star Wars ep. 7. Thinking about recreating Rey's costume, but what I really want to do, is make Kylo Ren's costume, as seen in that costume exhibition they released a week or so ago... PLUS that sick lightsaber of his, to go with. We'll see tho. Hey, any opinions? Always up for feedback. ;)
Just as OneGoodScare says, the scarle witch would be a good one for you, or maybe black widow, female thor, the new version of wonder woman from batman v superman, gamora from gardians of the galaxy the list of possibilities is alnost endless, im not really that into starwars (sorry guys) so cant comment on their characters but at the end of the day as long as you have an interest in the character you are portraying nothing else matters.
 
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