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Leather Works by Willow

Cosplay DIY (Blog)

It's Leather, Not foam

4/22/2016

2 Comments

 
by Willow Enright
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While I was attending ECCC, earlier this month, I was asked what material was used to make your costume? Leather was not the first thing on everyone's mind. A few of the inquires were "Is it plastic?," "How did you get foam to form like that?," and "Did you bake it in the oven?" Educating people along the way that leather is of course expensive when compared to foam, but how it's more durable, malleable, and protective. Thus, giving you greater longevity along with a greater quality.

How durable is it you ask? My Mord-Sith outfit, which my girl was wearing this year, was created back in December of 2012. I'd like to see foam look this good four years later. Now I know what you're thinking, four years isn't a long time. I have friends who have sported belts or purses from their grandparents younger days. I can't wait to see how long and how well this leather holds up to decades of wear!
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As far as malleability is concerned take a look at this wet formed figure below. I took a piece of leather, drowned it in a tub of water, then formed it to my girlfriend, Erin. The process took hours of drying and shaping while pressed against her, as I was helping form the breast shape into the leather. I would say that it was hard work, but I love an excuse to touch leather. The abs were situated under the leather as an added template, built out of sand and a rubber glove. 
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I can hear the comments now, "You claim that leather can be a protective layer, how's that possible?" Well, first off, historians have been in a decades long debate over the prevalence of leather armor and whether it was widely used. That being said, there's no argument against its existences; it did and does exist. Next you'll be saying, "But how effective is it?" My response to this question is, "Check out this video."
In conclusion, while most of my cosplay armor isn't designed for real combat weapons since the leather used is a 7-9 oz. and not 13-15 oz., one can clearly see via the video above, leather as armor is quite effective against historically accurate weapons. Note, there was a distinct lack of any mace weapons, which will break your bones no matter what armor you wear. Not to mention, that leather can be formed to fit like a glove against ones body. Googling the phrase, "how long does leather last," the response from Google is, "Good leather properly cleaned and polished should last a long, long time. There are saddles over 100 years old." That's right some saddles are over 100! Let's see foam do all that.
2 Comments
Michael Giosia
4/23/2016 11:00:39 pm

I do not think anyone would argue the longevity of leather cosplay. It has a nice authentic look that can be hard to reproduce with plastics and paints.

These are my experiences and opinions and may reflect the views of some but not everyone.
1. Cosplay gets expensive.
While you did mention that yes, leather can be expensive, you need to also look at how many tools, hours and lost material that goes into making a cosplay let alone honing the skills to work with leather.
My wife and I tend to plan out 3-6 cosplay a year (between both of us). Some that are just street clothes thrown together to full-on week long sewing machine projects. Materials add up, and time and effort. It's much easier to make mock ups in muslin for clothes or in craft foam for outlines that will use worbla.

I can't online theories about how much a few mistakes could cost an outfit since, I've never made the investment to leather. But I'm sure it's more then a $75 for 40 yards of muslin.

Discounts. Any cosplay can tell you how important JoAnn coupons are. The right weekend and right combination can land you yards of material for future cosplay.
How easy would you say leather is to purchase? What would your buyer's guide look like ? Any place you'd suggest ?

These are all questions that would be important in a guide to a beginner who want to learn more about using leather.

2. Think of yourself. The cosplayer has got to be comfortable.

Now the first image with the breast plate is practical and comfortable enough looking. The question I would have next would be about the mordsith outfit. How comfortable was it ? How warm did you get? How long would you wear an outfit like that in possible weather in 80+ degrees?
A key component to a lot of cosplay outfits is how long can they survive if uncomfortable. No one wants to be crippled because their outfit is uncomfortable or feels gross after hours of being stuck in a convention center /stand outside in hot humid weather.

Sure, not always would a cosplayer need to be covered head to toe, but what would your suggestion be for those who end up covering themselves in more than 80% in leather? What is their best eay to beat the heat?

3. Time: I'm so out of time.
Timing is everything in cosplay. Everyone wants to wear the newest tv/anime/movie outfit if the year. You talk about the longevity of leather, but to be honest I don't know many people who look at wearing the same cosplay four years running.
If nothing else, body types change, interest fades or it may have been a group cosplay.
So for those who want to use leather, what would you suggest for outfits that don't fit any more ? Any easy direction for modifing leather to make it reusable?

Any suggestions for being able to quickly fix malfunctions? Cosplay repair stations are more common; any tools you should expect to have handy I'd something should go wrong ?

These are just a few things I know that friends of mine and myself have dealt with, or consider. Please know I am not attacking, but giving counter reasons to your question on why not more leather. If you were to take the time and write out guidelines, or help better understand some stigmas that may go with the expense, time and commitment to leather I think you could turn a few heads.

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Leather Works by Willow
4/26/2016 12:03:07 pm

Michael,

Thank you for your comment, I really appreciate your input. You bring up some very good points, ones I've had myself, which I actually plan to address in a future blog. Each point you stress is equally important for consideration.

First of all, I want to be clear that I'm not trying to say everyone should always use leather for every cosplay. Sometimes it's just not practical, other times it isn't in the budget, and always in the end it comes down to time.

That being said, I do believe that leather is much easier to work with than people are lead to believe. The trick is figuring out what you want to do, then researching what you'll need to get that project done. You don't have to start with a bazillion tools or five different types of leather. You do have to have a budget however, and do research as to what is available given your specific budget and skill level.

In addition to the blog addressing your valid concerns above, I'm also going to do one to share how I got into leather work and some of the classic do's and don'ts I blundered upon when I first set out.

I think the biggest trouble with leather working is that the knowledge of how to work with it has been lost over the centuries. Leather workers have always been slightly closed lipped about their secrets of the trade as it were. Learning how to work with it today isn't easy mostly because the knowledge connected to how to do that isn't readily accessible. You used to have to apprentice to learn the trade, now you can actually learn a lot watching YouTube tutorial videos. Trying to do historically accurate research is extremely challenging given the fact that skilled craftsmen just didn't want to share their special gifts, so much of their skills were lost simply because they were too stubborn to record it where others might find it. That's one of the reasons I wanted to start a blog about working with leather. There's a lot to learn and honestly, I don't think I'll learn it all before I die and return to the great green earth, but I'm going to keep at it until then!

Willow

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    Willow Enright

    I started crafting out of leather in 2011, and now I am making it my life's work. I am writing this blog to help myself remember some of the small steps in past projects, sharing my triumphs and failures, as well as my love of leather. 

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  • Leather Works by Willow
  • Cosplay DIY (Blogs)
  • Quality Leather Goods
  • Leather Armory
    • Wonder Woman Ancient Greek Armor
    • Rogue X-Men Armor
    • Margaery Tyrell Game of Thrones Armor
    • Mord-Sith Armor
  • Custom Leather Work