It’s been a while since I’ve put together any type of new cosplay. There hasn’t been any events where I could cosplay at (with the pandemic and everything). I’m also a little self conscious about trying to cosplay with my glasses and gut. I know that my friends and other cosplay enthusiasts would try to tell me that those two items don’t really matter in cosplay. But I’m my own worse critic when I look in the mirror. So I’m using this project as a motivator to get a new cosplay finished and to lose some weight in the process. In the past I have cosplayed Star Trek (several Starfleet uniforms, Angosian soldier), Star Wars (Imperial Officer, Rebel Commando) and my favorite, Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (a robe, pajamas, copy of the guide and (of course) a towel). I may have to do that one again for a convention.
I started with the decision to put together an Admiral’s uniform from one of the new Star Trek series on Paramount+, Star Trek: Picard. This is the uniform used by Starfleet in the mid 2380’s. I thought that the red with the gold stripes looked really sharp. The sleeves were also quite interesting as well. As we see different admirals wearing different styles of uniforms, I’m taking the opportunity to make my uniform a little more unique. That will be revealed later.
Step one has been completed. Some friends had purchased their mid-2380’s uniforms from a site called FanRek and they really liked them. I saw the shirt portion of the admiral’s uniform there (and at the time they were having a 20% off sale for Mother’s Day) so I pulled the trigger and made the purchase. The shirt arrived in ten days which shocked me. I thought it would have taken a few weeks more. This made for a very pleasant surprise when the packaged arrived. I’m modeling the shirt in the above photo. It appears to be made out of a nylon type fabric (I don’t know my fabrics by heart) so I will be wearing an undershirt with it. But for the test photo it felt fairly comfortable. In the past, most of my uniform tops had been hand made by friends. However schedules had been very hectic so I decided to try this company.
For step two, I’m going to get a new set of rank pips and combadge. I have a set already on my 2370’s uniform (grey top with division colored undershirt). However I didn’t want to add to the wear and tear of the two shirts by swapping the pins as needed. I didn’t see anything special on the episodes for pants or boots. So I am going to continue to use the black pants and black boots that I have used in previous cosplay.
Step three is going to be the additions to the cosplay that I want to make. I’m not ready to talk about it now because it may change as I try to put it together. But it would logically fit in with the theme of the uniform style. Yes photos will be posted as things come about.
For future cosplays I have a few ideas. I’d like to do a hybrid of a TOS/TNG style Klingon uniform. We’ve seen a few Klingons with bellies and I’ve got a good cloak that would work this with cosplay. From Babylon 5 I’d like to assemble an Centarui Ambassador (like Londo Mollari). Besides being able to have a belly, I could have some creativity with the flamboyant jacket. As I’ve always been fascinated by pirates, that is also on the list as well.
I’m actually looking forward to this.