Diving into costuming

I admit it, I got overwhelmed right away. There is so much to this artistry that I have so much more respect for cosplayers and the amazing artists that pull everything together. They piece together their costumes by dissecting every piece of official merchandise and advertising, assess the types of fabrics used and stitching patterns on every article of clothing. I'm amazing at how thorough these costumers are.

I began my research by exploring the 501st website and searched for my local garrison. I found some members that listed Kylo Ren as one of their approved costumes and looked them up on Facebook. The first person that I heard back from was Alana Keeney, who has some amazing costumes! She is extremely helpful and offered a ton of advise to me on where to get started.

I joined a Facebook group specific to costume design for Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren. Just reading this group proved to me how creative these artists are. I am in awe of their skills and attention to detail. It's truly inspirational.

When I went into this project, I wasn't sure how much of the costume I wanted to purchase, and what I would be willing the create myself. After talking with a number of people and researching everything involved, I think I have a clearer idea of what I want to do.

Here's the breakdown of my plan to construct my Kylo Ren costume:

I am going to leave the soft part construction to the experts and I'll use my technical skills to modify the electronics of the lightsaber and the helmet, and learn more about the approach to textured painting for the helmet and modifications to the lightsaber hilt as necessary.

I've estimated that it is going to run me close to $2,000 to have a complete first pass for Kylo Ren. I would love to have this complete by the end of 2020, but it is going to take me a while to build up my Bucket List Fund to support these efforts.

Looking forward to seeing what I can do first!