Vex'ahlia: A stash busting winner!

About as soon as I saw Vex'ahlia's dress in season 1 episode 2 of The Legend of Vox Machina, I started planning to make it. I made a mock-up of the dress that week by blending patterns from a McCall’s Elsa pattern, and the boob cups from a Yaya Han McCall’s cosplay pattern. I chose the Elsa dress pattern for the pointed bodice that connects to the skirt, and the shape of the skirt was similar. The Yaya Han pattern looked like it would blend the most seamlessly into the Elsa bodice. After making this mock-up… I didn't look at it again for over a year… Life, a new puppy, and health unfortunately got in the way of me finishing this project.

That was until I started planning my cosplays for C2E2. I wasn't sure what I wanted to bring, but after seeing the Vex dress mock-up and trying it on, I knew I could finish the rest of the dress in time. I had already started some of the other pieces for this cosplay the previous summer because I did attempt to continue working on it several times. I used Worbla to make her pendant, and even started painting it. I also used making her ear feathers as an excuse to learn how to make Macramé leaves.

 I had picked up a very interesting knit fabric from Facebook marketplace that was double sided. Once side was a very rich blue, and the other side was an navy that was almost black. There was JUST enough of this fabric to make the entire cosplay if I lined up the pattern pieces juuuuust right. However, there was not enough fabric to line the bodice, so I used a very soft jersey for the inside lining. I did not add any boning to this dress, but I did have a corset my mom used for her wedding dress that she gifted to me a few years ago. I used this as a separate understructure.

 I used the mock-up as my pattern, but I also made patterns for the detached sleeves. I measured the circumference of my arm around my bicep and my wrist. I like to add half an inch - to an inch of extra space around my wrist measurement so I can get my hand through the hole more easily.

For the gold detailing I used Yaya Han 4-way stretch vinyl. To make it a little more interesting looking I used a decorative stitch down the center of each edging piece. These I attached to both ends of the detached sleeves and the hem of the dress. For the gold bodice details I started by first patterning the shape while wearing the dress using painters tape. Then I transferred the tape to paper to get a flat pattern and cut it out of the gold stretch vinyl. I attached it with the decorative stitch, and then hand appliqued the edges with a whip stitch. I added wire to the top of the bodice to hold the shape of the sweetheart neckline. The final detailing I added was beading the top edge of the front of the bodice with gold beads. I added gold beading to detached sleeves as well.

To finish the necklace, I first painted the main gem using nail polish, so that the gem would be a little shiny. For the chain, I threaded the same gold bead I had used on the bodice on either side of the main gem. Then I added a closure to finish it off!

For Vex's ears I wanted to give myself a couple of options. I have plenty of glue on elf ears, but I purchased a set of resin-headband ears from Yaya Han and wanted to paint them to match my skin tone. I used pink and light skin toned acrylic paint to add blush to the tips and inner ears, I used the skin tone for highlights and low lights. Then I covered all the paint in my favorite foundation to blend it together!

The final piece of this cosplay was the wig! I used a wig I had originally purchased for my Princess Leia, however it turned out to be too dark of a brown for that cosplay. So I removed all the styling I had done, re-brushed it, and started styling the wig. In the show Vex has medium length hair, but I liked the idea of longer hair with this cosplay. So I decided to use Laura Bailey's hair (the creator of the character and voice actress for her in the show) as inspiration instead. I kept the feathered bangs from the show, but did a long layered cut for the rest of the wig so that it would fall in pretty waves down my back or over my shoulder.

RIP strapy heels.

For shoes I originally wore a pair of strapy heels I purchased many years ago, but they unfortunately broke after my competition performance at CONvergence. So I replaced them with a much more comfortable pair of black wedges. These new shoes were a HUGE help when I took Vex'ahlia to Gen Con! The Critical Role meetup was a long walk from my hotel, which would have been awful with the old pair.

I ended up entering this cosplay in one last competition this year and won Best Journeyman with her! What a way to wrap up the summer con season! Vex'ahlia was not the cosplay I was expecting to win in a competition, but I'm really grateful for what I learned while making her. <3

 Here's the final look! I really enjoyed debuting this cosplay at the Critical Role meetup at C2E2 this year. Competing with her at CONvergence and 2D Con was so fun (even though she wasn't my original competition choice) AND I brought her to the GenCon Critical Role meetup as well! I'm planning to bring her to more conventions, because she's so fun and easy to wear. Do you know of any other conventions with Critter meetups? Let me know in the comments!

Photo by Just Cosplay Photography at Gen Con 2023