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Description
Character: Tess
Series/Game: The Last of Us
Cosplayer: Me
Photographer: Amit Muntasir
Notes: I have such a tremendous love for this game and for its characters! We had a great cosplay group for this convention and I had such a wonderful time running around with them. I wish the weather had been more permitting and we could have gotten some more really gritty shots or recreated some scenes from the game.
Construction Notes: Although you can barely see them in this pic, the jeans were a thrift store purchase and aged/weathered with dirt...lots and lots of dirt, charred ash, watered down black acrylics, various watered down acrylic paints to give the fabric a kind of grimy tinge. I sanded them in places and dremeled damage into places where I felt would have lots of wear. I used Mehron fake blood in some spots as well.

The shirt was also a thrift store purchase. It was the perfect color and originally long sleeved with no pockets. I used the sleeves to construct pockets and changed out all the buttons. I satin stitched in the decorative collarbone areas(albeit, poorly). It was a slight inaccuracy as Tess's shirt has a seam there and not just decorative stitching. To save time and since I had what limited fabric the sleeves could provide I felt using them for the pockets was a higher priority. I believe Tess's shirt is supposed to be some sort of light flannel however the color was too perfect to pass up. Perhaps down the road I will remake it using a more accurate fabric. The weathering was done by sanding and dremeling parts to achieve some wear and tear. I used a wash of different acrylics to make the shirt look grimy and I rubbed dirt and fake blood in places.

The undershirt was actually a really really old pokemon shirt that was on its last legs already. I weathered and dirtied it and cut some holes in the front. This shirt is seriously fragile and I might have to actually make a new one soon, haha. The pack was an ebay purchase and originally tan. I dyed it olive green to match Tess's in game backpack. I sanded it, dremeled damage and stripped some of the enamel off the buckles and buttons. I used the same treatment on the backpack that I used on both the pants and shirts. I wanted to use a certain process to create rust on the buckles and snaps however I ran out of time and just went with paint to emulate that part.

The tac light was purchased from Dick's Sporting Goods, painted and weathered. The gas mask (which cannot be seen here) was an amazon purchase (though I forget which style mask it is, I tried to get one that was as accurate as possible) and weathered with acrylics. The boots, which you can't see sadly (because they are so so comfortable unlike most of my costume shoes) are some old jedi boots that were weathered with acrylics. The headband was made from some batik fabric I had lying around and weathered. Much weathered so dirt, wow! I was so sick of doing all that by the time I put this all together. But I love the result I was able to achieve. The wig was a longer, wavy wig that I cut to resemble Tess's length and style. The gun was an airsoft pistol that was weathered.

I used charred ash, fake blood, various eye shadows and a little collodion to create all the dirt, cuts and bruises.

Description
Character: Tess
Series/Game: The Last of Us
Cosplayer: Me
Photographer: Amit Muntasir
Notes: I have such a tremendous love for this game and for its characters! We had a great cosplay group for this convention and I had such a wonderful time running around with them. I wish the weather had been more permitting and we could have gotten some more really gritty shots or recreated some scenes from the game.
Construction Notes: Although you can barely see them in this pic, the jeans were a thrift store purchase and aged/weathered with dirt...lots and lots of dirt, charred ash, watered down black acrylics, various watered down acrylic paints to give the fabric a kind of grimy tinge. I sanded them in places and dremeled damage into places where I felt would have lots of wear. I used Mehron fake blood in some spots as well.

The shirt was also a thrift store purchase. It was the perfect color and originally long sleeved with no pockets. I used the sleeves to construct pockets and changed out all the buttons. I satin stitched in the decorative collarbone areas(albeit, poorly). It was a slight inaccuracy as Tess's shirt has a seam there and not just decorative stitching. To save time and since I had what limited fabric the sleeves could provide I felt using them for the pockets was a higher priority. I believe Tess's shirt is supposed to be some sort of light flannel however the color was too perfect to pass up. Perhaps down the road I will remake it using a more accurate fabric. The weathering was done by sanding and dremeling parts to achieve some wear and tear. I used a wash of different acrylics to make the shirt look grimy and I rubbed dirt and fake blood in places.

The undershirt was actually a really really old pokemon shirt that was on its last legs already. I weathered and dirtied it and cut some holes in the front. This shirt is seriously fragile and I might have to actually make a new one soon, haha. The pack was an ebay purchase and originally tan. I dyed it olive green to match Tess's in game backpack. I sanded it, dremeled damage and stripped some of the enamel off the buckles and buttons. I used the same treatment on the backpack that I used on both the pants and shirts. I wanted to use a certain process to create rust on the buckles and snaps however I ran out of time and just went with paint to emulate that part.

The tac light was purchased from Dick's Sporting Goods, painted and weathered. The gas mask (which cannot be seen here) was an amazon purchase (though I forget which style mask it is, I tried to get one that was as accurate as possible) and weathered with acrylics. The boots, which you can't see sadly (because they are so so comfortable unlike most of my costume shoes) are some old jedi boots that were weathered with acrylics. The headband was made from some batik fabric I had lying around and weathered. Much weathered so dirt, wow! I was so sick of doing all that by the time I put this all together. But I love the result I was able to achieve. The wig was a longer, wavy wig that I cut to resemble Tess's length and style. The gun was an airsoft pistol that was weathered.

I used charred ash, fake blood, various eye shadows and a little collodion to create all the dirt, cuts and bruises.