February 2012, Cosplay Babe of the Month: BelleChere!

 

February 2012, Cosplay Babe of the Month, BelleChere as Lady Death. 

Yes the weather outside is frightful but today we bring you our February 2012, Cosplay Babe of the Month to heat things up.  Please join us in welcoming Ms. February, BelleChere!  Now let’s get those icicles melting and get right to the interview after a couple of insights as to the first two pictures from BelleChere herself.

Photo left.  BelleChere as Jessica Rabbit.  Comment from BelleChere: “I’m not bad – I’m just drawn that way.  How could I resist? When I first saw ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, even though I was just a little girl, I was in awe of Jessica Rabbit.  Beautiful, glamorous, sultry and classy – she is, to me, what every woman wants to be.  She’s certainly who I wanted to be, though it took me until now to feel like I could be that woman.  It takes a lot of confidence to walk in those stilettos, and it’s taken me a while to build up to it, but I finally felt like I could portray this icon.”

Photo Above: BelleChere as Lady Death.  Comment from BelleChere: “The pin-up covers of this comic are delicious, and I absolutely loved the animated movie. I did wear white contacts, though I did edit out the pupils in these pics. I’d rather do a little photo editing than be completely blind at the convention with white-out scleras!  My favourite part was being able to meet Brian Pulido (the creator) at his booth. He loved it!!”

Comics Ninja:  BelleChere, thank you for joining us today all the way from New Hampshire.  Briefly tell us a little bit about yourself.

BelleChere: Hey there!  Thanks for having me!  I’ll be honest, I’m always stumped on where to start when I’m supposed to talk about myself.  I’m an artist who works in the live entertainment industry – theatre, opera, arena shows, dance, musicals, that sort of thing – usually as stage manager or wardrobe/costume design/creation.  I love good cooking so much that I got a degree in how to give people food-orgasms.  I like staying indoors, doing geeky things, and I like being outdoors, doing non-geeky things, but I love when the two combine (like Quidditch).  There, brief and little – Bazinga!

Photo right: BelleChere as the Goblin Queen.  Comment from BelleChere: “This is what happens when a clone of Jean Grey has a husband, a child, and goes through a series of retcons and history rewrites – she turns evil.  Madelyne Pryor was a clone of Jean Grey created by Mister Sinister in a plot to gain a super-mutant child in order to beat Apocalypse.  Go read the Inferno saga!  I created this costume to go along with my husband’s Mister Sinister costume and to be in an X-Men villains group.  My husband had been asking me for years to make it – I finally broke down and did it.  To answer the question I was asked all day: toupee tape.

Comics Ninja: Toupee tape, check.  O.K., what first got you into cosplay?

Goblin Queen and Mr. Sinister.

BelleChere: Halloween.  Man, I love Halloween, and I’ve always been pretty gung-ho about it. Six years ago I had my heart set on being X-Men’s Rogue for Halloween.  This pre-dated the insta-costumes you could buy on the cheap from Hong Kong through eBay, and being in college I couldn’t afford the prices getting a costume commissioned would cost, so I was determined to figure out how to make it myself.  After wrestling with spandex, I came out the victor, and by the time DragonCon rolled around that year I had three costumes to wear.  The great community of like-minded, costume-wearing people I met only encouraged me to continue on!

Photo Left: BelleChere as Mystique. 

Comics Ninja: You seem to have a good sense of humor which comes across in your cosplay.  Would you say that you travel through life with a good sense of humor or do you save it for cosplay?

BellChere:  I’ve heard that laughter can add years to your lifespan.  I’ve also heard the same can be said about chocolate. Right now, I’m pretty convinced I’m immortal.  Seriously, it’s nice to hear that my sense of humor comes across in my photos.  A good sense of humor is pretty crucial in my daily life – I haven’t encountered many successful theatre technicians who can’t take a joke.  Besides, if you can laugh at yourself with ease, then you’re taking all the power away from the trolls.

Comics Ninja: What was your first cosplay experience like at a convention or otherwise?

BelleChere:  It was friggen amazing.  It was like some little, gleeful part of me was set free.  I had been wanting to go to DragonCon since I was 13, and even after years of hearing stories I Was Not Prepared.  Sure, I was smart and had the survival kits, but nothing could have primed me for getting so many pictures taken.  I got to goof off with friends, people would compliment me on my costume, and the only thing I had to complain about was how ridiculous of a process it was to go to the bathroom.

 

 

Photo to the right: “Drowned Ophelia. 

Comics Ninja: We note that your husband is present in some of your cosplay pictures.  Did you get him into it, the other way around or did you meet in costume perhaps?

BelleChere: We didn’t meet through costuming (we actually met through an online text-based RPG (based on Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern) when we were twelve), but he did discover cosplay. I had no idea people did this sort of thing regularly enough for it to be a hobby, but in helping me search for Rogue costumes he found an X-Men Cosplay community.  He’s not as into it as I am, but he’ll ask for me to make him one new costume a year, and we have fun together.

Comics Ninja: We see that you attend conventions all over the U.S.  What is your favorite convention or event to attend?

BelleChere: DragonCon!  Without a doubt. I will budget the other year’s events around DragonCon.

Comics Ninja: Tell us a little bit about your connection to the theatre.

BelleChere: Theatre is what keeps me away from a 9-5 cubbie job that would squash my spirit.  I’ve always loved it as a way to both express my pretty fantastical imagination, and ground myself in exploring the human condition.  I don’t know what other profession I could get that in, so even if it’s tough to live on wages made from the arts, I’m determined to continue to make it work.  I’ve had a twenty-year relationship with it and it’s not about to stop!

BelleChere as Dawn.

Comics Ninja: We see that you roll the 20 sided die from time to time.  What is your favorite D&D race and class to play?   Chaotic evil or Chaotic good, other?

BelleChere: I’ve played a Half-Elf Ranger/Thief often enough for people to call me on it.  I like how you’re associating me with Chaotic, hahah!  Usually Chaotic or Neutral Good. I can’t play Lawful.

Comment from BelleChere: So this pic comes with a bit of a story.  I was chatting with my friends, it was near the end of the con, and a guy with a SECURITY badge taps me on the shoulder.  “Excuse me, could we get your picture, over here?”  He motions to a booth and I say: “Would you mind coming over here for the picture? I’m chatting with my friends.”  “No,” he says, “I don’t think you understand. Stan Lee would like a photo with you.”  I reached across, grabbed my friend’s arm, and said “OhMyGod, StanLeeWantsAPicWithMe!”  This is what it takes for me to abandon a conversation with my friends, hah!  I walk into the booth, the guy says “One last photo for the day, Mr. Lee.”  Stan turns and looks at me, flings his arms wide, and says “Oh no! You mean I have to get a picture with /another/ gorgeous woman?!”  What a flirt.  My one big wish was that I was in a Marvel costume!  Go figure.

Photo right: Apparently Frank Cho and Eisner approved.  BelleChere as Red Sonja and garbage can as garbage can.

Comics Ninja: What do you think of all of the attention you have gotten from the fanboys (and girls) on the internet and at conventions?

BelleChere:  As surprising and flattering as it’s been, it’s also been something I’ve had to grow accustomed to; I’m used to being backstage, not in the spotlight.  It feels weird to refer to people as ‘fans’ of what I still consider a hobby of mine, but then calling people ‘potential friends’ feels silly too. Overall, while some of the attention has made it a necessity to protect my private life, for the most part it’s been a huge boost to my confidence and a pretty great motivator to keep in shape.

 

Thank you BelleChere for a wonderful part one of our feature on Ms. February.  Please tune back in on Thursday for part two of our interview and feature, until then get  the latest comic book, gaming, sci-fi, movie, cosplay and animation news on The Ninja Report, containing sourced and aggregated news from every corner of the internet and updated every ten minutes!  Never miss another headline, preview or breaking story, Ninja Nation!  Then, when you’re done with the news go to our Swap Comics/Games page and check out the latest free available trades!

 

 

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