Cosplayer of the Week: Ilse Einmyria

I first found out about Ilse Einmyria from seeing her excellent Daenerys cosplay (featured below) and being baffled by how she got such detail in the coat. Since exploring the rest of her page I now understand how – this is one talented cosplayer!

Age: 28

Location: Cardiff, UK

Favourite food: Apple walnut cake

What’s your favourite part of the costume making process?

My favourite part is gathering all the references and collecting all my fabric samples before starting on the costume. I like to try and make my costumes as accurate as I can, so I quite often spend a lot of time on the research!

How did you discover cosplay initially?

I had some friends who went to cons and cosplayed quite regularly, but it wasn’t until I started uni on a costume construction course that I really started it myself, it was a good way to practice my new skills!

Your costumes all look rather detailed, what would you say is your most ambitious costume to date?

Probably Daenerys! I’d never used fur before and that coat has a lot of intricate detailing, so it was a pretty steep learning curve!

Do you have a dream cosplay that you’d like to work towards?

I have a few, but for next year I’m going to try and make Frigga’s coronation dress from the first Thor movie because it’s really pretty! But the patterning is going to be really complicated.

If you could give new cosplayers any advice as they’re starting out, what would it be?

Probably just to keep challenging yourself, you pick up so many new skills through cosplay (sewing, wig styling, armour making, etc) so you never know where it’ll take you! Plus it’s such a good way to make so many new friends!