Meet Angela Clayton, An Impressive 16 Year Old Who Has Cosplay All Sewn Up.

16 year old Angela Clayton is blowing away the world of Cosplay with her impressive costume-making skills. After having designed, dressed and styled herself at Frozen's Queen Elsa (complete with photo shoot in a snowy forest), she's being cited as 'having raised the bar' by sci-fi and Cosplay fans alike.





above: Angela as Disney's Queen Elsa from Frozen in her own costume, makeup and styling. The cape alone took her 170+ hours to create.

Having read about her Queen Elsa costume, I was intrigued and looked into the talented designer and seamstress. I couldn't believe what I saw - an uncanny dedication and skill for someone so young.


above: Angela Clayton as herself (photo courtesy of facebook)

The 16 year old, who recently graduated high school and is presently preparing her portfolio, was born in Phoenix and now lives in Long Island. She was home schooled (with a few classes at Suffolk County Community College) and has only been sewing for two years. She is almost entirely self-taught, with a little help from the internet.



above: Angela as Merida from Disney's Brave

She began cosplaying in 2010 and a year later started to make her own costumes. Her historical, Disney, anime and Japanese illustrator Sakizo -inspired character costume designs are as impressive looking as they are time-consuming to make.


above: Angela's home studio

It doesn't hurt that she, herself, has porcelain skin, giant eyes and a perfect pout, much like a human version of a doll or an anime character:


Angela says says "I started sewing when i became interested in cosplay, since it combined my love of creating, makeup, photography and dressing up perfectly. Though I have a few more cosplays planned for 2014, I'm no longer attending conventions."



above: In addition to being inspired by Anime and Disney characters, some of Angela's costumes are from her own sketches

She is delving into historical fashions more and more. At present she is working on creating a portfolio for future college as well as filling out internship applications. Throughout the year of 2014, she will be working on designing and creating two mini collections, each consisting of five or six looks.

Here are several images of her dressed in various costumes, all created, sewn and styled by herself. Even some of the wigs were made by Angela.

Angela in a red Renaissance gown:



Angela as a Royal Canadian Mountie Policeman:


Angela as illustrator Sakizo's Royal Milk Tea Character:



Angela as Mio Ayoama:


Angela as Napolean Bonaparte:


Angela as Glass Angel:


Angela as Vlad Tepes:



Angela as a Christmas Queen:


Angela as a female fighter:


Her Queen Elsa Gown:


•Her blog includes detailed information about the making of her costumes.

•For detailed information and pics as to how she created the replica gown from Frozen (above), go here

•See her Cosplay portfolio of characters here 
 
•Angela on Deviant Art

Her work is amazing for someone so young. She has a bright future ahead of her and I wish her all the best.

all images courtesy of Angela Clayton
several of the photos on this post were taken by Anna Fischer and many of the character designs were inspired by the artwork of Sakizo

Her Men, Her Movies, Her Diamonds, Her Portraits. The Legacy Of Elizabeth Taylor. 32 Stunning Photos.

Elizabeth Taylor, 1932-2011

She loved men. And diamonds. And we loved her. This morning's death of legend Dame Elizabeth Taylor is being felt around the world. The world's most glamorous actress of all time passed away at age 79 of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles early this morning, prompting bloggers and newspeople to begin publishing the many incredible images of the violet-eyed beauty and details of her illustrious career.

Over the past three decades much has been published about her many marriages, her incredible personal collections of some of the most magnificent diamond jewelry, her substance abuse problems, her avid activism on the behalf of AIDS sufferers [she helped start the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and established her own AIDS Foundation] and her bizarre friendship with Michael Jackson.



In addition to the aforementioned, she was a savvy businesswoman, creating a collection of fine jewelry (House of Taylor) and several best selling perfumes. But let us not forget, she also was a fine actress.

She's also been immortalized by some of the most well-known and talented photographers and artists of all time. Here are a few of my favorite images of Liz.

THE PORTRAITS
By Richard Avedon (1964):

By Franceso Scavullo (1964):

By Andy Warhol (1964):

By Philippe Halsman (1948):

by Frank Worth (1955):

By Norman Parkinson (mid 1950s):

By Angus McBean (1966):

By Burt Glinn (1959):

By Douglas Kirkland (1961):

By William Klein, 1965 cover of Paris Vogue:

By Cecil Beaton (1971):

By Helmut Newton (1986):


More of my favorite images of Liz, only I do not know the photographers:





A few basic stats:
Date of Birth: 27 February 1932, Hampstead, London, England, UK
Date of Death: 23 March 2011, Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth Name: Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor
Nicknames: Liz, Kitten
Height: 5' 2" (1.57 m)

HER HUSBANDS & WEDDING PHOTOS
Taylor was married eight times to seven husbands. Here are photos of each of her weddings:

* Conrad "Nicky" Hilton (May 6, 1950 – January 29, 1951) (divorced):

* Michael Wilding (February 21, 1952 – January 26, 1957) (divorced):

* Michael Todd (February 2, 1957 – March 22, 1958) (widowed):

* Eddie Fisher (May 12, 1959 – March 6, 1964) (divorced):

* Richard Burton (March 15, 1964 – June 26, 1974) (divorced):

* Richard Burton (October 10, 1975 – July 29, 1976) (divorced):

* John Warner (December 4, 1976 – November 7, 1982) (divorced):

* Larry Fortensky (October 6, 1991 – October 31, 1996) (divorced):



HER JEWELS:
Liz was bought some of the world's finest and most expensive jewels from husbands Richard Burton, Michael Todd and Eddie Fisher. Her love affair with gems is well known and her perfumes were named after them as well.

Most famous of her extensive collection are the 33.19 carat Asscher-cut Krupp Diamond, a ring which she wore for many decades:





And the 69.42 carat Taylor-Burton Diamond, which she wore as a pendant on a necklace as well as a ring:


above: The Taylor-Burton diamond necklace consisting of 67 pear-shaped diamonds with the central diamond of 69.42 carats. The necklace was made for Cartier in 1969. Image Courtesy of Oscar Heyman, Inc., New York.

She also wore the enormous pear-shaped Taylor Burton Diamond as a ring:


She has a very extensive collection of diamond tiaras and many emeralds, rubies and more. Many of which can be found in her book, Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry


above: the cover of her book, My Love Affair With Jewelry

HER MOVIES:

above: Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Giant in 1955

If you're going to memorialize her by renting a few of her movies this weekend, I highly recommend the following, which really were her most memorable performances:

• Suddenly, Last Summer
• Butterfield 8
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
• The Sandpiper
• Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
• The Taming of the Shrew

Not as great but worth renting for the novelty are:
• Giant
* The Last Time I Saw Paris
* Cleopatra
* Raintree County
* A Place In The Sun

For the kids, you may want to consider:
• National Velvet
• Lassie Come Home
• Father Of The Bride

See her complete filmography here.
Books on Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor Movies on DVD

The world will not be the same without you. Rest in peace, Liz.
images courtesy of Magnum photos, Artnet, LIFE magazine and Getty images