Getting "into character"

As the subway train reached their stop, the two girls exited into the platform and made their way to the nearest hotel. Both were still in their civilian clothes, not wanting to get stared at by several strangers on their way to the con.

Once in the hotel, they went inside the restroom and emptied their duffel bag they'd brought with them. Grace's costume took up the most room as the pieces weren't exactly made for compact travel, while Becky was able to fit hers in a side compartment. Grace took the bag into a stall as Becky just took her costume in one hand and went to another stall.

Grace had to first get undressed. Since she knew she wouldnt need them all day, she hadn't worn underwear under her blue floral sundress. The top would be able to cover her, she made sure of that. The bottom part was a different story, as it only had a front and back panel to preserve her modesty. Any wrong move, and someone on either side would be able to see her crotch, or her ass. When making this costume, she watched YouTube videos and read through several forums, and hoped that the way she went would be enough.

She had seen a video by cosplayer Abby Darkstar on how to make the underwear for the Hutt Slayer (or ) Leia costume. Apparently, she had attached the front and back panels with velcro that, according to her, would take a strong tug to remove. The same was said for the "underwear". She had used a strip of cotton fabric she cut from an old pair of panties, and then velcroed the ends to the front and back panels as well, hidden by the gold pieces.

Grace had tried it on back home, and it seemed to hold, and was comfortable enough to wear it all day. Becky was both surprised and excited that her friend would trust her own handiwork, as she felt Grace was still inexperienced with cosplay, having bought her prior costumes, only modifying them to fit better and painting them to be more accurate or adding accessories to make them look less store bought.

So, with her costume in place, next came the harder part: the hair. Since her own hair, which she colored for this, only came down to her shoulders, a far cry from the waist length that Carrie Fisher had when filming, she had to rely on a headpiece that clipped to her hair, and had it's own braided ponytail. The entire thing was concealed in the hair accessory that made her costume more accurate. She tied her hair I to a bun that sat high on the back of her head. The gold accessory then clipped into place on the bun, and the illusion was complete. An arm band on her left bicep and a bracelet on her right arm completed the look. She stepping into her pointy "elf shoes" as she liked to call them, and quickly did her makeup before packing her clothes into the duffel bag and finally looked to see how Becky was doing.