Becoming Lost Girl's Kenzi at Hal-Con 2011

Hal-Con 2011 may have been my second con but it was the first time I ever dressed up for anything other than Halloween. For the day of the costume contest I decided to dress up as witty, wicked and wild Kenzi from Lost Girl.

Shannon and I talk about Kenzi (played by Ksenia Solo) all the time during our Hexed podcasts when discussing Lost Girl, which we LOVE! I adored the idea of going as one of our favourite TV characters that we love to hang out with each week.

I had a goth shirt that I had bought at the store Banshee Clothing on Commercial in Vancouver a decade ago and it still fit so that part of the costume was already done. Then I bought these boots from Payless that would work great with these pants:

These are fantastic yoga pants that I got at Old Navy that fit like a glove. I crammed the bottoms into the boots and the basic costume was done. Next came the accessories!



I knew I had to go to Ripsters, the awesome all-year-round costume shop that me and Reg adore. First? I had to pick up a wig. I wanted to go more for a long-haired Cleopatra look but after Halloween... Then I also had to get something for my hands and found fingerless netted gloves that suited Kenzi's look.



I got this wild wavy wig with funky bangs that drove me crazy. Thanks to this video I figured out how to straighten the hair a bit. I put it on my tripod and put not-too-hot water all over it to straighten it. Then I added conditioner and put pots and pots of hot-ish water over it until it finally straightened. The bangs never went right though.

Doesn't this photo remind you of The Grudge? Freaked me out so much I had to move it to another room to let it hang dry.



So what did I do? I folded the bangs under the wig which worked like a charm. At first the wig drove me so crazy that I did not think I was going to be able to wear it all day. Somehow by the end of the day, I was loving wearing it and thought about buying more wigs.

The night before (photo above) I played around with makeup. I don't wear a lot of makeup so Kenzi's dramatic dark makeup over ice-blue eyes was not easy for me but I think I did a decent job.



Being Kenzi is not easy. She is an absolute original. She does not use repetitive phrases and is completely original with her own way of speaking and outrageous personal flare. But that is why we adore her!



The longer the day got, the hungrier I got and the more exhausted I became... Reg said I started to sound like Kenzi. I became wildly delirious by the time we found food at Boston Pizza, almost drunk from lack of calories and sleep.


First Bo, now you! It's always about Bender! What about Kenzi?

I found myself getting a bit out of control and attacked Bender's head which was deeply unsatisfying since it was not attached to his neck. The entire day everyone recognized Bender but very people noticed me, Kenzi. Who was the coolest chick around but only a mere human so she went unnoticed.



Still, there were a couple of people who knew who my character was which was nice. Perhaps not as radical as going as a robot but I thought the costume was contemporary, original and very comfortable. I had to be considering all the photography equipment I had to lug around to cover the convention while Reg was Becoming Bender.

I feel even more connected to Kenzi than ever. She is the me I secretly want to be. She made be the most physically vulnerable character on the show (like me in real life, with my fibromyalgia) but she is still beloved and strong in her own unique way. She has the coolest clothing, the funniest turns of phrase and is un-tamable.

Kenzi, I adore you! I hope I did your character justice.