My dream of putting together a Hellsing cosplay group finally came to fruition when I convinced my friend Jared to cosplay as the vampire hunter (and stylish badass) Alucard. The coat I made by taking a thrift shop overcoat, ripping it apart at the seams, and using that as a base for my pattern. (I sewed darts up the sides to give the coat more of a 19th century fitted look and added the dusters on the shoulders. To make the dusters pouf out more, I sewed a ruffle of netting underneath them where the shoulder and sleeve seams meet.) The coat itself was made out of a heavy, linen-looking fabric and the hat I made by taking a costume cowboy hat (which I bought last Halloween,) tearing the fabric off of it and using the foam and wire underneath as a starting point. (I made the crown of the hat out of craft foam sheeting and covered the whole thing with red fabric.) The suit was actually a false vest-front which hooked over the head and was tied in the back. The guns are official, liscensed resin prop guns (an ebay find) and the gloves I made myself by printing out Alucard's sigil onto transfer paper and ironing it onto a pair of white cotton gloves. A wig and a pair of black boots completed the ensemble.

Oh, and I also made the glasses using friendly plastic, craft foam and a pair of cheap yellow sunglasses I bought at the Dollar Store. Jared was considering buying red contacts to wear under the glasses, but since we figured all the pics I took of him would wind up with him having red-eye anyway, (we were right), we deemed it an unnecessary expense.