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. (Much cooler than wearing an actual suit, so Jared tells me.) The guns are official, liscensed resin prop guns (an ebay find) and the gloves I made myself by printing out Alucard's sigil onto special 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.)