DIY Lumiere and Cogsworth Cosplays
Lumiere and Cogsworth are two of the most vivid, and dare I say, life-like characters within the Beauty and the Beast story. Between Lumiere’s charm and Cogworth’s constant tit-for-tat, it’s hard not to love them. That’s why seeing cosplayers like @sparkle.stache and @nikkipardee recreating the looks of these iconic characters is such a treat. We talked to both of them about their Lumiere and Cogsworth cosplays and they’ve lent us a few tricks about how you can DIY.
Lumiere Cosplay by Krissy (@sparkle.stache)
Lumiere was always one of my favorite characters from the film, so I thought with SacAnime coming up, it would be the perfect time to create a feminine cosplay version of him. I approached Nikki with the idea and she wanted to be Cogsworth right away. After a lot of searching online, we noticed there weren’t many cosplays of them (especially female versions). We thought this opportunity would give us the freedom to create new versions of these already amazing characters. Immediately, we began drawing out what we wanted the characters to look like and even made a special trip to Disneyland just to get more inspiration!
What really sparked the desire to be Lumiere and Cogsworth at SacAnime was the fact that most of the cast from the original Beauty and the Beast Disney animation was going to be attending the convention. We really wanted to show our love to the cast who were a part of such a big movie in our lives.
We met with the Robby Benson, Richard White, and Paige O’Hara. Meeting each one of them was so incredible, it’s hard to describe. Paige O’Hara especially loved our cosplays. It was a dream come true for Nikki and I to see her face light up. We could tell she genuinely loved the little details we put into everything. We got to ask her a couple of questions about her experience with the film, too. She was so kind and thoughtful. The cast even signed our old, worn out VHS cases! Safe to say, Nikki and I will forever cherish this moment that we were able to share with her and the rest of the cast.
How-To DIY Lumiere Cosplay
Making these cosplays was a little challenging at times. From the starting point to the day of, we were working on every detail. Nikki and I had an idea of a base of the costume we wanted, a corset top and shorts. We found some old items laying around the house or in thrifts stores that we wouldn’t mind cutting up and painting. We had to look and go through a few different paints to get everything just right.
Once we had our basic top and shorts fitted and painted we started adding the details. We looked up a lot of ideas from Beauty and the Beast plays, Halloween costumes, and fan art for ideas. Working together and bouncing ideas off of each other really helped shaped what worked best to each character. Notebooks and checklists of everything we needed really helped keep us organized. Nikki and I were just learning how to use a sewing machine so our costumes consisted of a lot of items hot glued and sewn together.
What I Used:
– Corset
– Shorts
– Acrylic Paint
-Hot Glue Gun
-Ribbons
-Jewels
-Gold Tights and Heels
-Yellow Gold Contacts
Candles:
– EVA Foam
– LED Candles
– Headband
– Tulle
– Ribbon
– Plastic Bowls
– Plasti-Dip
DIY:
For Lumiere, I started to add details by adding layers of fabric and tulle to the sides for a poof effect. I added ribbons and jewels (almost everything was from from Joann’s) with hot glue along the corset to give it a more unique look. Afterwards, I decided to add a matching ribbon to the shorts to help make it all look more unified. I found some ridiculously sparkly gold tights and heels (that I ended up painting) online to make myself feel more like a tall shinny golden candle.
My favorite part (which really makes Lumiere) were the candles. The white part of the candle is made with thin EVA foam (two tall ones for my hands, and one short for my head). I made them into a cylinder and began adding glue. Then, I ordered some remote operated LED candles from Amazon that were about 4 in. long.
To secure the lights, I made a hole in the tops of the candles. But I still needed to be able to remove them in case I had to replace the batteries. The remote is hidden in my left candle during the convention so that I could change the color or turn them off when needed.
The candle on my head was secured to a headband and had just enough room for an emergency battery change. After all was set in place, I added hot glue streaks vertically to the candle to make a wax drip effect. I then Plasti-Dipped the foam white, then spray painted them an off white ivory color.
The gold holder is made out of some plastic bowls from my kitchen. They’re painted gold with acrylic paint, and I added in tulle and ribbon to make them a little more detailed. I wore soft yellow-gold contacts and neutral toned make up with highlights of gold and shimmer on my face, neck, and arms.
Cogsworth Cosplay by Nikki Pardee
For me Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite movies. When I saw that the original voice actors were going to be at SacAnime I couldn’t wait to go! We had both really wanted to dress up, but we knew there probably would be a lot of Belles and Beasts and we wanted to be something different. I remember we were in Hobby Lobby (where all good ideas are made! ) and I told Krissy that I would love to be Cogsworth if she wanted to be Lumiere. It just seemed right.
We knew that we wanted to showcase our cosplays at SacAnime since the new movie was coming out (I had already gotten my ticket!). Since the voice actors were also going to be there as well, its seemed like a great idea! And people’s reactions to our costumes have been so positive and motivating me to want to create more. Everyone would see Lumiere first, and then see me and instantly figured out the cosplays.
It was so cool seeing peoples’ reactions as it clicked in their heads who we were. Both men and women, older and younger, loved our cosplays. It was amazing to see so many people recognize us and lots of people wanted our pictures that day. Throughout the day we kept getting complements (one in particular I loved hearing. “What a creative idea!”). As a cosplayer, you always want to try and make something new that no one has ever seen before. It was a pleasure getting to bring that to SacAnime for everyone to see.
How-To DIY Cogsworth Cosplay
Krissy and I had so much fun making these! We started with looking stuff up but found we couldn’t really find anything like the ideas we had in our heads. I envisioned almost a french court-type of look for my clock. It was important to incorporate as many clock-like elements as I could, but with a feline twist.
What I Used:
– Old & Thriftstore Prom Dresses
– Gears
– Boots
-Headband
– Foam
– Stickers
DIY:
The bodice was actually an old prom dress I had laying around. I got the gears from a costume mansion downtown that really spoke to me. In a few scenes, Cogsworth is shown falling down with parts flying off of him and I wanted to react that iconic scene.
The boots were used from Poshmark with some added details. The fabric for the skirt were old prom dresses I found at a thrift store and cut up. Krissy helped me make the cut puffy sleeves and the hat.
The head piece was painted foam material that I just attached to a headband. The necktie (my favorite piece of my cosplay) was to represent the shape in Cogsworth’s chest piece. I did cheat a little and used number stickers for my clock face. Most of our costume pieces we find at the thrift store or on Poshmark. I love the idea of taking something old and unused and creative something beautiful out of it. Plus it saves a lot on materials!
Many hours were put into our costumes, and every second of it was worth it when we get to see how happy we make everyone. We hope to create many more cosplays that people are going to love and adore just as much as Cogsworth and Lumiere. But you haven’t seen the last of those guys yet! We plan on bringing them out again in the future sometime.
