For an update on Kassandra, she has been busy having photo shoots showing off the many outfits she has either created herself or modeled in. She also continues in working with Geek Goddess selling prints through them as well. Her last convention was New York Comic Con and sadly I did not find the time to head over and introduce myself to her! At NYCC she wore her Morrigan and Evangelion cosplays as well as a schoolgirl/maid outfit which had some elements of sci-fi. Hope you guys enjoy this interview despite it being dated!
 |
| Photo by Kassandra Leigh Purcell |
Kassandra Leigh is a
gorgeous model, photographer and cosplayer from New York. She has a career in
photography as well as being a part of the website Geek Goddesses. That doesn’t
stop her from expressing her love of comics and gaming though! She has
cosplayed characters like Morrigan Aensland, but she mostly shines in creating
the most beautiful gowns!
What
is your Name?
Kassandra Leigh
Where
are you from?
I was born Upstate, but moved to Long Island NY some moons back.
How
long have you been cosplaying?
I’ve had people
asking me “who are you cosplaying” since middle school. I tend to dress pretty
oddly in my day-to-day attire, so most people assumed it was some character. It
was only some 5 years ago that I started cosplaying with intent. Unless of
course, you count when I would dress up for live action roleplaying!
What
is your favorite cosplay you’ve made so far?
I’m most proud
of the gowns I put together for my fantasy medieval inspired photo-shoots. But
for a specific character I’m pretty happy with how my Morrigan’s leggings came
out.
Are
there any upcoming outfits that you are able to share/tell?
Oh absolutely!
This is the first year I’ll be going to Anime Next (June, NJ) and in addition
to debuting my updated Morrigan bodysuit, I’ll be going with 2 other girls in
Eva themed latex. They are dresses we had made by the awesome Vengeance Designs
to match to Rei, Asuka and Mari's plugsuits. I really love combining my love
for different kinds of fashions with cosplay.
How
did you get into cosplay?
As I mentioned
I sort of dress eccentrically in my day to day, which had people asking me if I
was cosplaying. So of course I was pretty aware of cosplay long before I was
giving it a whirl myself. But I think my attempts to make cool things for my
photography & modeling were a gateway into cosplay. That and renaissance
fairs haha
Who’s
your favorite video game character?
That’s mean. Who
the hell wants to pick only one?! A month later your gonna play a game and be
like “ OMG SO AMAZING” and have to go
through the moral en-devour to choose, which gave you the most joy. I’ll at
least say this: one of my dream cosplays for video game characters is to
cosplay as Alsbeth from the MMO Rift.
Who’s
your favorite comic book character?
I was pretty
jazzed to do my Black Queen cosplay. Selene from the Hellfire club (X-Men) is
really underrated, but who can say no to a crazy spirit sucking evil vampire
lady? I got to cosplay with a Sebastian Shaw and make disapproving faces at
each other the entire con long! Haha!
What
was a memorable con moment? Worst con moment?
I-CON was my
first convention I’d ever gone to and it was my home con. One year my friends
and I were walking at night between buildings helping with the LARP track clean
up and laughing about something (I can’t remember at what exactly) when my
friend (not paying attention to where she was going) trots right into a trash
can and just about falls into it completely (she’s pocket sized lol). All of us
sleep and food deprived as we were found this so funny we all had to stop and
cry and laugh till we couldn’t breathe. This however was a signal to the local
cops to come over and ask if we had been drinking or doing anything that night.
Good to know our antics read as “these crazy costumed bitches must be ON
something”.
Worst con
moment? The Walking Dead was going to be shown as an exclusive sneak peek at
New York Comic Con. We waited two hours in a line to get to the doors and be
told not only could we not go in – but also that they had to have people taken
out of the room, who they sat down because of how much of a fire hazard it was.
The importance of organization, people!
Do
you have a favorite convention you go to/been to?
I-CON is an
itty-bitty con for sci-fi, fantasy, anime and what not, that takes place in
Long Island NY. It was so close to where I live and all my local friends went which
made it a very comfortable con. There really wasn’t a lot of pressure in terms
of cosplay either, so it was a way to test out costumes before I brought them
to bigger conventions.
What
advice would you offer to those that want to get into cosplay?
I think you
should identify why you want to cosplay first and foremost. Is it 100% for your
personal enjoyment? Will people being catty ruin your day (if so, this might
not be a good hobby for you lol)? How much time do you want to dedicate to it?
I find cosplay is pretty engrossing. I started off with maybe one new character
a year and it quickly became 5-6, which is very time and money consuming. lol
What
is your favorite part of cosplaying as a character?
I love the
photo shoots! I’m a bit biased on this one since I do photography as my
occupation but I find cosplayers create such interesting outfits! Not only are
the costumes themselves fun to capture, but the people tend to be very fun and
laid back to work with. It really is a fun way to bridge my two loves –
photography and fandom.
Picture:
 |
Photo by Kassandra Leigh Purcell
|
How
did you make this outfit?
Pretty shittily? I don’t think that is a word, but it works! The one
thing I was very proud of was my feathers. It always annoyed me when people
used scallop shaped fabric or cheap looking craft feathers for the trim on her
bodysuit. So I went all out and dropped almost 70$ on real Chinese rooster
feathers. Soft. As. HELL! They got attached to an old sash I had, so I could
pin and unpin it from the main bodysuit. The suit I made isn’t the best quality
so I’m hoping someone can help me upgrade it to leather that maybe has more
structure to it. And since my feathers can just be pinned on, it makes it sort
of versatile. Always a plus! The leggings were modified from some I had around
the house. I made two different bat shapes cut from some magazine pages I had
laying around the house and would pin it to my leg and paint it while it was
worn. This part made me mental since pinning down the paper it sort of ripples
and never quite stays in place. My friend had to paint the ones on my butt-cheeks
for me. Ahhh, friendship! Haha also a big thank you to my gal at Crone Designs
for helping me out with some epic wings. They are made from wire and heat
treated cellophane.
How
long did it take to create?
Not sure….I tend to work a little here and there when I can’t sleep
(which is often) or when I’m killing time before I head to work.
 |
| Photo by Babette Daniels |
 |
| Photo by K |
 |
Photo by Conri
|
 |
| Photo by Cantera Cosplay |
This should give
you a good idea as to how passionate Kassandra is about her work and expressing
her artistic abilities! If you want to learn more about her:
