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| Steve Harrington - Stranger Things |
Welcome to
another episode of “Sammy’s Extraordinary Interviews!” 😉
I am over
the moon to introduce to you an incredible LGBTQ+ artist, photographer, and
fellow cosplayer, Nancyvonder
I started
following Tascha years and years ago, when they ran their page under the name Voxophone.
They have since done a rebrand and now successfully run 3 separate Instagram
accounts for all their creative interests. I highly recommend following all 3
accounts as they all offer something different!
*See
first question of the interview for more details on the content of each*
(@Nancyvonder
@Nancysdreaming @Taschadear)
The cosplay
that first pulled me in to Nancy’s world, was an amazingly accurate Amy
Madison from Buffy the Vampire Slayer cosplay I saw posted on
Instagram. I was such a HUGE fan of Buffy, and this was around the time I
started getting interested in the cosplay scene myself, so I was excited to see
future cosplays from them.
What
followed from Amy was of course an adorable Willow Rosenburg, then an
even more badass Vampire Willow and as if I thought it couldn’t get any
better; The Slayer herself!
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| Willow - Buffy |
Since then,
there has been an INCREDIBLE compilation of Stranger Things cosplays. Her Steve
Harrington cosplay is by far one of the BEST. She’s also done Robin,
Nancy, Ell and…wait for it…only our freaking beloved EDDIE MUNSON!!
Nancy has
such a great variety of cosplays, here are a few of my personal favourites to
give you a little insight; Casey Becker (Scream) Ash (Evil Dead) Allison
(The Breakfast Club) & Darcy Lewis (Marvel) The rest…well, you will
just have to go check out their page to see more!
Not only does
@Nancvond produce awesome cosplays, but their photography Insta @Taschadear
is full of some really beautiful portraits, dolls, fun edits and recently there
has even been some creepy AF horror videography, which is a little scary but
also visually stunning.
Over on @Nancysdreaming
you will find more beautiful imagery full of fun 80’s/retro/vintage fashion styles.
There is
honestly so much to enjoy on Nancy’s social media…
Barb - Stranger Things
Scroll below to the uʍop ǝpᴉsdn to read more….
Talk us through your three Instagram
pages, what kind of content can we expect to see on each page?
So, I just have to have things organised, and as I can’t put
folders on Instagram, I just decided to make separate Instagram’s for all the
different things I like, so:
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| Robin - Stranger Things |
When did you first start cosplaying & what was
your first ever cosplay?
I first started cosplaying way back in about 2011, and
my first cosplay was hit girl from Kick ass, my best friend at the time made
the cape for me, it was pretty cool!
How long have you been a
photographer?
Photography has always been (without sounding totally
corny) a passion of mine since I was about 14. I’ve been taking photos with
anything I can get my hands on, old brick Sony Ericsson phones, old flip video
camera held together by tape, you name it.
What kind of camera are you using
right now?
I’m currently using a Nikon D7000 with a bunch of
different lenses
How much time does it take you to
edit your photos?
Depends on what type of edit I’m doing: if it’s a
“standard” edit it’ll take anywhere from 10 - 45 minutes, but if it’s a
photoshop heavy piece (like background taken out, re drawing parts etc) it
could be 2 - 7 hours
What have been some of your favourite
cosplays you’ve created so far?
My favourite cosplays I’ve done are probably:
Steve Harrington
Ash Williams
Harley Quinn and any of the monster High
ghouls
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| Ash Evil Dead Photographer Carlos Adama |
Who is someone you would love to
cosplay but haven’t done yet?
As doing a bulk load of cosplays isn’t as much a
priority anymore whilst I try to delve more into defining my photography; I
don’t have any cosplays dreams per say! However!
One of the next cosplays/ themed photo shoots I should
be doing will be Amanda Young from the first SAW movie
What kind of cosplay skills have you
learnt over the years?
Not gonna lie, not much. I can vaguely sew two pieces
of fabric together and maybe it won’t rip. Who knows!!
I think I guess wig work is one of the things I’m best
at!
Your make-up skills are amazing! Are
there any characters that you found particularly difficult to contour?
Honestly most feminine characters I want to do have a
really small nose and I very much do not. So that can be tricky!
I used to get really caught up on looking 100% like
the person but, I’ve learned it doesn’t matter as much if you have /the vibe/
of the character down, who cares whether you look like them or not. I love
contouring but? As long as I can hit a 50% margin that’s totally fine for me
Do you have any recommendations for
make-up or costume brands?
I don’t tend to do many big costume characters but,
honestly don’t knock a good Halloween costume or using a premade cosplay
website. Buying your cosplays doesn’t make you any less of a Cosplayer
either!
I’ve used pro cosplay and cosplaysky a number of
times, and you can always replace bits you don’t like if you need to amp it up
a little.
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| Casey Becker - Scream |
What’s the best item of 80’s fashion
you have found in a thrift store or online?
That’s tricky!! I used to have a pink blouse I wore
all the time when I dressed more feminine, I still have it as it’s gorgeous,
but now I have a few super cool jumpers I’m fond of!
I used to buy a lot of my stuff from vintage kilo
sales and markets, but I mainly just scour eBay and Depop with really loose
terms on the daily.
What sparked your interest in
collecting dolls and how big is your collection now?
During lockdown I didn’t have access to any models,
and I’d previously done a little bit of toy photography so I thought, I’ll buy
a “couple” so I can still take photos at home of a range of looks (who wasn’t
just me)
But as I got my first doll and honestly it
accidentally awakened something in me, and I just had to keep collecting
… now I have over 160
Oopsies!
(And I’d do it again)
Your Instagram bio says you are an attempted
Youtuber, what kind of vlogs can people expect to see if they subscribe?
I haven’t been doing it too long; I had my previous
YouTube for YEARS but I wanted a fresh start!
I’m not sure what kind of content I want up there but,
expect a range!
Artsy fartsy stuff, cosplay try ons, doll stuff, maybe
some watch alongs, vlogs and games and things, who knows?!
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| Elvira - Mistress of the Night |
If you were to pick a famous person
to play you in a movie, who would it be and why?
Honestly, she looks nothing like me but, Maya Hawke
would be great. How she acts as Robin has a lot of traits like me and she’s a
bit more tomboy, I feel like that would work the best.
As a huge Stranger Things fan, what are you hoping to
see happen in the Season 4 finale!!??
First off, I’m absolutely petrified of who they’re
going to kill off, if they touch any of the fruity four, I’m going to never
recover, so I’m hoping to see them... not die!
I would love to see the reunited scenes between hopper
and Ell, that’s going to be emotional as hell.
Have the jock having the crap beaten out of him would
be great.
Also letting Erica beat down Angela’s crappy ego would
be incredible.
Also, maybe
Just maybe
Either Steve and Eddie or Nancy and Robin smooch. Just
maybe. As long as Steve and Nancy don’t get back together as I don’t want
that.
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| Eleven - Stranger Things |
You are an extremely talented artist. What sketch are most proud of?
Thank you! And I don’t think I really have a
favourite! I enjoy them all equally as I like trying different styles every
time.
Will we see you at any conventions in
2022?
Although I’ve not totally sworn off going to a
convention for a day, I’ve gone off going to them regularly/ at all
admittedly!
I enjoy doing my cosplay pieces with friends or for
photo shoots at home.
Saying that I will be around at Manchester Megacon
with my best friend Jess next month (July)
Do you have any favourite
cosplayers/artists to follow?
I’ll use this opportunity as a good way to plug my
some of my friends:
Cosplayers:
my absolute partner in crime, we always do photo
shoots together so if you’ve been following my photography, you’ve probably
already seen her
Beyond stunning and so skilled with her contouring
makeup!! She’s got big dreams and I absolutely know she’ll succeed
I’m absolutely obsessed with Mary, her horror looks
are THE BEST, and her skill is just sublime and totally worth the wait
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| Amy Madison - Buffy |
Every single makeup look he does absolutely blow me
away, and I’ve seen him in person!! He really is really that good!!
My favourite vibe of horror is eerily beautiful, and
they nail it every time. If you saw their face on the front of an album, I
would not bat an eyelid
Also:
Brilliant collage artist. I can’t not share every
piece they make, utterly beautiful
There are too many people I want to share!!
I deliberately only follow photographers/ artists on
my art account so feel free to rummage there
But I would highly recommend looking at @beautifulbizzarremagazine’s
Instagram, it’s a good way to find new artists who create some very surreal
work
What are you most looking forward to
this year?
In my personal life I’m looking forward to learning
how to drive so I can finally start doing things as and when I want to
But in general, I look forward to small things. I have
some little events coming up, including a Stranger Things experience and
I’m SO excited to start getting out there again!
- Tascha
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| Darcy Lewis - Thor/Marvel |
A big thank
you to @Nancyvond for participating in this interview!! I’m a big fan of
her work and I was so happy she agreed to take part!
Thanks for reading!
*Unless stated all photos were taken and edited by @nancyvond @taschadear.
Writer
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