First worn: Wonder Con 2009
I remember watching G.I. Joe when I was very young, but back then I had no interest in the series and only watched it occasionally because my mom liked it and because it was on before Transformers or something. Maybe it wasn’t colorful enough for me. And Lady Jaye (my mom’s favorite) was not feminine enough for me.
At some point my friend Lionel was talking about how much he loved the G.I. Joe movie as a kid, and then lent me the movie. Lionel told me I should cosplay Scarlett. I was lukewarm about the idea. She was the series’ token feminine character, but that’s not saying a whole lot. I didn’t remember much about her from watching the series as a kid, and I didn’t particularly like her outfit or hair, which I was pretty sure would look awful on me. Then I looked her up and read about the G.I. Joe comics. WAIT…. THIS LADY IS ENGAGED TO SNAKE EYES?! I LOVE SNAKE EYES!! In that moment, I was sold. The more I read about the two characters, the more I came to love them Actually… I was a little obsessed for a while. And started buying the comics. I came to really appreciate this tough lady and her love for the scarred, mute man who saved her life. Also, Scarlett has a black belt in Taekwon-Do, just like me!
I made the cartoon version of the outfit, but ended up going with bright colors as seen in some comic book images, because that was the best I could find. As I feared, this isn’t a very flattering outfit on me, but I did my best… for the love of Snake Eyes. XD I joined a group of G.I. Joe cosplayers and we’ve done some AMAZING epic photo shoots together, including shoots on submarines and aircraft carriers, which is super awesome. It makes me really glad I got back into G.I. Joe. But I got tired of looking like a superhero and sticking out like a sore thumb with my bright colors, SO this version is retired and I’m going to remake it in more subdued colors. Maybe I’ll do the comic book version too, with all the belt pouches~
YO JOE!!
My mom LOVED watching GI Joe when I was little… I watched it because it was on before Transformers. Honestly I think I was too young to appreciate the series at the time, but now that I’m older I love it (and I’m part of a big GI Joe costuming group <3). I like Scarlett, but even more I LOVE SNAKE EYES. My friend Lionel suggested I cosplay Scarlett, and at the time I was only familiar with the original cartoon and thought ohhh I don’t know, it isn’t really a flattering costume. Then I did some research on the comic, and found out that Scarlett and Snake Eyes were an item… that was all the convincing I needed. And the more I familiarized myself with the universe and characters, I more I found I do actually like Scarlett. I’m getting tired of the spandex and looking like a superhero though, so I’m hoping to throw together a Renegades Scarlett soon — this new redesign is a good compromise between looking like original superheroish design and looking like someone who might ACTUALLY belong in the military. Eventually I want to make the America’s Elite version of Scarlett, as it’s my favorite one — the costume is just so cool. I really liked Sigma 6 too (it’s like a GI Joe anime!), but it’s kind of obscure… that one is a maybe.