Syl: Footwear Ideas

My cosplay character, Sylphrena from the Stormlight Archive could be described as a wind spirit. She usually is flying around in the air and flitting about like a butter fly. Her hair is long and fades into mist at the ends, like whisps of clouds.

Typically, Syl does not wear shoes in the books. Brandon Sanderson describes Syl several times with bare feet and this poses a cosplay problem.

Shoes are required at conventions, and I prefer to wear shoes. But I didn’t like the idea of buying clear plastic shoes. I thought about some sparkly ballet flats, or some strappy heels, but that didn’t fit Syl’s personality in my opinion. It would have been fine, but then I decided to ask myself an important question. If Sylphrena were to select footwear, what kind of shoes would she pick?

After some brainstorming, I think she’d choose Converse All Stars. Gotta love that spunk for my lovely Syl cosplay.

Often times, when there is a problem to solve, or something that is “non canon” with a character that I want to do, I will embrace it and try to turn the prop or element into a main feature.

Sure it’s a deviation, but I like exploring and coloring outside the lines so to speak.

Now, leatherworking means the ability to customize almost anything fashion wise. One trend that I wanted to try is making custom Chuck Taylor shoes. Western Leather Carved panels are sewn onto the tennis shoes, making a neat look that includes initials and floral elements, or important symbols that matter to the wearer.

So here I am, mashing up these two ideas. My character would wear Chucks, and I’m going to make them fit the lore and style, solving my footwear problem at the same time!