Shuri Cosplay

In my obsession with Black Panther and particularly Shuri, I started to dig more into the comics. I stumbled on Black Panther: Shuri - The Deadliest of the Species and loved it immediately. Of course, I decided to do a Shuri as the Black Panther cosplay. 

While doing my research, I realized the suits available for sale looked too much like T’Challa’s suit in the movie and I did not like that. So I decided to put together my costume as best I could and keep the aesthetics from the graphic novel. First, I bought some beads and some imitation ivory teeth horns to make the necklace. Then, I bought a black jumpsuit and I was left with the dilemma of making a cape. Now, I am not an experienced seamstress and I knew it would take me a long time to make the cape. Luckily, I have met some dope and skilled people in NYC. I reached out to my beloved friend Charles J. Johnson who is a superb designer and stylist and asked if he could make the cape for me. He said yes and the cape turned out perfect for me. The cape was made out of velvet fabric and faux fur. 

The last challenging part of making this cosplay was accessorizing. It was pretty easy to find the spear and the utility belt. I made the thigh accessories out of foam sheets, hot glue and paint. 

Finally, I bought some white body paint to do the face make up. I launched this cosplay at the seventh annual Black Comic Book Fest organized by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.