Hello, hello! Today I’m sharing a super simple Jester Lavorre cosplay tutorial based on the recent costume I put together for the Sydney Oz Comic-Con Pop-Up 2021. This Critical Role (from the mind of Laura Bailey) inspired character cosplay was a lot of fun to make and could honestly be done pretty easily by cosplayers of all skill levels. I’m a beginner myself, so it goes to show that you can make amazing stuff if you use a little imagination and a little help from friends. Enjoy…
Fjord and Jester cosplay pics
Ok, so to start with, here’s the finished look (along with character reference images for those who don’t follow Critical Role)! I will preface this by saying yes, I am acutely aware of how utterly ✨ f u c k e d ✨ the blue body paint is. Lesson learned – next time we buy good quality makeup instead of $5 stuff from Spotlight that’s made for small areas instead of full face and body. Our bad.
My partner was involved so we obviously went with the couple cosplay Fjorester look. His Fjord cosplay is bloody phenomenal, especially the pact blade. Look at it! He’s the absolute best…*swoon*.
Oh, and we found a Yasha! Her portrayal of everyone’s favourite sweet Orphan Maker was amazing 😍
UPDATE: I’ve added a few new images below of version 2 of this cosplay which included MUCH better face makeup and some arm sleevies. We just bought stockings, sewed the feet into hands and glued on some pre-pained fingernails.
Image is official Critical Role artwork. 
Image is official Critical Role artwork.
Jester Lavorre cosplay costume overview
Now, when I say this was a simple costume to make, I don’t mean it was ready to go in 5 minutes. I mean, it took a lot less time than expected, and ended up being maybe only 7-8 hours if you count the body paint application. So, compared to previous cosplays, it didn’t take much time at all.
This relatively simple Jester cosplay consisted of:
- Black tiefling horns
- Green cape
- White top with flowy pink sleeves
- Blue and pink skirt
- Brown corset
- Brown belt
- Traveler symbol on string of pearls
- Brown boots
- Blue tiefling tail
- Jewellery
- Spiritual Weapon lollipop
Here are the nitty gritty details and advice as to how you can replicate this look yourself without too much effort…
Jester Lavorre cosplay tips, materials and process
Black tiefling horns
Firstly, you have to find yourself a headband that isn’t going to give you a headache after a full day of wearing it (which is half the battle, really). I think I just picked up the headband I used from a cheap shop like Hot Dollar or something. They already had little cat ears on them that were shaped with wire so I used those as the base positioning for the horns.
Then, you grab two pieces of thin but sturdy wiring and make the general shape of the horns, wrapping excess around the headband base to secure – see below…
Next up is the alfoil. Basically, you take a bunch of alfoil and go to town wrapping it around the wire so it forms the shape of the horns. Use a reference image for this if it’s your first time. The thickness of the horns can be tricky to get right. Once you’ve got the shape you like, go over the alfoil with masking tape to create a layer that’s paintable and to even out the texture…
Next up is painting them black (observe the coat hanger + pipe-cleaner paint-drying contraption I assembled below) and finishing with any other decorative stuff you want to do. Jester has little silver tips on her horns, as well as some silver jewellery that runs from her horns to her earrings. I did the silver tips (made from plastic sleeves cut into semi circles and rolled into tips) but not the jewellery. Maybe that will be on the cards for next time though…
Green cape
This one was pretty simple. I have a friend, Shannon, who is an amazing seamstress (and artist) who helped me make all the sewing related bits and pieces. She pretty much just draped the cape material over my shoulders, cut it to shape, then hemmed it off.
The material was such a lucky find at my local St Vinnies. It was literally a bedsheet that was the perfect colour for the cape.
White top with flowy pink sleeves
Again, St Vinnies bringing the goods. The top was a secondhand find, as well as the pink scarf (yes, scarf) I used for the flowy sleeves. Now, the scarf isn’t exactly the colour or pattern of Jester’s official sleeves but boy howdy, the material was such a pretty pink I couldn’t pass it up.
We cut the scarf in half, then Shannon used a gathering technique to sew them onto the arms of the top to get the beautiful flowy look.
Blue and pink skirt
This turned out so spectacularly amazing that I cannot thank Shannon enough for her help in making it. Again, all materials were thrifted – blue bedsheets plus a pink floral tablecloth from the local Vinnies. Such a score.
Shannon used a generic half circle skirt pattern and she did the pink inserts off the top of her head. From what I could tell, she just cut two slits where the pink inserts needed to fall, measured and cut the pink fabric in strips to fit, then attached them.
Then we added elastic to the skirt to get the gathered look and to make sure we got the fit right without spending too much time having to add a zipper or buttons.
Shannon wanted me to share this handy measurement calculator for the half circle skirt with you all too 😊
Brown corset
Literally this was like $5 on Wish or something, so it’ll take about 3.5 years to arrive, but it has served me well with a Lup (The Adventure Zone) cosplay in the past and I’m sure it will serve me well with many future cosplays too. It’s elasticised with a velcro fastener. Seriously comfortable and easy to take on and off.
I’m pretty sure this is it.
Brown belt
Another op shop score. Seriously, don’t be afraid to hit up your local op shops for cosplay items. You’d be surprised by the stuff you can find there for such a small cost compared to buying actual cosplay outfits and props online.
Traveler symbol on string of pearls
Ad had purchased some EVA foam for his Fjord armour so I used a little bit of the foam scraps to fashion a Traveler symbol (have you heard of The Traveler – he’s a pretty cool guy?), then picked up a few pearls and fishing line from my local craft store (Spotlight). It was simple enough to cut, glue and paint all the bits and pieces. The stick-on jewels can be found in any old cheap shop.
Brown boots
The boots were a $20 Facebook Marketplace find and were absolutely perfect for the look I was going for. If you can’t find anything suitable at your local op shop or on FB Marketplace, the basic knee-length, flat, dark brown boot style isn’t too hard to find in stores like Betts or even Spendless.
Blue tiefling tail
Now, this one was suuuuper stressful bcause I had no idea how I was going to make it until I came across some cat tails in a costume shop and then it all came together. I just took 2x short cat-style costume tails with wire inside them to allow them to be bent to shape. I sewed them together to create a longer tail, sewed the blue fabric around them, shaped the fork out of EVA foam and sewed around it too. Then the pink ribbon was added to be able to tie it around my waist. The corset hid the ribbon at the front but the cute pink bow popped out at the back for a little flair.
It may be a little rough sewing-wise, but it did what I needed it to do.
Jewellery
This was mix of stuff that I’d already accumulated at home, plus a few new bits and pieces I found while op shopping. I LOVE the blue sapphire-style earrings and will probably wear them outside of the cosplay.
I really wanted to use the gold cloak clasp pictured but I couldn’t figure out how it was supposed to fasten! Any ideas? Let me know. It was lucky that I still had the super pretty diamante-style one from a friend’s wedding to use instead.
Spiritual Weapon lollipop
This was the pièce de résistance of the entire cosplay. It consists of insulation foam from Bunnings (which I wrote a separate blog post about recently), Gorilla glue, acrylic paint, a thin pipe and one smol bow.
Check out the process in picture form…
Here are some bonus Fjord sword process pics too…
And that, my friends, is pretty much everything! Oh, the only other thing you should need is a blue wig – I went all in and coloured/cut my hair to suit the cosplay but if you’re not about to cut off your locks for the sake of art and fashun, you can easily pick up a short blue wig online. Here’s a simple one I found with a quick Google search for $15 that can easily be styled to suit.
I was going to print out some little Traveler pamphlets and shape them into origami dicks in true Jester style (image below), but I ran out of time. Next con though, that’s what you’ve got to look forward to. Ad and I should be out and about as Jester and Fjord at the Sydney Comic Con event in September 2021 so keep an eye out for us there!
I hope this was a helpful cosplay tutorial for Critical Role fans and cosplayers. I know it’s not the most fancy or best looking rendition out there but it’s a simple look that can be achieved relatively easily by op shopping and crafting items from general hardware/craft store materials.
No matter what, cosplay is meant to be enjoyable – if it’s something you love, go out and do it, no matter what other people say!
Some of my best memories of the past few years have come out of cosplaying at various cons like Comic Con and Supanova so I highly recommend trying it out.
There’s a cosplay for every fandom and a fandom for every cosplay 😊
That’s all for now and thanks for reading,
Kates
I documented a super fun all-girls D&D session from early 2019 that I was lucky to get in before Covid hit. Lose yourself in The Wizards of Wine Winery Adventure!
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