Cosplay ideas
Hmm… I haven’t felt up to extensively experimenting with it yet but I’m not thrilled with the new cosplay.com layout. It’s not as bad now as the first day when I was getting huge areas of blank space and having to scroll down for actual content but I still like the old layout better. The front page looks so cluttered and I hate the square thumbnails. -_- A bunch of my photos have gotten cropped so that my head is cut off at eye or nose level and even if we can set them ourselves, I don’t really want to have to do that for all my photos; I’ve noticed when trying to do avatars and icons in the past that a lot of photos which I love just don’t work well and look blah when cropped into a square. :-/ I really hope there’s an option to set everything back to full thumbnails.
Cosplay.com is my favorite site for gallery purposes so some of these changes seem disappointing. I think the showcase costumes and showcase images have the potential to be interesting if there’s variety though. I haven’t found the time to regularly browse the galleries lately so it could be a way to see some cool costumes that I’ve missed.
Making a bit of progress on the Sarah costume. I’ve been working on the armwarmers but need to get new faux fur to finish them and the underskirt. I’ve been doing the white edging with ½ in. sequin trim and it’s come out pretty well even with all the angles I had to turn. This should be fun to wear when it’s done. :-)
And it’s been a while since I’ve done this so I thought I’d do a new cosplay ideas list. I only average about 4 costumes a year so I know I won’t get to all of these this year and some might just get dropped if I find other things I’d rather make.
Valentine’s final episode dress from Gankutsuou
I like the unique artwork from this series and all the crazy patterns seem like they would be fun to do. I like Valentine’s dress from the last episode and it would give me a costume where I’m not buried under tons of fabric! (I always seem to like the elaborate outfits with multiple layers and could really use a couple of outfits that aren’t so heavy for summer. ^_^;) Bought a wig for this a couple of months back and need to cut bangs into it. It’s not in this pic but I’d like to take a stab at making the parasol that goes with the outfit, too. That looks like it could be an interesting challenge.
Ekatarina’s disguise outfit from Le Chevalier D’Eon
Yes, I want to cosplay Catherine the Great! XD I really liked her role in the story and although it’s simpler than a lot of other outfits in this series, this is the one I’d like to cosplay most. I doubt I’ll wear the mask and veiled hat all the time but they should be helpful for unphotogenic days or if I’m just feeling lazy about doing makeup. XD; I’ve already got a wig I can use for this after I cut some bangs into it. Fall or winter would probably be best for this since I’m thinking I’ll do it in wool.
Sora’s Saiyuki princess costume from Kaleido Star
This was supposed to be for AnimeNext ’07 but got postponed since I was running short on time. ^_^; I have the sleeves done but I need a new wig since the one I tried to dye didn’t come out very well and has frizzed from my repeated attempts to fix it. I’d still like to do this costume sometime because it’s my favorite of Sora’s costumes. But I’m feeling kind of discouraged since I need to scrap the wig and start over with that. Plus, a few of the hot fix sequins I used to do extra embellishment on the sleeves have fallen off (this kind of thing is why I don’t trust adhesives most of the time). And the big bells I bought for the headdress have discolored and don’t match now. -_-;
Count D artbook outfits from Petshop of Horrors
I have a few more D costumes that I’ve considered making but these 2 from the artbook are my favorites. I think I’m more likely to get around to the kimono first since the thought of trying to do all those butterfly designs is daunting because I’m not that great with painting/artwork. ^_^; (I know you can get butterfly brocade but the designs wouldn’t be nearly that large.) I’ll probably save these for fall or later since I’ve done so many D outfits already and could use some variety.
Lili’s ballgown from Zodiac P.I.
I made a huge petticoat 3 years ago and have been meaning to do this dress since then but keep putting it off, partly because it’s going to be a pain to travel with that huge petticoat. :-/ Plus, the series seems really unknown. With some of my other rarely cosplayed series, I can at least find another character to take pics with once in a while; but I did Lili's detective costume as one of my first cosplays and I've still never seen anyone else cosplay from this manga. I suppose I should still do it sometime since I have fabric picked out and always wanted to do a big poofy ballgown.
Youko’s anime guide cover outfit from the Twelve Kingdoms
I love The Twelve Kingdoms and Youko is one of my favorite characters but I’m not crazy about any of her anime outfits. I like this pic from the anime guide but it’s kind of Amano-like in its vagueness so I have to see when I feel like sitting down and really trying to figure out what she’s wearing.
Stained glass fairy (original)
I bought this great fabric without any particular project in mind. I think it could be nice for an original fairy design though. Haven’t tried to sketch anything out but I’m kind of picturing layered handkerchief hem skirts in that fabric and a corset with alternating panels of the fabric and plain black. And wings using more of the fabric. It’d be a good opportunity to learn how to make a corset (yeah, I’ve never made one before even after sewing for so many years ^_^;) and a proper pair of wings (haven’t really done that either although I probably still have a crocheted pair from ages ago hanging around somewhere). But it’s not a high priority project because I don’t know when I’d wear it and transporting wings could be hard since I don’t drive. Maybe, Costume Con when it’s in Baltimore for 2009?
Quilt-themed costume (original)
I saw this book advertised in a magazine and thought it might be interesting to make a costume based on the origami quilting techniques. I haven’t seen a copy of the book yet so this is only in the concept stage at the moment. I think it’ll have a poofy skirt but I’m not sure what I want to do for the top; I think it’ll lean more towards cute and whimsical though. (Although it might not seem obvious from the costumes I usually do, I like cute and whimsical too!) Like the stained glass fairy, it’s not high priority since I don’t really know when I’d wear this.
Classic 1930s Nancy Drew
I’ve been a Nancy Drew fan since 3rd grade so I think it might be fun to cosplay her sometime. Since her appearance differs so much over decades of book covers though, I think I’d have to be 1930s Nancy to even be remotely recognizable. I should probably have the clock from the first book, too. I’ve had the idea for a year or two but it’s low priority since I don’t know when I’d wear it. I’d say Halloween but I since I never actually have any parties to go to, I don’t think it’s worth making a costume especially for the occasion. ^_^; NY Comic Con if I still bother to go?