Future cons and cosplay ideas
Now that I’ve finished with Otakon pictures and stuff, I guess I’ll do a post about future cons and costume ideas. I should be attending MangaNext in October and will just commute for it since it’s nearby and a smaller con. Costume-wise, that will mean simpler outfits that I can travel in or easily change into after I get there. I’ll definitely do Fruits Basket at least one day. Should be my last con for this year. Next year, I’ll be going to AnimeNext as usual and probably to NY Comic Con for a day. Not sure about anything else yet.
And now for future cosplay possibilities… There are some repeats from the list I did towards the end of last year but some things have dropped and some others have been added. I’ll list the outfits but I guess I should stick my pictures and ramblings about each costume idea under lj-cuts.
Ayame’s parent teacher conference outfit from the Fruits Basket manga
I had been thinking of doing another Ayame costume since I already have the wig from my first and wanted to do this one as soon as I saw it. I think I’ll go with a more conventional color scheme for him this time; I love my black brocade coat but the color puzzled some people since he usually wears red in the anime. XD; So, I’m thinking dark red with gold trim for the coat and black with gold flowers for the ruffly shirt/skirt thing he has underneath; black dress pants can just be pulled out of my wardrobe. Not sure what color it’ll be but I want to have the huge bouquet of roses, too. It would be simpler to just buy artificial flowers from a crafts store but I sort of want to try making my own. Something like the ribbon roses that can be found in some gift shops in Chinatown. I’ve been curious about how to make them so this could be my excuse to finally learn! *laugh*
Since it’s a manga costume, I’ll try to work on it for MangaNext. I don’t know if I’m up to doing the coat within the next 2 months though. I think I’ll try to have the inner layer done and just wear that without the coat since it looks like it’d be fancy enough on its own. Then, I’ll work on the coat for next year instead of having to rush again.
Sora’s Saiyuki princess outfit from Kaleido Star
This one is my favorite of Sora’s costumes so far and I’d really like to do it for next year since I love the show but haven’t cosplayed from it yet. I’ll probably get some sparkly materials for this since it’s supposed to be a circus costume. The boot covers look like they’re going to be tricky but hopefully, I’ll be able to figure them out. Sora’s hair is an odd shade so I’m thinking I’ll need to get a purple wig and add some pink or red dye to it to get it a more accurate color. Will need to get a flesh-colored top to wear under it, too, since I don’t want my stomach actually showing. ^_^;
Count D from Pet Shop of Horrors
I haven’t read all of this series yet but I’m considering it since Count D amuses me so much between his addiction to sweets and his bickering with Leon who is always giving him grief for wearing “dresses” all the time. XD (It’s actually pretty darn funny for something that’s supposed to be a horror manga.)
He has a different outfit every chapter and sometimes even two, so there’s plenty to choose from. The flowers on the first one remind me of some things I saw in a silk ribbon embroidery book that I got years ago but never used much. Might be fun to do them as stitchery. (I must be crazy to be thinking about taking on another costume project involving such extensive embroidery so soon after the Terra evening gown. ^_^;;;;;) The sleeves look like they’d be fun, too. Not sure about colors for this. Pastels, I guess since the main part of the robe isn’t shaded at all. This might be a nice outfit to do for the cherry blossom festival next year.
The second one is actually supposed to be one of Count D’s ancestors although they all look freakishly alike. I like this one but I don’t know if it would be the most interesting to do. It looks like a lot of sewing but not particularly difficult, except maybe for the pieces over the shoulders. A profile shows the skirt as being 4 layers, too. And I thought my existing costumes were already bad about layers… o_o;; This would probably only be suitable for a winter con if I did want to do it.
The last one with the snowflakes wasn’t as interesting but there seems to be gradient dyeing on the skirt, which I haven’t done before. (Lately, I’ve been trying to do costumes where I can experiment with a new technique or two.) And I had some stamping ideas that might be interesting to experiment with for the snowflakes on the jacket.
One thing I sort of wonder is exactly what color Count D's hair and eyes should be. On the manga covers, his hair has been green, blue, purple, and gray/black with mismatched eyes (one yellow, one purplish). Guess the artist just couldn’t decide! In the text though, he has been described as having pitch black hair and obsidian eyes (despite still seeming to have one light and one dark eye in the chapters.) Oh, well. I suppose the eyes are a moot point for me anyway since I never get special contacts for costumes because my toric prescription makes them so expensive.
Mellow the fish from Pet Shop of Horrors
The “pets” from Pet Shop of Horrors tend to have beautiful human forms so I’d thought about doing one of those, too. I kind of like Mellow the fish since I think it might be fun to have all of that billowy fabric flying around. XD I kind of picture her in yellows and oranges and lots of sheer fabrics.
Lili’s ballgown from Zodiac P.I.
One thing I still have yet to do is make a big, poofy, period gown-looking costume although I’ve wanted to try something of the kind for years. I did Lili’s detective costume as my second cosplay back in 2004 and meant to do this outfit also but it has just kept getting pushed back. ^_^;; I actually made the petticoat for it about a year and a half ago. But I ended up with only 6 weeks to AnimeNext by the time I finished my other costume and didn’t want to attempt the gown with so little time. And other costumes have just kept coming up.
I already have pale blue brocade purchased for the main part of the gown but can’t seem to find a darker floral trim that I like to go with it. The skirt doesn’t look like it would be very difficult, other than figuring out the right shape to cut the fabric so that it will fit over the petticoat. The bodice will be the more difficult part but probably will be easier now that I’ve had some practice putting in boning on my Terra gown.
I’m not really sure when this is going to be done. I don’t think I’m going to be able to take it further than AnimeNext though unless I get my father to travel with me again. The petticoat is just too huge to transport without a car. Around 18 yards of netting, about a yard wide at the base, and stiff enough to stand on its own… As someone on cosplay.com put it, it’s big enough to eat small children! XD; Even squished down, it still fills a very large bag.
Youko’s white outfit from the cover of the Juuni Kokki anime guide
Youko is one of my favorite characters from The Twelve Kingdoms but I haven’t cosplayed her yet since I don’t really like any of her anime outfits. I like this white one from the cover of the anime guide but it’s rather abstract and will take some thinking to figure out exactly what it’s supposed to look like. I have a vague idea that involves lots of embroidery for the green designs though. Probably won’t even start this one for at least another year because of other costumes I want to do first.
*looks over list* And once again, all fairly complex outfits (and a lot of obscure stuff, too ^_^;). I think if I want another simple costume that would be more comfortable to wear for summer cons, I’d need to do an outfit that I don’t love as much. That’s partly how my Tohru sundress and Namine costume both happened. ^_^;; Not that I dislike those costumes, they just weren’t close to the top of my list of things to make but got made anyway due to a whim and having fabric on hand.
And now for future cosplay possibilities… There are some repeats from the list I did towards the end of last year but some things have dropped and some others have been added. I’ll list the outfits but I guess I should stick my pictures and ramblings about each costume idea under lj-cuts.
Ayame’s parent teacher conference outfit from the Fruits Basket manga
I had been thinking of doing another Ayame costume since I already have the wig from my first and wanted to do this one as soon as I saw it. I think I’ll go with a more conventional color scheme for him this time; I love my black brocade coat but the color puzzled some people since he usually wears red in the anime. XD; So, I’m thinking dark red with gold trim for the coat and black with gold flowers for the ruffly shirt/skirt thing he has underneath; black dress pants can just be pulled out of my wardrobe. Not sure what color it’ll be but I want to have the huge bouquet of roses, too. It would be simpler to just buy artificial flowers from a crafts store but I sort of want to try making my own. Something like the ribbon roses that can be found in some gift shops in Chinatown. I’ve been curious about how to make them so this could be my excuse to finally learn! *laugh*
Since it’s a manga costume, I’ll try to work on it for MangaNext. I don’t know if I’m up to doing the coat within the next 2 months though. I think I’ll try to have the inner layer done and just wear that without the coat since it looks like it’d be fancy enough on its own. Then, I’ll work on the coat for next year instead of having to rush again.
Sora’s Saiyuki princess outfit from Kaleido Star
This one is my favorite of Sora’s costumes so far and I’d really like to do it for next year since I love the show but haven’t cosplayed from it yet. I’ll probably get some sparkly materials for this since it’s supposed to be a circus costume. The boot covers look like they’re going to be tricky but hopefully, I’ll be able to figure them out. Sora’s hair is an odd shade so I’m thinking I’ll need to get a purple wig and add some pink or red dye to it to get it a more accurate color. Will need to get a flesh-colored top to wear under it, too, since I don’t want my stomach actually showing. ^_^;
Count D from Pet Shop of Horrors
I haven’t read all of this series yet but I’m considering it since Count D amuses me so much between his addiction to sweets and his bickering with Leon who is always giving him grief for wearing “dresses” all the time. XD (It’s actually pretty darn funny for something that’s supposed to be a horror manga.)
He has a different outfit every chapter and sometimes even two, so there’s plenty to choose from. The flowers on the first one remind me of some things I saw in a silk ribbon embroidery book that I got years ago but never used much. Might be fun to do them as stitchery. (I must be crazy to be thinking about taking on another costume project involving such extensive embroidery so soon after the Terra evening gown. ^_^;;;;;) The sleeves look like they’d be fun, too. Not sure about colors for this. Pastels, I guess since the main part of the robe isn’t shaded at all. This might be a nice outfit to do for the cherry blossom festival next year.
The second one is actually supposed to be one of Count D’s ancestors although they all look freakishly alike. I like this one but I don’t know if it would be the most interesting to do. It looks like a lot of sewing but not particularly difficult, except maybe for the pieces over the shoulders. A profile shows the skirt as being 4 layers, too. And I thought my existing costumes were already bad about layers… o_o;; This would probably only be suitable for a winter con if I did want to do it.
The last one with the snowflakes wasn’t as interesting but there seems to be gradient dyeing on the skirt, which I haven’t done before. (Lately, I’ve been trying to do costumes where I can experiment with a new technique or two.) And I had some stamping ideas that might be interesting to experiment with for the snowflakes on the jacket.
One thing I sort of wonder is exactly what color Count D's hair and eyes should be. On the manga covers, his hair has been green, blue, purple, and gray/black with mismatched eyes (one yellow, one purplish). Guess the artist just couldn’t decide! In the text though, he has been described as having pitch black hair and obsidian eyes (despite still seeming to have one light and one dark eye in the chapters.) Oh, well. I suppose the eyes are a moot point for me anyway since I never get special contacts for costumes because my toric prescription makes them so expensive.
Mellow the fish from Pet Shop of Horrors
The “pets” from Pet Shop of Horrors tend to have beautiful human forms so I’d thought about doing one of those, too. I kind of like Mellow the fish since I think it might be fun to have all of that billowy fabric flying around. XD I kind of picture her in yellows and oranges and lots of sheer fabrics.
Lili’s ballgown from Zodiac P.I.
One thing I still have yet to do is make a big, poofy, period gown-looking costume although I’ve wanted to try something of the kind for years. I did Lili’s detective costume as my second cosplay back in 2004 and meant to do this outfit also but it has just kept getting pushed back. ^_^;; I actually made the petticoat for it about a year and a half ago. But I ended up with only 6 weeks to AnimeNext by the time I finished my other costume and didn’t want to attempt the gown with so little time. And other costumes have just kept coming up.
I already have pale blue brocade purchased for the main part of the gown but can’t seem to find a darker floral trim that I like to go with it. The skirt doesn’t look like it would be very difficult, other than figuring out the right shape to cut the fabric so that it will fit over the petticoat. The bodice will be the more difficult part but probably will be easier now that I’ve had some practice putting in boning on my Terra gown.
I’m not really sure when this is going to be done. I don’t think I’m going to be able to take it further than AnimeNext though unless I get my father to travel with me again. The petticoat is just too huge to transport without a car. Around 18 yards of netting, about a yard wide at the base, and stiff enough to stand on its own… As someone on cosplay.com put it, it’s big enough to eat small children! XD; Even squished down, it still fills a very large bag.
Youko’s white outfit from the cover of the Juuni Kokki anime guide
Youko is one of my favorite characters from The Twelve Kingdoms but I haven’t cosplayed her yet since I don’t really like any of her anime outfits. I like this white one from the cover of the anime guide but it’s rather abstract and will take some thinking to figure out exactly what it’s supposed to look like. I have a vague idea that involves lots of embroidery for the green designs though. Probably won’t even start this one for at least another year because of other costumes I want to do first.
*looks over list* And once again, all fairly complex outfits (and a lot of obscure stuff, too ^_^;). I think if I want another simple costume that would be more comfortable to wear for summer cons, I’d need to do an outfit that I don’t love as much. That’s partly how my Tohru sundress and Namine costume both happened. ^_^;; Not that I dislike those costumes, they just weren’t close to the top of my list of things to make but got made anyway due to a whim and having fabric on hand.