Canas: COMPLETE!
Canas is done! All together and ready to go.
Forgive the four-day growth of beard.
Yes, that is Mokou hanging off the doorknob!
Not everything is attached yet - I haven't actually cut the seude strips for the wrists and legs (they're just tied on, no work required), and I'm not wearing the shoes I will be with the costume (Caesar's boots), nor do I have the chain for the glasses, nor is my hair the right colour (it's going to be dark purple). Still, I'm satisfied!
Mokou is roughly 95% done. Only reason that I'm not done her is that I need to get more ribbon. Early trip tomorrow. The wig has been "styled", I need to tie in four of the ribbons, and then attach the last two to the shoes.
That said, I am almost certainly going to want to redo certain aspects of both costumes. For Canas, I'm just going to want to change the clips to a zipper. Quick fix, but not one I want to do with just one day left.
As for Mokou....
Next time I do a wig cosplay, or when I remake Mokou's wig for the next con I'm at (AUSA? Youma? Something else in between?), I'm going to want to sit down with someone who knows what he or she is doing and get some serious instruction.
See, much of what I do for cosplay is take what I have picked up in the past, plus a bit of instructions from others, and then make the rest of the process up as I go along. I take whatever tools I have on hand, my knowledge, and whatever instinct it is I have in me for this, and the magic just flows from my fingertips.
For whatever reason, this works best for me. Draco was almost entirely intuitive, for example; other than Grandpa showing me how to use the rivet gun and arc welder, and Pop Pop suggesting me ways to build in hinges, I did the entire thing entirely a priori - from first principles, with no instruction. Ran's tails were the product of a single vague suggestion from lindensphinx, warped and altered beyond belief, tossed by silversliver for vetting, and then built straight out of hand. Canas, Mokou, and Cid were entirely my own, excepting Canas's cape, for which yen_san provided me the pointer I needed.
Thing is, I'm used to this. I make a lot of what I do up as I go along. Not because I loathe advance planning, but because I'm so used to being able to apply my fearsome talents to virtually any problem that faces me (other than personal problems, where everything deserts me) and come up with a solution - on the spot - that works. Thinking on my feet got me into the Innocence Project and onto the Jessup Cup team. It landed me both of my independant studies. And so forth. Not that I make up facts or anything - just that my mind works so quickly that I can draw the connections and be moving on them with lightning speed. It's what has allowed me to become an effective teacher, especially for the program that I'm in now.
This time, however, this failed me. Not that the result is awful. It's just...of a much lower caliber than I'm used to turning out with my costumes. I'm sure it'll hold together through Otakon, but I dunno about beyond that. I know next to nothing about the care and feeding of wigs, and I'm really not sure that it's going to be any good a few months down the road.
Of course, there is another aspect I'm not satisfied with about Mokou's wig: the reason I use the materials I do, and the reasons I have most of the peculier prejudices in cosplay that I do goes back to certain attributes that are so deeply-ingrained into me that they might as well be hard-wired: I am very, very, very hard on my things, and I value durability as a result.
It's not that I intentionally destroy them, but I am occasionally negligent, and I definitely work them hard. Just ask my car (155,000 miles since I got her, still going strong), or my previous laptop (80+% useage rate over 5 years, Brian still can't figure out how the hell it is still functional). And since growing up, we didn't have the money to be replacing things every time I broke them, I learned to value durability very highly. When I go to buy something, I want it to be able to stand up to me. I'll pay the extra for the durability, knowing that the 25% or 40% more I pay for the tougher product will repay itself many times over during the life of the product. And the same has embodied itself in my cosplay work; I don't want to go to con and be worried that the slightest movement is going to wreck something.
Also explains all the hardcovers I own - I shun paperbacks for authors I really like, not because of style, but because I know they'll get read - lots.
The first cosplays I actually *did* (Vantarbre and Ginny - with help, yes), were done with cost as the primary consideration, as per the other person's philosophy. Result? Ginny didn't last the con. Vantarbre is a piece of junk with the relevant parts (belt, tabard) barely holding together - and it's only been worn a couple of times! Compare with my cosplays now: Ran could be *properly* rebuilt with a couple hours' work, Youki is so tough that he'll still be together 10 years from now, Balthier just needs some new stitching to cover up dye bleeding and is otherwise intact, Akihiko is in perfect shape after 2+ years, Cid's in great shape, Mokou and Canas are both virtually indestructable, Apollo's in great form, and Draco shows no injury at all.
Hence why I also use the materials I do. It also means that when I go to con, I literally do not have to worry about anything going wrong; it's built to last. Unless a frigging continent falls on me, I'm going to emerge from anything else totally intact.
But Mokou's wig is probably going to fail this test, at least as-is. I just want it to last the con, so I can come back to it later and do it right.
Fortunately, I have very little left to do costume-wise tomorrow:
* Run to the Jo-Anne's up on DE-92 and get the ribbon that everyone else is out of (I hope they have it!), as well as another pair of mitten clips
* Attach the mitten clips to the armlets I've made.
* Make the last six new ribbons.
* Attach four of them to the wig.
* Attach the other two to the shoes I bought. Frankly, this is so easy and unassuming that I can do it at any time.
* Clean up some of this mess I call a room.
* Pack for con
* I've an old friend I need to talk to, if I can just stop being out (or needing three hands) when she comes on.
Forgive the four-day growth of beard.
Yes, that is Mokou hanging off the doorknob!
Not everything is attached yet - I haven't actually cut the seude strips for the wrists and legs (they're just tied on, no work required), and I'm not wearing the shoes I will be with the costume (Caesar's boots), nor do I have the chain for the glasses, nor is my hair the right colour (it's going to be dark purple). Still, I'm satisfied!
Mokou is roughly 95% done. Only reason that I'm not done her is that I need to get more ribbon. Early trip tomorrow. The wig has been "styled", I need to tie in four of the ribbons, and then attach the last two to the shoes.
That said, I am almost certainly going to want to redo certain aspects of both costumes. For Canas, I'm just going to want to change the clips to a zipper. Quick fix, but not one I want to do with just one day left.
As for Mokou....
Next time I do a wig cosplay, or when I remake Mokou's wig for the next con I'm at (AUSA? Youma? Something else in between?), I'm going to want to sit down with someone who knows what he or she is doing and get some serious instruction.
See, much of what I do for cosplay is take what I have picked up in the past, plus a bit of instructions from others, and then make the rest of the process up as I go along. I take whatever tools I have on hand, my knowledge, and whatever instinct it is I have in me for this, and the magic just flows from my fingertips.
For whatever reason, this works best for me. Draco was almost entirely intuitive, for example; other than Grandpa showing me how to use the rivet gun and arc welder, and Pop Pop suggesting me ways to build in hinges, I did the entire thing entirely a priori - from first principles, with no instruction. Ran's tails were the product of a single vague suggestion from lindensphinx, warped and altered beyond belief, tossed by silversliver for vetting, and then built straight out of hand. Canas, Mokou, and Cid were entirely my own, excepting Canas's cape, for which yen_san provided me the pointer I needed.
Thing is, I'm used to this. I make a lot of what I do up as I go along. Not because I loathe advance planning, but because I'm so used to being able to apply my fearsome talents to virtually any problem that faces me (other than personal problems, where everything deserts me) and come up with a solution - on the spot - that works. Thinking on my feet got me into the Innocence Project and onto the Jessup Cup team. It landed me both of my independant studies. And so forth. Not that I make up facts or anything - just that my mind works so quickly that I can draw the connections and be moving on them with lightning speed. It's what has allowed me to become an effective teacher, especially for the program that I'm in now.
This time, however, this failed me. Not that the result is awful. It's just...of a much lower caliber than I'm used to turning out with my costumes. I'm sure it'll hold together through Otakon, but I dunno about beyond that. I know next to nothing about the care and feeding of wigs, and I'm really not sure that it's going to be any good a few months down the road.
Of course, there is another aspect I'm not satisfied with about Mokou's wig: the reason I use the materials I do, and the reasons I have most of the peculier prejudices in cosplay that I do goes back to certain attributes that are so deeply-ingrained into me that they might as well be hard-wired: I am very, very, very hard on my things, and I value durability as a result.
It's not that I intentionally destroy them, but I am occasionally negligent, and I definitely work them hard. Just ask my car (155,000 miles since I got her, still going strong), or my previous laptop (80+% useage rate over 5 years, Brian still can't figure out how the hell it is still functional). And since growing up, we didn't have the money to be replacing things every time I broke them, I learned to value durability very highly. When I go to buy something, I want it to be able to stand up to me. I'll pay the extra for the durability, knowing that the 25% or 40% more I pay for the tougher product will repay itself many times over during the life of the product. And the same has embodied itself in my cosplay work; I don't want to go to con and be worried that the slightest movement is going to wreck something.
Also explains all the hardcovers I own - I shun paperbacks for authors I really like, not because of style, but because I know they'll get read - lots.
The first cosplays I actually *did* (Vantarbre and Ginny - with help, yes), were done with cost as the primary consideration, as per the other person's philosophy. Result? Ginny didn't last the con. Vantarbre is a piece of junk with the relevant parts (belt, tabard) barely holding together - and it's only been worn a couple of times! Compare with my cosplays now: Ran could be *properly* rebuilt with a couple hours' work, Youki is so tough that he'll still be together 10 years from now, Balthier just needs some new stitching to cover up dye bleeding and is otherwise intact, Akihiko is in perfect shape after 2+ years, Cid's in great shape, Mokou and Canas are both virtually indestructable, Apollo's in great form, and Draco shows no injury at all.
Hence why I also use the materials I do. It also means that when I go to con, I literally do not have to worry about anything going wrong; it's built to last. Unless a frigging continent falls on me, I'm going to emerge from anything else totally intact.
But Mokou's wig is probably going to fail this test, at least as-is. I just want it to last the con, so I can come back to it later and do it right.
Fortunately, I have very little left to do costume-wise tomorrow:
* Run to the Jo-Anne's up on DE-92 and get the ribbon that everyone else is out of (I hope they have it!), as well as another pair of mitten clips
* Attach the mitten clips to the armlets I've made.
* Make the last six new ribbons.
* Attach four of them to the wig.
* Attach the other two to the shoes I bought. Frankly, this is so easy and unassuming that I can do it at any time.
* Clean up some of this mess I call a room.
* Pack for con
* I've an old friend I need to talk to, if I can just stop being out (or needing three hands) when she comes on.