Minami photos!
So, Minami has been and gone, and what fun it was. There were lots of cosplayers this year, as always, and they were by and large all fantastic. I'll get around to fully processing my photos at some point before the weekend and stick them up in my Facebook gallery.
In the meantime, some photos of my own costumes! On Friday I rewore my Rena costume:
This costume's become something of a bete noir for me, as every time I want to wear it to something, part of it seems to tear or get forgotten. I remembered to bring everything I needed this time, but when I went to put it on I discovered the seam on one of the sleeves had started to tear - meep. Fortunately that was a quick repair job, and it should be adequately reinforced now. There was some amusement at being told my plastic, bought-in-a-joke-shop cleaver was "too realistic" for floor cosplay, but never mind.
Saturday was Sephiria day, and this is how it came out:
That last one is my favourite one - it looks so in-character. The epaulettes did end up being made in the hotel room over the course of the Friday, but they looked cool. They need a bit of reinforcement now that the con's over - the cords need to be sewn onto the epaulettes as fabric glue just doesn't hold them, and I need something stronger than sticky-backed velcro to attach them to the shoulders (the velcro did a fine job, but it lifted off the coat when I went to remove the epaulettes), but otherwise I couldn't be more happy with how the costume has turned out.
The sword couldn't be made in time - the guard proved to be just a bit too complicated in the time I had available. But the blade itself is pretty much done - I'll take photos at some point soon and put them online. Hopefully I can rewear this at London Expo and maybe Amecon, depending on the weather - considering how the coat was only made out of cheap polycotton-type stuff, it was really very warm. I'm definitely going to make another such coat for everyday wear.
Sunday turned out to be a day for Japanese cultural stuff, as I went to a sushi-making demonstration and a Japanese dress and tea ceremony workshop. I brought along my own yukata, which I bought in Japan last May, to find out how to put it on properly, and although it isn't technically cosplay, here are the end results:
In case you can't see the detail, the yukata is pale pink and covered in little black and white cats chasing giant pink balls of yarn. Which was my main reason for buying it, of course :P
Everyone ended up wearing a kimono by the end of the workshop, and here we all are:
You can see me on the left, and the fabulous Akemi Solloway, who was in charge of the workshop, in the centre.
So, a successful weekend for cosplay, in all. And now I have just 22 and a half weeks to plan out and make some costumes for Amecon...!
In the meantime, some photos of my own costumes! On Friday I rewore my Rena costume:
This costume's become something of a bete noir for me, as every time I want to wear it to something, part of it seems to tear or get forgotten. I remembered to bring everything I needed this time, but when I went to put it on I discovered the seam on one of the sleeves had started to tear - meep. Fortunately that was a quick repair job, and it should be adequately reinforced now. There was some amusement at being told my plastic, bought-in-a-joke-shop cleaver was "too realistic" for floor cosplay, but never mind.
Saturday was Sephiria day, and this is how it came out:
That last one is my favourite one - it looks so in-character. The epaulettes did end up being made in the hotel room over the course of the Friday, but they looked cool. They need a bit of reinforcement now that the con's over - the cords need to be sewn onto the epaulettes as fabric glue just doesn't hold them, and I need something stronger than sticky-backed velcro to attach them to the shoulders (the velcro did a fine job, but it lifted off the coat when I went to remove the epaulettes), but otherwise I couldn't be more happy with how the costume has turned out.
The sword couldn't be made in time - the guard proved to be just a bit too complicated in the time I had available. But the blade itself is pretty much done - I'll take photos at some point soon and put them online. Hopefully I can rewear this at London Expo and maybe Amecon, depending on the weather - considering how the coat was only made out of cheap polycotton-type stuff, it was really very warm. I'm definitely going to make another such coat for everyday wear.
Sunday turned out to be a day for Japanese cultural stuff, as I went to a sushi-making demonstration and a Japanese dress and tea ceremony workshop. I brought along my own yukata, which I bought in Japan last May, to find out how to put it on properly, and although it isn't technically cosplay, here are the end results:
In case you can't see the detail, the yukata is pale pink and covered in little black and white cats chasing giant pink balls of yarn. Which was my main reason for buying it, of course :P
Everyone ended up wearing a kimono by the end of the workshop, and here we all are:
You can see me on the left, and the fabulous Akemi Solloway, who was in charge of the workshop, in the centre.
So, a successful weekend for cosplay, in all. And now I have just 22 and a half weeks to plan out and make some costumes for Amecon...!