Minamicon, London Expo and beyond
Long overdue update is looooong overdue. Damn that pesky "real life" thing!
Anyway. Minamicon was great (I think I had the most fun at this one that I've had at any con ever), kuro2shiro's costume was finished in time for the masquerade (even if I did have to borrow an iron from the hotel reception and finish it in the room... bad Leah! Bad!), and even though I didn't have a new costume for myself, I got to wear Chun Li again (with improvements!).
So anyway, Luke's costume was the main event pretty much, so here are the pics of the finished costume!
The Novotel foyer had these grass things against one wall so it made a good place for photos. This was Luke's pose of choice! I did also get some photos that showed off the sleeves and the back:
Shame they're a bit dark, but never mind. Ooh, all that applique. 20 metres of bias tape. My fingers did not like me after that.
I was also very pleased with the makeup, although it did turn out that Luke and I had different ideas about the foundation - basically, I bought makeup to achieve a natural pallor because that's what the medicine seller looks like to me, naturally pale rather than painted white. Then after I'd put it on Luke's face he said he'd wanted more of a kabuki (ie, WHITE) effect. Oh well, next time I'm in London I'll nip into Charles Fox and get some more Aquacolor. Anyway, here's how the makeup came out:
I am particularly pleased with the eye makeup, although it is a little bit uneven.
I will be remaking a few bits of the costume - the obi didn't come out quite as I'd hoped (I have ideas for remaking it though, and I'm trying not to think too much about how much that fabric cost me...), the bandana was made very quickly at the last minute and the jewellery wasn't great either (one necklace is actually completely missing). We also didn't get time to attach the pointy ear covers to Luke's ears before heading off for the masquerade, so that'll have to be sorted out next time he wears to costume. I know Luke also wants to have a few props, like the box and the sword, so once those are made and everything's fixed up I think we'll arrange a proper photoshoot somewhere.
Lastly, just to show off the tall geta that Luke bought for the costume (and also managed to walk in without falling over, despite having had no practice in walking with them on and having to do so without his glasses):
Shortly before Minami I read on Cosplay Island that there was going to be an SNK vs Capcom group, so I figured I'd fix Chun Li up a bit and rewear that. I remade the embellishments on the dress, this time using Bondaweb instead of interfacing, and it worked much better. The sleeves are now fully puffy because there's no stitching going through them and the bits on the front and back aren't fraying like crazy anymore. They're still not perfect, mainly because the Bondaweb doesn't hold to the dress fabric very well (yes, I do have to squeeze into the costume and then iron my boobs every time), but I do like how it looked on the day, and it was cool being in a group since that very rarely happens with me :P
Pics of the revised costume, from the front and back!
Dont feel bad for Dan there, I think he was enjoying it :P
DENIED!
Doing the Dan Hibiki pose!
See this picture? It was taken because it was a bit windy and I suggested to the other two girls that we should do the Marilyn Monroe pose, so we did. Then a massive gust of wind flew past and all our skirts went flying! Meep!
Boys r mean ;_;
The guy in the Ken costume? The one I'm sitting on? He demanded that I sit on him. Srsly. He did manage to get up again afterwards so I obviously didn't squish him too much...!
Also, this is what my hair looked like under the bun covers:
So, anyway, lots of fun there! I really did enjoy being in a cosplay group for a change, so much so that I've agreed to be in a group at London Expo in a couple of weeks' time. I'll be there to do some interviews but have volunteered to be a Team Rocket grunt for a masquerade skit on the Sunday, since the costume isn't very complicated:
I went to Bristol on Monday and have actually bought almost everything I need. The hat needs to be dyed (it's white, but should take black dye just fine since it's made of cotton), and I've got some grey gloves on their way from eBay (also found some boots that look almost spot-on on there, auction doesn't close for a few days yet though), but the top and skirt are both fine and I just need to make the R for the front. Yay!
Beyond London Expo I have a few definite plans - I'll be finishing off Machi for Luke and remaking my Lamiroir cloak so we can finally do those costumes together at Ayacon, and we're also doing Medusa and Chrona from Soul Eater (I have some interesting ideas for Chrona, if I do them right it'll be awesome). I'm determined to get Viola finished for Ayacon too (how perfect are these shoes as a base?!), and hopefully shift enough weight from my stomach to feel comfortable wearing the costume! I might do another costume too, but I'm undecided as to what it'll be - we'll see how things go in the run up to the con I guess.
Anyway, I have work to do now, so off with me...
Anyway. Minamicon was great (I think I had the most fun at this one that I've had at any con ever), kuro2shiro's costume was finished in time for the masquerade (even if I did have to borrow an iron from the hotel reception and finish it in the room... bad Leah! Bad!), and even though I didn't have a new costume for myself, I got to wear Chun Li again (with improvements!).
So anyway, Luke's costume was the main event pretty much, so here are the pics of the finished costume!
The Novotel foyer had these grass things against one wall so it made a good place for photos. This was Luke's pose of choice! I did also get some photos that showed off the sleeves and the back:
Shame they're a bit dark, but never mind. Ooh, all that applique. 20 metres of bias tape. My fingers did not like me after that.
I was also very pleased with the makeup, although it did turn out that Luke and I had different ideas about the foundation - basically, I bought makeup to achieve a natural pallor because that's what the medicine seller looks like to me, naturally pale rather than painted white. Then after I'd put it on Luke's face he said he'd wanted more of a kabuki (ie, WHITE) effect. Oh well, next time I'm in London I'll nip into Charles Fox and get some more Aquacolor. Anyway, here's how the makeup came out:
I am particularly pleased with the eye makeup, although it is a little bit uneven.
I will be remaking a few bits of the costume - the obi didn't come out quite as I'd hoped (I have ideas for remaking it though, and I'm trying not to think too much about how much that fabric cost me...), the bandana was made very quickly at the last minute and the jewellery wasn't great either (one necklace is actually completely missing). We also didn't get time to attach the pointy ear covers to Luke's ears before heading off for the masquerade, so that'll have to be sorted out next time he wears to costume. I know Luke also wants to have a few props, like the box and the sword, so once those are made and everything's fixed up I think we'll arrange a proper photoshoot somewhere.
Lastly, just to show off the tall geta that Luke bought for the costume (and also managed to walk in without falling over, despite having had no practice in walking with them on and having to do so without his glasses):
Shortly before Minami I read on Cosplay Island that there was going to be an SNK vs Capcom group, so I figured I'd fix Chun Li up a bit and rewear that. I remade the embellishments on the dress, this time using Bondaweb instead of interfacing, and it worked much better. The sleeves are now fully puffy because there's no stitching going through them and the bits on the front and back aren't fraying like crazy anymore. They're still not perfect, mainly because the Bondaweb doesn't hold to the dress fabric very well (yes, I do have to squeeze into the costume and then iron my boobs every time), but I do like how it looked on the day, and it was cool being in a group since that very rarely happens with me :P
Pics of the revised costume, from the front and back!
Dont feel bad for Dan there, I think he was enjoying it :P
DENIED!
Doing the Dan Hibiki pose!
See this picture? It was taken because it was a bit windy and I suggested to the other two girls that we should do the Marilyn Monroe pose, so we did. Then a massive gust of wind flew past and all our skirts went flying! Meep!
Boys r mean ;_;
The guy in the Ken costume? The one I'm sitting on? He demanded that I sit on him. Srsly. He did manage to get up again afterwards so I obviously didn't squish him too much...!
Also, this is what my hair looked like under the bun covers:
So, anyway, lots of fun there! I really did enjoy being in a cosplay group for a change, so much so that I've agreed to be in a group at London Expo in a couple of weeks' time. I'll be there to do some interviews but have volunteered to be a Team Rocket grunt for a masquerade skit on the Sunday, since the costume isn't very complicated:
I went to Bristol on Monday and have actually bought almost everything I need. The hat needs to be dyed (it's white, but should take black dye just fine since it's made of cotton), and I've got some grey gloves on their way from eBay (also found some boots that look almost spot-on on there, auction doesn't close for a few days yet though), but the top and skirt are both fine and I just need to make the R for the front. Yay!
Beyond London Expo I have a few definite plans - I'll be finishing off Machi for Luke and remaking my Lamiroir cloak so we can finally do those costumes together at Ayacon, and we're also doing Medusa and Chrona from Soul Eater (I have some interesting ideas for Chrona, if I do them right it'll be awesome). I'm determined to get Viola finished for Ayacon too (how perfect are these shoes as a base?!), and hopefully shift enough weight from my stomach to feel comfortable wearing the costume! I might do another costume too, but I'm undecided as to what it'll be - we'll see how things go in the run up to the con I guess.
Anyway, I have work to do now, so off with me...