Cosplay

Chattering Initated

I have been cosplaying for a long long time. There has been a series of website i've put my cosplay photos on, but I suppose when you want something done right, you must do it yourself!

Many of these costumes debuted as halloween costumes. My Silent Hill 1 nurse was a halloween costume, given that Young Me did not go to conventions. I have plenty of halloween costumes that did not get documentation. Strings of werewolves or ghouls have gone unremarked on by history and my camera. Some of them were good. Most of them were not. All helped me learn about costume making, even if all I learned was how bad a mess rubber cement can make. I have done costumes with small to medium props, but nothing heavily depandant on faux armor or metal. Metal working isn't my strong-suit and has not been required of me often enough for me to gain any semblance of mastery over it.

Most of my costumes won't have their own page. They're usually not part of a series, or I haven't put that much time into them.

Sayaka (Puella Magi Madoka Magika)


Sayaka was my favorite from Madoka Magica. Sayaka is most of the mid series tension and beautifully designed. I think my favorite part of this was the cape. I wore this twice and the first cape was white cotton. It got stained quickly. The second cape was a heavier synthetic material that swooshed wonderfully. Shoes were painted with acyrlic because I dodn't know about leather paints at that point. The Kyubey plush was lost within two conventions. The oul gem was some acrylic that I spirit gummed to me belly button. I didn't have spirit gum dossolver, so it is still mildy sticky after all these years.

I could theoretically find and wear this old costume to see how it holds up, but that seems like it would be more of a labor of love than I have time for right now.The skirt owuld probably not fit my current waist line and the tube top would need heavy retrofitting if not a complete replacement. The shoes are either in a dump or vanished in storage.

Plain Doll (Bloodborne)

Plain Doll was a comfortable outfit once I got past the initial awkward fit of the brown over-shirt. The cape still hangs on my coat hook today and the skirt was comfortable and breezy, until I took it apart due to getting bothered about wearing it multiple times. It was one of the only skirts I've made that had pockets in it. The costume asked for a cartain about of detail, but not so much that it becomes bothersome.

The brown material was a synthetic which probably didn't help with the awkward feeling in it. If redone, that's going to be the main shirt, with the white parts sewn into it as a joined layer, not as seperate. That should also give it a smoother, more tailored look on the torso. The cape is fine for reuse. The bonnet is long gone,though. The skirt is in a funny position because the material for it is still here, but people kept bothering me when I wore it so often that i took it apart. I do miss the skirt, so if nothing else that would be the first thing to be remade.

Jodariel (Pyre)

Jodariel from pyre was a strange costume. It reused my blond wig from the doll, braided. This picture taken is the halloween before the wig arrived. I didn't have hooves, since I am not Little Wayne, so I settled for some shoes with a very tall platform in the front and no back, raising me almost a foot higher than normal. It required concentration to walk in those, and they've yet to be used since. I liked being tall for once, but not enough to wear them around! Instead of trying to take some metal with EVA foam I went to the hardware superstore and grabbed some metal duct parts to slip over my wrists. It has been years since I made this but I still look at it with aspirations of going back and really making this costume shine.

If redone, this costume is getting real hooves, or at least some hoof front facade for the shoes. The belt would need some real care put in. The bracers would need a revamp, too. This is one of the few costumes were make up could go a long way towards giing Jodarieal the tired, sad veteran look.

Eclipsa (Star Vs the forces of Evil)

Eclipsa Butterfly was very comfy to wear. The dress was a purple kona cotton. I made it a bit long and had to raise the hem with a quick basting stitch. The dress was extremely comfortable and rewearable in other situations, but the collar was stained and I never got around to replacing it. The shoes were also comfortable, being ones I already owned. My favorite part of this is the hat, which, having been stripped of the big branch, I wear out for formal occasions. My parasol lost its super long handle, which will need to be replaced if I ever want to rewear this. I honestly loved having the super long umbrella/parasol.

I think if I ever remake the cosplay, I'll put more effort into the parasol. it really felt like the special tipping point of the outfit.

Mad Mew Mew

Mad Mew Mew, the Swtich exclusive Undertale boss, was really fun to make, but awful to wear because my attitude towards costuming over the years has been "make it real." When confronted with a bunch of bells on the feet and tail I.... bought real bells. The ones on the head are christmas ornaments I was able to take the ringing parts out of. I wasn't able to do that for the others. I felt like a midevil fool 'jingling miserably across the floor' of the convention hotel. People could hear me on different floors. I kept knocking into walls due to my wig swelling the outer perimeter of my head to three times its normal size. I had white shoes and gloves and apron. What wasn't white was baby pink. Anything that got spilled WOULD stain. I was constantly reattaching my shoe covers because the thread at the arch of the show kept snapping. To top everything off, someone thought I was an OC and not an actual Undertale character, even when I told them... Yeah, this costume is retired I think. I had fun working on the tail,though. Loved the look of the fur once it was stuffed.

If I remade or changed this costume I would get rid of the real bells. And get white boots. Making boots white with fabric on top of them is a doomed venture. The white fabric WILL be staiend and there is nothing you can do about it. Plus the stitches can't hold up to being near the bottom of a shoe and come apart.

Cure Yum Yum

Cure Yum Yum was a hassle to wear.

The base wig I got last year to replace a different blonde base wig. The buns also came from the red fabric for the shorts. I had initially wrapped loose hair around wires for the curly bits, which cost me 2.99 for one pack of hair and4.99 for the floral wire. When i decided I didn't like it, i went for simply curling some hair and inserting it in the buns. The yellow ric rac was .45 cents a yard, bought 2 yards in case of accidents costing .90 cents. The little hat was made of a fill-able plastic sphere for 1.89 with a second bought in a smaller size for 1.89 in case the first was too big, leftover fabric and a ribbon which cost me roughly 1 dollar.

The chest bow ended up supper annoying, as I couldn't wait for a 3d heart to arrive from etsy. I first tried making one of paperclay for 4.99. When i didn't like the results, I ended up finding a plastic heart shaped jar for 2.99 and using the lid along with the paint i used on the shoes. It was made pin-able with a pin backing and hot glue i already owned. the base shoes were 3.37 at a second hand store after a 1.12 discount for having a membership/frequent buyer card Then they were painted with ButterCream brand interior paint that I got years ago at 3.50 on clearance The bows were part of the red fabric i bought later and the shape was held with interfacing.

This is because the local fabric shop doesn't always label what fabrics are being bought-just the price and quantity. So I have a bunch of free floating numbers on my receipts. Why is this a problem? Because I was also purchasing for two other costumes at the time. I made a point to remember the bigger chunks of material for the others,but things like ribbons, trims, buttons and hooks were not labeled. And this is just what I kept the receipts for. I know I made other trims for more interfacing later on that don't have the receipts to go with the memory.

Cure Black

Cure Black was actually very easy to do. I was afraid the heart shapes would be the end of me, but it was all doable, and for a very reasonable budget. Cure Black asked for very little, for being a magical girl; Shorts, a top, an overskirt and some basic arm and leg coverings. Her shoes were solid colored, rounded toe, leaving lots of room for interpretation. Cure Black asked for hearts and lots of frills but nothing truly outrageous or demanding.

Cure Black totalled up to be approximatly 56.49 plus taxes. With no need for a pair of shoes that I didn't already have, and a minimum of colors, Cure Black is one of the cheapest cosplays in recent history for me. That's rather appropriate for her obliging and breezy character, isn't it!

I got a reminder while wearing it that detached sleeves and long socks need more support than elastic can give them. Sock glue would have been my friend for the sleeves if i had any, but it was just me, puling them back into place on the regular. I think many costumers can identify with the regret of trusting your fabric to stay where you put it. Luckily my calves kept the socks up and in the right spot. I made my belt buckle too small, but in the end I was happy with the results for this costume. I really only could have been happier if I had a Cure White to pair with for photos, but PreCure just isn't as popular in the US.

If I remake this,, I'll source something more sturdy than the material I used here. The belt surely needs more structure and the wig needs a secon blast of hair spray. Funnily enough, when I went to wash this wig, after the con, the air spray refused to come out, requiring being nearly boiled. However, at the time of wearing, it didn't want to stay up for beans. Life is as life does, huh?

Princess Heart!

Heather's UFO ending costume isn't THE Dream Costume, but it's a close second. It's a glitzy magical girl pastiche patterned less after traditional magical girls and more after 70's style Space Babes. Time to decorate any open spot with cute aliens or Silent Hill logos! Bewtween the super high collar with the low bust cut and the short shirt with the boots, this is They Came From Planet Vulcan all the way.

The white stars on the boots and the hearts were actually obstacles I didn't expect to be as annoying to work around as they were. The choker and belt buckle hated being alive and tried to die upon the first wearing. We can rebuild them though,faster, stronger, shinier. I also had to wash the hell out of the white body of the dress because i didn't expect the red of my gloves to rub off on the dress as I was wearing it. It wasn't even wet, at the time.

This outfit has been taken apart and remade from the bottom up!

For an update on this costume in particular head on over to the Heather specific page and take a gander, goose.

Dani Phantom!

Dani Phantom was an unstable clone of Danny Phantom's protagonist who deserved better, both in story and from the creators of the show (Season 3 did everyone involved dirty.) It was a pretty breezy costume for the stomach area, but all the sweat wanted to stick to my upper chest area. The pants really should be the popular bell bottoms/flare cut of the aughts, time the show was set, but fabric was limited. I didn't want the swimwear fabric to be see-through, so the flare cut was nixed and it was made tacked on hastily. I wore white pumps the first day (I didn't have other white shoes), which was so horrible I went out and bought white sneakers the next day, bumping it over my 50 dollar budget. Honestly? Worth it. Fuck those white with that costume. My feet were sweating in the August heat like whoa.

Mini Gallery

Many of the photos of my old costumes are incomplete or poor quality. Here are some of my oldies. Enjoy the awful quality.