As much as I warn people to stay far, far away from the ‘costume’ fabrics aisle at Joanns and as much as the sight of a Party City wig makes me cringe, Halloween can be a good time of year to do some cosplay shopping. When else can you find ridiculously huge plastic chains for that oversized sword prop, already pre-painted and weathered, for 40% off?
If you’re the kind who plans way ahead on their costumes, Halloween can potentially be the most rewarding time of the year (apart from Coupon Commotion Week at Joanns, maybe) depending on what kind of costume you have slated. Some things, like fake blood, fake teeth, etc., are simply easier to find at this time of year. For example, I have a silver cream makeup tube that I bought at (gasp!) Party City. After trying a few different techniques, it really does the best job of making my eyebrows appear silver whenever I cosplay Kuja. Especially if you happen to live near a costume shop already, the items that appear in stock will likely be more than just bottom-of-the-line, low-quality materials.
Of course, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of ‘well, I need a scythe, and there’s this one right here… it doesn’t look anything like what I need, but it IS right here…’
Just like shopping for materials at any other time of the year, you have to use good judgment. If something isn’t up to standard, no pumpkin stencil on a sale banner is going to make it better.
But if I’m cosplaying Seras Victoria from Hellsing and I need those fangs sooner or later, I can bet now’s a pretty convenient time to go out and purchase them. And I’m all for having one less thing to worry about.
Shopping For Cosplay During Halloween: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Black Butler Diary: Heels of Death
After I saw The September Issue, I was inspired to get back into wearing heels because I do love heels and, at 5’2”, I’m not exactly removing myself from the dating pool if I go a little taller. It’s now the end of September, so I figure that I have plenty of time to work my way from flats to stilettos for March. But I admit, I look a little ridiculous wearing a tanktop, gym shorts, and grey suede knee-high boots with 3” heels.
So… it’s 10:30 in the morning on a Sunday. Why am I doing this, again?
Sometime last week or so, between deciding that Eye Motif Fai would be best for A-kon 2010 and thinking I would like to be sane after completing the costume, I thought it would be nice to pick up a ‘break’ cosplay—someone I could work on when Fai gets to be too much. Someone spunky (because nothing says depressing like a post-Tokyo Fai cosplay), someone who I can have fun with researching the costume period, someone… with a bit of flair. It is fashion week time, after all. What can I say, I miss Kuja!
I was considering a female character just for a change. I looked at the fighting game girls and looked over my anime and manga collection, but no one really stood out. Since I’m super-picky and the character has to have some meaning to me for me to pay attention long enough to finish a costume, I went on a search. What better time to discover new anime and manga than the present, right?
So I started off with Kuroshitsuji, or Black Butler. As everyone knows, Kuroshitsuji is what would happen if Hellsing and Yami no Matsuei had a one-night stand, left Yami no Matsuei to raise the child, named him Artemis Fowl, and put him in a dress.
We all know where this is going. My criteria were 1) someone who it would be fun instead of depressing to be in character as for an extended period of time, and 2) someone vaguely fashionable for the series, and 3) Someone who I could cosplay solo without feeling weird. Enter Grell Sutcliff.
Of course, I couldn’t just pick someone and go. I had to run this by my friend (aka sanity meter) first.
Her: HOLY FUSS. WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING THIS ONE? SHE'S, LIKE, KUJA'S AND FAI'S EVIL DAUGHTER. (creeped out, btw, very creeped out)
Me: That’s a boy.
Her: ...it's a he?! *goes and stares at the pic*
Forget the chainsaw, these heels will be my death.
Dining Hall: HUGE Appliques
Sometimes the pretty details that catch our attention are kind of big for 'details'. Really big. This is part one of a tutorial that outlines the process of transforming a very large design from the original artwork...
This art is property of CLAMP. Read Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles!
1. Don’t do this on the original pattern for your garment. You will need it in part two of this tutorial. Instead, make a copy. Here, the kind of pattern paper that resembles interfacing is shown.
I don’t actually recommend this type of pattern paper for designing appliqués. It catches on mostly everything—pencils, pens, etc.—making it incredibly difficult to draw smooth curves. You can’t erase, and it doesn’t absorb very well, so markers will smudge and smear. And because it’s so thin, more often than not, I found myself ripping holes in the paper. Instead, use brown parcel paper, Swedish tracing paper, or even newspaper. If it’s a symmetrical pattern, I especially recommend the Swedish tracing paper because its transparency will allow you to easily copy one side over to the other.
2. It's helpful to sketch out the overall pattern on a piece of paper first. Even if it’s just a rough guess of what the final design will be, it’s a good way to get your thoughts organized.
If you’ll notice, the board I have underneath has a grid. If you’re still new to drafting designs on a large scale, don’t be afraid to sketch grid lines onto the paper to help keep things in proportion. Since this is a cloak, I have very faint lines in a grid radiating from the center on the full-size pattern.
3. If you have another piece overlapping the design, make sure to note its position in relation to the appliqué. This will also help the transition from the smaller sketch to the pattern paper. Also mark the seam allowance, so your design doesn’t go onto an area that won’t be seen.
3. I sketch things out in pencil before going over with marker. That way, I can see what translates form the smaller sketch to the full-size design, what needs to be altered, if things can overlap and whatnot, before having the final line.
4. If your appliqué is mostly symmetrical but with asymmetrical detail in the middle, then go ahead and copy over the symmetrical parts of the design before working on the middle. That way, you won’t accidentally design over another part of the appliqué.
5. Remember when I mentioned that it would be good to note where any overlapping pieces would fall on the appliqué? More than likely, the reference art doesn't show what’s going on under that overlapping piece, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put anything there. Unless that overlapping piece is basted down on top of the piece this appliqué will be sewn onto, people will see that mystery area and it will look weird if there isn’t anything there. Luckily, you’ve just been copying a huge design for the past half an hour, so you have a pretty good handle over the original art style.
And here’s the final product! Or a part of it, anyways (my working area is about two feet longer than the garment.) Coming soon: how to transfer that crazy design onto the fabric.
