Update: ...Or something

I'm still full from Thanksgiving! I'm so happy! I hope everyone had a good one! Mine was great! We stayed home (instead of driving 5 hours to see family) and had dinner with our friends! We played games and laughed so much! It was so fun! Best turkey day I've had in a while.

But onto more important things! Well... maybe not. You see, I forgot there was an extra week in November.... so... I'm a little ill prepared.

But fear not! I'll think of something to talk about!

I haven't done much in the way of cosplay this month. All my time has been sucked away by Skyrim. *sigh* It's true. I didn't think I'd be one of those.... but I am. I blame my husband. Because he goes around in it and does things that I wouldn't do (like joining the Dark Brotherhood or not organizing the stuff in his house), so I had to make my own character to do things the way I want. So it's the fault of Skyrim and spouses that I have done nothing product with cosplay!!

Well... not really. It's my fault, because I'm easily distracted. I think I was a little burnt out after Halloween and I needed a bit of a break. I haven't discontinued sewing all together though! I did make a lolita skirt! Which was on my to do list anyway. I think it turned out pretty cute! Not perfect. But I like it! I seriously need to make my petticoat poofier though. Yes, I am wearing a petti in these photos. So sad...

Yes, I'm wearing a petti. The saddest petti ever.

Detail of the front.

But now that I've had a nice long break from cosplay, I'm ready to jump back in! I've been contemplating my Sailor Moon cosplay. I have everything figured out except the collar. But I'm not worried. I'll probably start on that tomorrow. Because today I desperately need to clean my house. My hubby has been sick and staying home for almost a week so it's kind of messy. Not that I'm saying "men are such pigs", I mean, when he's home, I'd rather spend time with him, than alone in the kitchen. So I don't do much cleaning. But after I clean today, I'll probably spend the rest of my week working on Sailor Moon.

Oh and Tomodachi Fest was this weekend... *sigh* I'm sad I missed it. I missed seeing my friends. But... I don't regret it, because I had a really great thanksgiving up here. I do plan on going to FurIdaho though! It's a new conventions (this is the second year) and the only Furry convention in Idaho! I'm not a furry, but I do love them! Fursuits are so awesome! I don't know if I'll go in furry attire, since I have none. But I'll probably go as Sailor Moon. Maybe I'll make some bunny ears for her. Hehe.

Let's see... what else... think, think...

Well, I guess that's it. That's about as exciting as it's been around here. XD Next week I should have something more interesting. So be sure to check back!

<3

Edward

P.S. And to those same 14 people who seem to read my blog every week: THANK YOU! It is greatly appreciated!

Cosplay Showcase: Princess Serenity

Cosplay Showcase time!!!

I'm excited! Are you excited?! Here we go!

So I decided to showcase Princess Serenity (Sailor Moon) today! Because, even though it's not my favorite, it's pretty good, and the photos are pretty. I wanted to do Tyleet from Elfquest, because those are my favorite photos, but not many people know what that is (You should though. Go to Elfquest.com to read the whole series for FREE!). And I also wanted to debut with Sailor Moon, but the costume I have done for her isn't perfect, so I'll wait until I have it redone. So I thought, the next best thing to Sailor Moon is Serenity. So, that's what ya get!

Obviously not my work. It belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha.

Swish!!

Now, this is the part where I say a lil' somethin' about the cosplay. The making process, why I chose it, yadda yadda.

I actually made this cosplay for a group. Serenity hadn't been high on my list, though she was on there. Actually, nearly all incarnations of Sailor Moon are on the list (except Eternal Sailor Moon. Those dopey pink sleeves piss me off). And if it had been my choice, I would have chose the anime version instead of the manga version. Only because I didn't know how to make those arm cuffy/sleevy thingies.  (We'll talk about those in a minute ) But it wasn't my choice, so I did what I was told.

All majestic and shit XD

The actual dress was very easy. I found the PERFECT pattern, so I didn't have to make one myself. The dress material is crepe back satin and the sheer stuff is something I found in the bridal section. I forget what it is. The circles are white cord hot glued onto circles of crepe back satin. The pearls are hand sewed on individually and so was the ribbon on the bodice. I forgot to wear the little hair barrets and bracelet in these photos, but I did make those too.

Princess Pose

The back bow, which you can't really see in these photos, turned out PERFECT! It's my favorite part of the whole dress! The trails hang just how I wanted them to and the bow stands up all pretty! It's so lovely!

Now onto the bits I had trouble with... Those accursed arm things! Gah! It took me WEEKS to figure out how to make them. (And only a day to ACTUALLY make them) And I still only feel so so about them. I mean, have you looked at the ones from the manga? They are perfectly round. If I made them perfectly round around my arm they'd look retarded! And what the hell are they made out of anyway?!?! Curse you Naoko Takeuchi!

Anywho... I finally decided to make them out of craft foam. Because I don't have fancy things to make molded plastic/resin ones. Maybe someday I'll make some fancier ones. But for now, these will do. They turned out all right, I think.

The other problem with this dress is... it has no straps! I've seen girls use the clear plastic straps.... but I just wanted it to be as accurate as possible. So I made it pretty tight and I tried using that hollywood tape stuff.... Let me just tell you.... THAT STUFF IS CRAP! It didn't stay put at all! I still had to constantly pull it up! I'm sure if you were sticking something on you that didn't weigh much, it would probably do just fine. But that dress is pretty heavy (lining, crepe back satin, sheer overdress and all the doodads on the bodice) and that stuff didn't work at all. I'll tell you what did work though. Toupee tape! Man, that stuff is robust! After I put that on, that dress was going no where! I did the YMCA and never had to pull my dress up once! I even had trouble getting it off at the end of the night! In fact... I think there is still some stuck to that dress. So, remember! Toupee tape is what you want!

I hate that wig!!!!

The other thing I didn't like..... THAT WIG! GAAR! I hate it! It was so poorly made! You could very obviously see the wig cap through the hair (which was yellow, and very obvious with the white hairs). And the hairs fell out like crazy! Sadly, I didn't realize this until it was too late to ship it back. I did get some of my money back though... It's also too tight for my head. All in all, it's the most horrible/uncomfortable wig ever. I thought my Sailor Moon one was bad.

The dango turned out ok though. Even though a few hairs like to stick out all crazy. Someday I'll get a new wig and it won't be complete crap.

Looking lovely. Cus, ya know, that's what princesses do.

So in a nut shell, this cosplay is terribly uncomfortable and annoying, but it's purdy. And that's what counts right? We must suffer for our art, I suppose. I thought Sailor Moon was uncomfortable. But now, putting on Sailor Moon after wearing this, is like a dream! Ah well.

One more

And I'll leave you with that last image. I always have a series of "derp" photos. Because cosplay can't be serious all the time. And one shouldn't take ones self so seriously.One day I'll do a "Derp Showcase." XD

If you want to see more pics of this cosplay, head over to my DeviantArt page here.


There is was! Cosplay Showcase! Hooray!Ok, so I'm done talking about myself for a bit (Other than updates and stuff. I can't go cold turkey XD). Next month I will showcase my friend Jen! She is a super awesome cosplayer that I know from my local cons. I look up to her so much! And often try to suck up all her knowledge! So look forward to that!

Oh yeah, and I hope everyone has a happy Turkey Day!! I know I will, because, if you don't recall from my interview, I LOVE TURKEY AND MASHED POTATOES AND GRAVY! Gah! I will be so fat and happy.
What a glorious day it will be.

Oh yes, and all these photos were taken by my brother in law Morgan Wells. He's super duper amazing!

See you next week!


<3 Edward

Cosplayer Interview: Edward Insane

It's cosplayer interview time!

So, this is the part where I would explain a bit about the person I interviewed. How I know them, why I chose them to be interviewed and so on. But if you didn't notice, I'm interviewing myself today.  Weird, I know. But I wanted to do an example one so that people I interview later can use it as a kind of guide and.... ok... I wanted to talk about myself a little.

So, on with the show!

Your name or Cosplay Name:

  Edward Insane

Age?

  24

How long have you been cosplaying?

  I've been dressing up for as long as I can remember. Mostly as characters. Though I didn't know it was called cosplay at the time. My first convention cosplay was in 2011.

What was your first cosplay?

  Oh man.... it's been so long... I think my first anime cosplay was probably Dark Lady from "Sailor Moon" when I was 8ish... I think. I also remember dressing up as a female Duke Nukem before that... I would have been between 6 and 8 probably. I used to use the cardboard toilet paper rolls as my grenades. XD And then another early one I remember was Videl from "Dragon Ball Z" Because it was really easy. I used to dress like her all the time. XD

Do you make your cosplays, buy them pre-made online, or have them commissioned?

  I make all my cosplays. I buy things like shoes... cus... I'm just not a shoe maker. I've been making all my costumes since about 2006, but before that my mom made them.

Why do you cosplay?:

  I always have. I love pretending to be characters I love, or identify with, or I think are awesome. I love pretending, period. Not because I don't like myself, but it's fun to just dress up and pretend to be your hero for a day (or three). It makes me feel so good about myself. Espcially because I make my costumes. And when people tell me how much they love my cosplay, or that I portray a character perfectly, I feel so proud and honored and happy that they appreciate all my hard work.

What is you favorite part about cosplay?:

  Probably taking photos! I'm a bit of an exhibitionist (no really?), so I love having my picture taken. I also love doing epic cosplay photo shoots and looking perfect!

What is your least favorite part?:

  Judgmental people. I hate when people say "That person is too fat/tall/skinny/short/small chested/large chested/the wrong race/etc..." Just because someone is a different body type doesn't mean they aren't aloud to like that character as much as someone else and shouldn't be aloud to show their love. I also don't like when people bash "fail" cosplay. Maybe they did their very best! Or maybe they just don't have the same standards/guidelines for their cosplay as you do. Cosplay is for fun! It's to show your love of a character or show or book or whatever! It's a form of self expression. And no one has the right to tell you that you aren't expressing yourself "correctly." But I'll probably do a whole post on this later. XD

Who is your favorite character to cosplay?

  Sailor Moon!! I identify with her so much. We have so much in common. When I put on that sailor fuku, I feel like I become her. I AM Sailor Moon. At least, I feel like I am. XD

Sailor Moon
Photo by Morgan Wells

What is your favorite cosplay to wear?

  Tyleet from Elfquest. It's a poncho and and sweat pants, basically. And the shoes don't even have rubber soles (all leather) so it's like being barefoot. It's so comfy.

Tyleet from Elfquest
Photo by Morgan Wells

What is your least favorite cosplay to wear?

  Princess Serenity from Sailor Moon. That stupid dress has no sleeves, so I have to tape the sucker on. Before I discovered toupee tape, I had to just constantly pull it up all the time. And that wig!! AARGH! I hate it so much! Once I get a new Serenity wig, I'm burning the old one. 

What was the most complicated cosplay you’ve worked on?

  Uuuhhhm.... I guess Serenity. The dress part wasn't hard, but all the details on the bodice were time consuming. And it took me FOREVER to figure out how to make those stupid arm sleevy/cuffy things.

Princess Serenity from Sailor Moon
Photo By Morgan Wells

What was the least complicated?

  Alice in Wonderland. It was just a dress and an apron. Pretty straight forward, and one of the first cosplays I ever made.

What group cosplays have you been a part of?

  I was in a Sailor Moon princess gown group. And I am also part of Tyleet group. There are a few other girls who do Sailor Moon guardian fukus, but we haven't made a serious effort to have all the girls.

What group cosplays would like to be part of?

  I am working at getting together a Powerpuff Girls group and a Sailor Moon everyday/school uniform group. I would love to get a Scooby Doo group together. And I'm also getting a Tara Strong characters group organized! (She's a voice actress, if you don't know)

Who are some characters you plan to cosplay in the future?

  Chi (Chobits), Bubbles (Powerpuff girls), more Sailor Moon outfits, Rose (Titanic).

What crossplay characters have you done or would like to do?

  I would love, LOVE to do Dio Eraclea from "Last Exile." I love him so much! He's definitely on my list. But first I need a Lucciola. What's Dio without his Lucciola??

Who is a character people say you should cosplay, but you aren’t sure about?

  Princess Tutu. She's cute and funny and everything. I just don't connect with her. But I kind of want to cosplay her friend Lilie, that loves when things go wrong. She's funny and kind of twisted. XD

What is your dream cosplay?

  Steampunk Sailor Moon based on this piece of fan art!   Someday. Also, Sarah's ball gown from "Labyrinth."

What is a cosplay you would love to do, but don’t feel you could pull off?

  Trunks from Dragonball Z. I love him so so much, but I dunno... I don't think I can do him justice.

In your opinion, what makes a great cosplay?

  Attention to detail! I love when people put the tiniest details into their cosplay. So tiny that most people don't notice, but they are there.

At which conventions are we likely to see you?

  Anime Oasis, Fandemonium, Tomodachi Fest. All located in Idaho.

Any advice to other cosplayers?

  Research, research, research!! Look at a million pictures of your character. And then look at some more! And if you are lucky enough to know the artist, ask questions! Really try to figure out how that outfit would work in real life. And if it wouldn't... well... that's a whole other problem. XD

What are some other hobbies you have, other than cosplaying?

  I love sewing! That's my main hobby. I sew Lolita stuff and other clothes. It's my favorite thing to do. I also like watching movies with my hubby and playing video games/watching him play. I like doing crafty things like knitting and scrapbooking, though I haven't done those in a while. And now my newest hobby is working on this blog! XD

Favorite anime/tv shows?

  Anime: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Sailor Moon, School Rumble.
  Tv shows: Mythbusters, Dog Whisperer, Dirty Jobs, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Favorite movies?

  Lady and the Tramp, Titanic, Stranger Than Fiction, Bedazzled (Brendan Fraser one), Pans Labyrinth

Favorite books/manga?

  Books: The Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett and pretty much anything by Terry Pratchett, The Life of Elizabeth I
  Manga: Chobits, Cardcapture Sakura

Favorite video games?

  Lego Batman, any Mario Bros. game, Skyrim

Favorite color?

  Light blue and baby pink

Favorite food?

 Potatoes and gravy!! And turkey! Oh, how I love turkey and potatoes and gravy together.

Favorite desert?

  Cheese cake!

Favorite curse word?

  Fuck. It's so versatile!

What are some websites where we can see more of you?

  Well this blog is a good one. Lol. But for more consistant (and sometimes silly) updates check out my facebook here. And for lots of photos of my cosplays check out my deviant art page here.

Well, there it was! The very first Cosplayer Interview! Yay!   Next week I will post a Cosplay Showcase of one of my favorite cosplays. Which is pretty much the formula I'll be doing for everyone. I'll interview them one week and then show them off the next! So look forward to my cosplay showcase next week! And then next month, the real blogging begins!!


 


<3 Edward

Updates: Halloween, Sailor Moon, Lolita and Larp

HI!

So this first month will be experimental. I'll try some things out on myself first, to kind of get the hang of how it's all going to work. But first, some general updates!

Halloween is finally done! Funny, Halloween used to be my favorite holiday until I discovered conventions. XD Not that I don't like Halloween, mind you, but this one was a bit hectic. I had three costumes to make. Which is actually one less than I originally thought I had to do. Let me start at the beginning...

So not long after LAST Halloween (yes, I plan that far ahead and already know what I'm doing next year), I texted my sister-in-laws (I have 4) and said, "Wouldn't it be awesome if we all did Disney heroines for next Halloween?!" Which everyone seemed to be agreeable to. So I started planning. The plan was, I'd make two of them their costumes (plus mine) and the other two would make their own. I was so excited! Well, the closer it got, the more people dropped out. It ended up just being one of them and myself. I was pretty disappointed, but ah well. Things happen. We did have Snow White (my sister-in-law) and Briar Rose/Aurora (me!) and we looked awesome! Her Snow White cosplay turned out so well! It fit her perfectly! She was sooo cute! I will do a Cosplay Showcase for it soon.

A lovely duet  Photo by Morgan Wells

I also went to a Scary Monster Halloween Party with my cosplay friends! You had to dress as a traditional monster. Well, I don't like many traditional monsters. So it was a toss up between a werewolf and a succubus. Inevitably, I chose succubus, because it was a hell of a lot easier than a werewolf. It was fun! It's actually the first "sexy" cosplay I've ever done. So it was different. Maybe next year, if I have time, I'll be a werewolf.

So, now that Halloween is over, I can be more leisurely about my projects. I don't have to sew every day to try to get anything done on time. I think the first thing I'm going to work on is a new lolita skirt! Yes, I do wear lolita, though not as much as I'd like. Mostly because I haven't had any time to make anything because of Halloween. DX But now I can get back to it! Hooray! I have a skirt design in mind and now I just need to do it!

Another project I'll be working on is my Sailor Moon cosplay. I've decided I'm going to completely tear it apart and start over. There are many things I don't like about it. I suppose if I had just done it right the first time, instead of being lazy, I would feel better about it. Ah well. You live and learn.

Poor dead Sailor Moon

And finally, my friends are making a local LARPing group. I'm excited! I've never done a LARP, or any kind of RPG for that matter, but I think it will be really fun! I've already figured out a character and costume. Now, I just have to make it! Hopefully, I can get it done before the first game! *fingers crossed*

So, that's the first REAL post! Hooray!!



Edward

P.S. Oh, and I will not be going to Tomodachi Fest in Boise, Idaho this month. Sad, I know. But Sailor Moon is in pieces and I would feel weird going to a con and not be Sailor Moon!

An introduction...

Howdy!

Well.... I guess I'll just start. XD

I've started this blog, simply, because I love cosplay! Passionately! Now, one might say "But Edward, you've only been cosplaying since 2011!" And if you were only counting the conventions I've been to, you'd be correct. But actually, I have been cosplaying for as long as I can remember. I can't even remember the first character I cosplayed as, because I was so young. I just know, that I've loved to dress up (especially as particular characters) forever. Lots of children grow out of dressing up and pretending, but it seems I've grown into it.

Of course, when I was that young my mom made all my dress up clothes. Now I make all my own. I started sewing costumes since about 2006, but I've only been seriously sewing since about 2008. Of course, I'm no where near the best. But that's part of why I started this blog. To learn and grow and to help others learn as well.

This blog will be for lots of cosplay related things: to showcase my own cosplays and cosplays by others I think are awesome, updates about my current projects, my thoughts on different aspects of cosplay, tutorials, product reviews, cosplayer interviews, convention coverage, interesting cosplay news, and some occasional personal updates. Also, once I get into the swing of things, I'll take polls on what you guys would like to see more often.

So, that's pretty much it! I'll try to update every week, probably on a Mondays. I hope you guys will enjoy my blog and help me to make it better!

Edward Insane