Dragon & Phoenix Cosplay

Future Costume Ideas!

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:56:12 GMT

I know, I know, haven't posted here in, well, um, a very long time. . .

Anyway, here's some ideas for some non-anime costumes that we're thinking of doing. . . No time limit or goals on these, just things we're thinking of doing.

Dragon
Seas ~ original character
Ar'Trellan ~ orignal character (well, I'm going to design the costume, then find some unsuspecting male friend to wear it for pictures. XD)
Celestiel ~ original character
Citronella ~ Don't Know Either
Deanna Troi ~ Star Trek: TNG
Ozma of Oz ~ Frank Baum's Oz Series

Phoenix
Vy ~ original character
Palace ~ original character (okay, I want to see if I can get her to do this one. . . XD)
Tanis. . . ? ~ original character (I'd like her to do this just for pictures/poses, at least. . .)
Zeke ~ Don't Know Either
Tasha Yar ~ Star Trek: TNG

We also want to do various and sundry medieval costumes. . . ^.^ When we get the time for it. XD Oh, and EGL! That's been talked about a lot lately -- I want to make some alterations to the dress I took pictures in (see my last picture post with my haircut), and do some original designs. . .

*shrugs* We're taking a break from anime costumes for a little while; not forever, though! ^.^ We already have some plans for 2008 costumes, never fear!

Working On Our Own Costumes And Commissions

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 11:38:54 GMT

Nothing like a letter from a friend and $100 in Jo-Anne's giftcards to get one's creativity flowing! XD

Yesterday we bought four patterns, 10 1/2 yards of fabric, notions, and everything else we need for a certain costume. ^.^ So this weekend, if we have time, we'll start cutting and working on that.

pgsm_serenity -- do you still want me to do the commission for you? I have fabric/initial price options behind the cut.

Skirt Fabric Options:

Casa Collection
Cost: roughly $10 per yard.
Overall Cost: roughly $40-$50.
Advantatges: Casa Collection is a satiny feeling fabric that's a bit heavier than your standard satin. It holds up well -- we use Casa for our fuku. It looks good in pictures -- shiny, but not overly so. Another advantage is matching -- since Casa is an overall line of fabrics, their fabrics coordinate well together. The pleats would be pressed in.
Disadvantages: First of all, the expense. Secondly, Casa fabrics do wrinkle. Because of this, the pleats would only be pressed in, which means that they eventually would need redone. Great care would have to be taken with the fabric to keep it from wrinkling during transport.

Matte Polyester Suiting
Cost: roughly $6 per yard.
Overall Cost: roughly $24 - $30.
Advantages: This fabric drapes wonderfully. It's a good weight for a bottom. It will not wrinkle (because it's polyester). It's a fairly standard type of a fabric, and relatively easy to find. Because of the nature of the fabric, pleats would be sewn in, so they would never have to be redone.
Disadvantages: Polyester does not breath. Therefore, anything made out of the polyester would be hot. Also, because the pleats must be sewn in, there is an additional cost in terms of labor -- it takes much longer to sew in a pleat than to press it in.

Cotton
Cost: roughly $3 a yard.
Overall Cost: roughly $12 - $15.
Advantages: Cotton is cheap and breaths well. It's fairly lightweight and is comfortable to wear. Pleats would have to be pressed in.
Disadvantages: Cotton is a pain in terms of wrinkling. You look at cotton wrong and it wrinkles. o_O Also, cotton is light enough that you would have to wear a slip underneath (which is actually fine, because it's clear that Usagi wears a slip.) The pleats would eventually fall out.

Anyway, there are some options for you to think about. Um, I can't seem to find your measurements -- please send them again to my email (michiru.kou@gmail.com). That'll determine the overall cost of the fabrics. Also, please remember that those are only the prices for the skirt, bib and bow; the body of the top will be made out of a different fabric (probably a cotton, roughly 2 yards worth), and I'll price that for you in a bit. ^.^

Updating.

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 02:05:06 GMT

For the sake of updating. Erm. Well. We've gotten boots!! :D And. Wings!! .....we're slackers. ;__;

We really need to get working on things...a lot....and soon... Or I'll cry. Lots. But it's been pretty impossible lately...what with work and lack of decent funds. And lack of attention span. That's part of it, too. On my part. I fin dit hard to focus on things when my attention is split into several directions at once. :p Meh. Enough of that.

Just proving I exist, really. XD Uhm... Bye?

Planned Costumes: Katsucon 2006

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 15:47:25 GMT

Thanks to getting an awesome employee discount, I now have the white boots for Eternal. We still need to get said boots for Haruka; the website has them, but my store doesn't. o_O Ah, well. I also got us a set of feather wings to take pictures in Eternal in -- I'm not sure if we'll be taking them to cons or not, as they're rather fragile. Still, they look cool.

Katsucon 2006

Haruka and I have pretty well planned out our costumes for Katsu. We still need to check the forums, and find out when certain photoshoots are happening, and see if we can convince some photographers to do some shoots for us. We're probably doing a skit -- but you'll have to wait until Katsu itself to find out what it is! XD Anyway, here are the costumes we're planning on at the moment.

Dragon Costumes
Princess Neptune (in progress)
Sailor Neptune S (finished, need touch ups)
Sailor Neptune Supers (possibly)
Eternal Sailor Neptune (finished, needs touch ups)
Casual Kakyuu (needs started)
Juuban High seifuku (needs started)
Mugen Gakuen seifuku (finished)
Death (needs started)

Phoenix Costumes
Princess Uranus (in progress)
Sailor Uranus S (finished, needs touch ups)
Sailor Uranus SuperS (possibly)
Eternal Sailor Uranus (finished, needs touch ups)
Casual Taiki (needs started)
Juuban High seifuku (needs started)
Mugen Gakuen seifuku (finished)
Desire (needs started)

So, that's the plans for now.

Costumes In Progress: Princess Neptune and Princess Uranus

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 06:17:16 GMT

Princess Neptune and Princess Uranus

Reference Images:

The Material's book image is our primary image for these dresses, instead of trying to puzzle out the folds and so forth in the two color images. There are some apparent differences, but we're hoping that they'll look better as the material collection version.

Costume Progress: Barely Started
Though I've gotten much use out of my unique design Princess Dress, I've wanted for a while a more accurate dress. In addition, Haruka never had a Princess dress at all. So, we finally decided that for Katsu, we'd work on getting both Princess gowns completed. We bought the fabrics today; both are relatively fancy fabrics, with different toned undersides. We have several patterns that we're going to use as a basis for making the patterns for the dresses. At the moment, we're contemplating using beadwork and embrodiery along the edges of the gowns; we'll see where that goes.

Progress Pictures

These are the two fabrics for the Neptune Princess dress, taken both with flash and without. The fabric for the outer puffs is very soft, and will have to be starched to stand up properly.

This is the fabric for the main gown section, show both with flash and without, and with the reverse side showing.

Similarly, the fabrics for the Princess Uranus dress.

Again, the fabric with and without flash, with the reverse showing.

The two fabrics for the Uranus and Neptune dresses together, so we can be sure that we'll correspond in pictures and the like. I think they go nicely together. ^.^

Estimated Completion Date: Early November, 2005

Costumes In Progress: 15th Century Venetian Gown

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 05:59:28 GMT

Medieval Gown: 15th Century Venice

Reference Image:

Costume Progress: Barely Started
I've always had a love for medieval-style gowns, and already have one historically accurate gown. However, that one is made of heavy cotton, so I've been trying to make a newer, lighter weight one. Finally, with Halloween approaching, I managed to get myself moving on the costume. Today we went out and bought the fabrics for the costume. I won't be working with a pattern for this costume; instead, I'm basing it off the above image and memory from previous gowns.

Progress Pictures

All gowns in the middle ages had several layers, the undergarments being a chemise. The palest muslin is what I'm going to use to make the chemise; the darker muslin is for the overdress. The darker muslin is going to be embroidered after it's cut out; I'm not sure if I'll embroider the chemise. These both would show at the side seams, the arms, and the collar.

The green will be the fabric I use for the body of the dress. It does go reasonably well with my current hair color, though I do plan on purchasing a wig before wearing this gown anywhere. The blue is for the inside of the sleeves, and probably some accents elsewhere on the gown. Both will be embroidered eventually. Note, the sleeves will tie to the gown, and not be attached.

Here are all of the fabrics together, taken both with and without a flash, to see how the fabrics would look under those circumstances.

Estimated Completion Date: October 20, 2005

Completed Costumes: S Fuku

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 05:46:20 GMT

Manga S Fuku

Series: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon S
Debuted At: Katsucon 11
Year: 2005
Constructed By: Primary construction done by Mama-san; piecing and finishing by Haruka and Michiru.
High Points: The brooches are a real plus in this costume. The construction of the bodysuit was done differently than in the Eternals; it came together quite nicely. We had to figure out the bows ourselves (the directions Mama-san left were virtually unintelligible!), so I’m quite proud of the way they came out.
Low Points: The collar is way too closefitting at the top. The gloves were cut down from elbow length gloves, and I never felt that they worked out quite right. We could not find appropriate footwear and kind of patched together the shoes we are wearing. Haruka sprayed hers with blue sprayglitter, while mine were painted with shiny teal paint.
Fun Facts: The brooches were a good find. We found them at A.C. Moore, and they seemed to match perfectly. Interestinly, these brooches vanished only a few days after we bought them. The bodysuit is actually three pieces – the upper part, constituting the majority of it, the skirt, and a panty-type piece which keeps the upper part from riding up. Originally, all three parts are connected with snap-tape, as we were afraid that we wouldn’t be able to fit the skirts over our hips. However, we can, so we will be tacking down the skirt to the upper body, making it only a two piece outfit.
Reference Images:

Completed Costumes: Mugen Gakuen School Uniform

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 05:45:00 GMT

Manga Mugen Gakuen Uniform

Series: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon S
Debuted At: Katsucon 11 (originally meant to be Otakon 2004)
Year: 2004
Constructed By: Mama-san, with some finishing work done by Haruka and Michiru.
High Points: The plaid, while not perfect, is as close as I’ve been able to find. The colors match quite nicely, and its very comfortable to wear.
Low Points: We had to paint on the Mugen star and words; we’ll be replacing that with embroidery. Since the fabrics change in the image, we had to paint fabric for the bottom of my bodice.
Fun Facts: There are metallic teal and gold threads woven right into the fabric of the plaid; these are invisible in images.
Reference Images:

Completed Costumes: Unique Design Princess Neptune

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 05:43:50 GMT

Unique Design Princess Gown

Series: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon SuperS
Debuted At: none (high school Christmas ball)
Year: 2000
Constructed By: Mama-san
High Points: The sequins are a lot of fun. The skirt is very full and quite comfortable to wear.
Low Points: It’s not very accurate.
Fun Facts: This gown was not originally meant as a costume, but as a ballgown based off of the costume. People tend to refer to this as my “mermaid” gown. The skirt is actually too light to support its own weight properly, so has weights sewn into the edge of the skirt.
Reference Image:

Note: This was the only image we had of the Princess dresses to work from at that time.

Completed Costumes: Haruka and Michiru Casual Elegance

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 05:42:14 GMT

Casual Elegance Haruka and Michiru

Series: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon
Debuted At: Katsucon 11
Year: dress: 1973, overcoat: 2002
Constructed By: dress: store bought in 1973; courderoy overcoat made by Mama-san.
High Points: These outfits are extremely comfortable, and tend not to attract a lot of attention at a con, making them perfect for late-evening wear at a con.
Low Points: These costumes are not based off of any actual image.
Fun Facts: The gown is the most fun part of these outfits. It actually is Mama-san’s, and was the dress she wore while playing violin in the symphony in college. As such, it’s perfectly made to both pad a violin and protect the neck, and for full movement of ones arms while playing the violin. And Haruka loves corduroy.
Reference Image: None

Completed Costumes: Star Trek:Voyager UniformStar Trek: Voyager Uniform

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 05:40:24 GMT

Star Trek: Voyager Uniform

Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Debuted At: none
Year: 1997
Constructed By: Mama-san
High Points: It’s a fun uniform, and relatively comfortable. It’s the first real cosplay type costume I owned.
Low Points: It’s very inaccurate, fits badly, and isn’t completely accessorized properly.
Fun Facts: My mother originally made these uniforms for my brother and I, but my brother promptly outgrew his.
Reference Image: none at the moment