COSTUME INFO: Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Brief Bio: Riza Hawkeye is a first Lieutenant of the army of Amestris and serves under Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. She's very skilled with firearms, and keeps up a tough facade, rarely showing any emotions other than anger or annoyance, though she is very compassionate on the inside. She is very protective over Roy Mustang and would follow him to the ends of the earth and back if it was his wish. For a full biography, check out Riza Hawkeye's FMA Wikipedia page.

Why?: I absolutely Love Riza Hawkeye. I think it's just her overall personality, she's independent and dependent at the same time, but still strong enough to take care of herself at the same time. As for the outfit itself, I've always had a liking for military uniforms for some reason, so it totally works for me.

Construction: I consider this my first real cosplay for some reason, even though Tohru was technically my first. My mom helped with a lot of this too, but I did a lot of detailing, and things that didn't involve the sewing machine.

The jacket was bought from a thrift store and modified with fabric bought at JoAnn's (added collar, cuffs, and closing flap), the skirt and pants came with it, and the skirt was cut to fit. The silver trim and yellow shoulder stripes are ribbon from JoAnn's held on with Heat 'n' Bond, and the buttons are hand-sewn on. I already owned the combat boots.

In the pictures here, everything looks a lot darker than it is (bad camera quality), but the main reason I made this costume instead of buying one is that I didn't feel that the store-made costumes were a dark enough blue. My Riza is actually a proper navy blue.

Originally, I used my real hair for this cosplay, though you can't tell in the pictures here, my hair actually was blonde. However, I ended up cutting my hair and dying to black, so Riza went into temporary retirement. Now I have a blonde wig, so I'm hoping to un-retire her at a con soon-ish.

This costume is 95% complete.
The missing 5(ish) percent is the silver nameplates on the collar, the star buttons / pins on the shoulders, and a handgun.

Convention Info: I first wore this costume at Comic Arts & Anime Teen Expo (CAAT) '06. Since then it has been worn to various small conventions as well as both Fanime and Kin-Yoobi '08. It has never been entered in competition. As mentioned before, it has been temporarily retired since '08, but I hope to un-retire Riza some time in '10.

READ MORE - COSTUME INFO: Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist)

COSTUME INFO: Amaterasu Okami (Okami)

Brief Bio: In the video game Okami, Amaterasu is the Japanese sun goddess in the form of a white wolf. While most can only see her as a plain white wolf, those with pure heart or divine powers can see her true form, complete with cloud-like fur on her legs and shoulders, and red markings on her face and back. Amaterasu wields the power of the Celestial Brush, giving her powers such as cutting through enemies, moving water, and creating wind. For a full biography, check out the Wikipedia Page for Okami.
(Note: The description provided here is of that of the character Amaterasu from the Okami video game, not that of the Japanese folklore of the goddess Amaterasu.)

Why?: I don't remember when exactly I chose to cosplay Amaterasu or how exactly the decision came about. However, I absolutely loved the video game, and my obsession continued through the seven-month process of creating this costume.

A lot of the inspiration for this costume came from Ouka of .hack// Legend of Twilight (the manga version). I love Ouka as well, but I knew that no one I knew would even dare to allow me to walk around half-naked, heh (image not mine).

I suppose I technically have two version of this costume. Version two is really more of an upgraded form of Version one though, so I still count them as one costume.

Construction: I built the feet & legs first, out of slip-on shoes bought at WalMart, foam, and of course white fake fur bought at JoAnn's. The bottoms of the feet are craft foam covered with generic sealant and Shoe Goo bought at Shoe Stop. I already owned the white shirt under the vest and the white tights (though I later bought a new pair). I found the vest at a thrift store and added the red swirls to the back. I bought jean shorts at a thrift store, covered them with fake fur and added a tail. The tail originally had wire in it, but people always thought it was fluff and squished it, so now it is filled with fluff. I bought the fan at a store called Daiso Japan, it already had the red "sun" symbol on it. I printed and cut out the image of Amaterasu, traced around it on the fan, then detailed it by hand.

Originally, the makeup was eyeliner from Hot Topic, but I later upgraded to a mask. I bought a half-mask (covers everything except the mouth and chin) at JoAnn's. The muzzle is paper mache, covered with short fake fur and colored with Sharpie. The nose itself is Scuplt It! clay painted black and sealed with generic sealant. The wig was bought at Party City and styled by me. The red streak of hair is two hair extensions I bought from Hot Topic. My first set of fangs were "Scarecrow" brand vampire fangs, and the second set is "Scarecrow" brand werewolf fangs, both bought at Hot Topic. The black lipstick was also bought at Hot Topic.

The ears were originally foam inside of fake fur, glued to hair clips. After I bought my wig, I sewed the ears to it. The fur tufts are fake fur over foam and sewn to the arm bands, which are just fake fur. The gloves were made by me with four-way stretch crushed velvet and black cotton, held together by a combination of sewing, Fray Check, and Heat 'n' Bond.

The shield is cardboard covered with green vinyl, and the flames are sheer fabric with Fray Check on the edges. The straps are four-way stretch crushed velvet (same as the gloves) with elastic on the inside. There are two straps of thicker elastic on the back as well so that it can be worn on my arm instead of my back. The top of the shield opens and it can be used as a backpack.

This costume is 99% complete.
Some padding needs to be added inside of the forehead of the mask, because it presses uncomfortably against my head.

Convention Info: I wore Amaterasu to Kiin-Yoobi '09, where I won 3rd in the cosplay contest, Holiday Anime Faire '09, where I won 1st in the "Hand-Made" Division of the cosplay contest, and Animation On Display (AOD) '10, where I won runner-up in the "Construction" division of the cosplay contest.

This is the only costume I really compete in, and the only one I take really seriously. It gets loads of attention, and always does well in competition. Unfortunately, it's madly uncomfortable, so I'm wanting to wear it less and less, especially if I'm not competing.

READ MORE - COSTUME INFO: Amaterasu Okami (Okami)

COSTUME INFO: Misa Amane ~ Original Variant (Death Note)

Brief Bio: Misa Amane is an actress / model / singer and the second "Kira" of Death Note. Kira is what the citizens of Japan and many other countries called the cause of all the mysterious deaths of criminals. Misa has an overly-bubbly personality, often referring to herself in the third person as "Misa-Misa." For a full biography, check out Misa Amane's Wikipedia Page.

Why?: Much like Tohru Honda (Fruits Basket), I don't really like Misa, but I somehow ended up cosplaying her. It was the night before a convention, and I suddenly realized that my friends and I had no costumes. So we worked with what we had and threw together a Death Note group.

Construction: I literally grabbed clothes off of my floor and went "This will work!" That was it. Didn't dye my hair or get a wig because it was so last minute that I didn't really even care.

This costume is 100% complete. I might make a more accurate Misa Amane cosplay in the future, just because I like her style, but that's a big maybe.

Convention Info: This was worn to Animation on Display 2009, and probably won't be worn again. As far as I'm concerned, it's retired.

READ MORE - COSTUME INFO: Misa Amane ~ Original Variant (Death Note)

COSTUME INFO: Tohru Honday (Fruits Basket)

Brief Bio: Tohru Honda is a first-year high school student, whose parents have both died prior to the start of the series. She is taken in by a family whom Tohru soon discovers is cursed, and turns into an animal of the Zodiac when hugged by the member of the opposite sex.

Despite her hardships, Tohru is very happy-go-lucky, and she always looks out for others before herself. She is very hard on herself when it comes to work and school, and feels like she is betraying her mother when she gets bad grades or does poorly at work. For a full biography, check out Tohru Honda's Wikipedia Page.

Why?: I never really sat down and decided "I'm going to cosplay Tohru." In fact, I never even really liked Tohru. The real reason I ended up cosplaying her was that I wanted to be a schoolgirl for Halloween in 2004. Fruits Basket was one of the first mangas I ever read, and so, I thought it proper to model my school girl uniform after the ones in that series. Shortly after, I attended my first anime convention, and saw everyone in costume. At the convention after that, I decided it would be fun to dress up too, and most people just assumed I was Tohru herself.

Construction: The bulk of this costume was made in one night, mostly by my mom. The blue shirt was a jacket that my mom sewed shut in the front. The skirt was originally longer then cut short, but I later found one that was already short and properly hemmed. The white tie and back.. Umm.. Flap? Is actually a pillow case that my mom cut and hemmed. Later, I decided not to let a good costume go to waste and bought a wig. The Momiji(rabbit) backpack was bought at Comic Arts & Anime Teen Expo 2007

This costume is 95% complete.
I would like a new shirt because the fabric is all wrong, and I'd like a new tie because the lines got smudged.

Convention Info: I believe that this was only worn on one or two occasions, at Comic Arts & Anime Teen Expo and/or Holiday Anime Faire 2005. I don't know if I'll ever wear her again, though, especially not without a group.

READ MORE - COSTUME INFO: Tohru Honday (Fruits Basket)

COSTUME INFO: Marionette (Original)

Brief Bio: Thrown together for a photoshoot to increase the size of my modeling portfolio. No character base.

Construction: I don't really think I did anything here. I threw some clothes together really. my "strings" were purple yarn. Yay. The hat was borrowed from a friend. Just like my ninja, I barely consider this a costume. The shirt has since been destroyed by the wrath on the washing machine. Just as well, it didn't fit right anyway.

This costume is 100% complete.

Convention Info: Never been worn to a con, never will be.

READ MORE - COSTUME INFO: Marionette (Original)

COSTUME INFO: Ninja (Original)

Brief Bio: An original character made for a photoshoot to increase my modeling portfolio. Nothing more, nothing less.

Construction: There wasn't much done here, I barely consider it a costume. I cut off one pant legs and hemmed it, that wasn't even intended to be turned into a costume, it was basically just because I could. The shirt is actually from my Riza Hawkeye cosplay, with a black tank top under it. The "mask" is a black shirt with a hair clip in the back, and the swords were both purchased, one at FYE and one at the SanFransisco Cherry Blossom Festivale '09.

This costume is 100% complete.

Con Info: Never worn to a con, never going to be worn to a con.

READ MORE - COSTUME INFO: Ninja (Original)

COSTUME INFO: Cat Girl (Original)

(Better pictures soon to come.)

Brief Bio: There isn't much to say about the "background" for this character, seeing as it's an original design by me. I guess you could say she was inspired by Loveless, because I wanted giant-ass cat ears like the ones Loveless shows. But I do not consider her in any way related to Loveless. I will never write a fanfic about her, and she will probably never have a real character or specific personality, or even a name.

Construction: A large part of my cat girl's creation is owed solely to the fact that my mom basically tossed a giant bag of fur at me and went "Here ya go," and I had no idea what to do with it. There is foam inside of the ears, in an attempt to get the to stand upright. Even though this attempt half-failed, I find myself absolutely loving the one-ear-falling-over look. There is, if I'm remembering right, elastic inside of the white headband, however, it doesn't serve much of a purpose. The skirt is literally just the fur that my mom handed to me, minus what was used on the ears, tied at the side. I'm lucky it even fit. I used the pants of my ninja cosplay, with the leggings I use for my Amaterasu cosplay. The pants were just a regular pair of pants until I cut off one leg and hemmed it. That in itself wasn't a cosplay decision, it was basically just for the hell of it. The shirt is a camisole (spaghetti-strap) with a "wife-beater"(I hate that term; tank top) over it, and a black vest over that. I also used the fangs from my Amaterasu cosplay. The collar / bow was just thrown together with ribbon and a bell I had laying around. (I have lots of bells laying around...) The gloves were purchased at Hot Topic.

This costume is 100% complete.

Convention Info: My cat girl was worn to SacAnime Winter. She's the only costume I have that I would wear out and expect to get no pictures taken of me at all. it was sort of nice to lay low for a little while. It's a huge contrast to when I wear my Amaterasu. At SacAnime Winter, I wore my brown Tohru wig, just "for fun" (it was not fun).

READ MORE - COSTUME INFO: Cat Girl (Original)

Day Ninety-Four

I almost didn't post today because I was hoping to get to bed at a "decent" time. AHAHA! I crack myself up. It'll never happen. In any case, nothing cosplay-related today. I'm too addicted to WiiFit to work on cosplay. Which is both good and bad, because I'm getting in spectacular shape, which, in my opinion, will make my cosplays looks better on me, but at this rate, I won't have any cosplays to wear. Hmm... What to do, what to do?

Anyway, I added some links to the blog to help organize the informative posts better. I'm also very seriously considering making a blog specifically for health and beauty post (makeup and such). Eh, gimme your thoughts if you care.

Next time I get the chance, hopefully some time this week or next, I'd like to update this blog with posts about each of my costumes, along with reference pictures, short biographies, links to more information, and pictures of my cosplays.

I also have a new costume I want to make *sigh* but it won't be until almost a year from now (next Winter) so no big deal really. I'll post about that some other time.

My boyfriend made me really happy today cosplay-wise. I was telling him about my ideas to better handle the money part of getting a hotel room for two says at Fanime, and he said he was really excited for it and wanted it to be now. I asked him why, and, to my shock, his first reason was because he wanted to cosplay! =O I'm so proud. He also wants a sword >_> As do I... Anyway, I guess this means that I can't ignore his costumes in a last resort attempt to save time and money. But it's a lot more worth it now to know that he really wants to do them. ^-^

Speaking of his costumes, I'm actually looking forward to making his boo (Super Mario Bros) costume, probably more than I should be. Surprisingly enough, I got the idea on how to make it from an issue of TOKYOPOP's free magazine. I read through the article several years ago just for the hell of it, thinking I'd never use it, but lo and behold, it will be put to good use! Let's just hope that I get better at paper-mache-ing things =/ It's not exactly my forte...

READ MORE - Day Ninety-Four