Kin-Yoobi Con 2011 Cosplay Report (Days 576 - 583)

(Read my full convention writeup here.)



I wore a cosplay of time-skip Yoko from Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann to Kin-Yoobi Con. While the cosplay is not 100% finished, I was quite happy with it. I was initially worried that security would tell me that it was too revealing and ask me to change, so I did have a backup, but luckily there were no issues. I did doubt that they would ask, since I was properly covered and taped in, but it didn't hurt to have a backup.



On Day 1, I woke up freezing cold and thinking "There's no was I'm going to wear a bikini today!" So I dressed in my backup cosplay, an alternate version of Yoko (from Episode 5) with a robe, which I made to come down to my knees. Under it, I wore a pair of comfortable black shorts and a black tank top. Once I got into the main hall of the convention, I immediately thought "Oh, I am most definitely wearing a bikini today." I couldn't believe how hot it was in there! My mom was coming by later to watch my Artists' Alley booth while my boyfriend and hosted a panel (the two friends that I had watching my booth wanted to see the panel), so I called my mom and asked her to bring the rest of my cosplay things.



I took off the robe while I was setting up my booth and changed immediately after the panel.



Throughout the first day, the red "zippers" on my boots kept coming apart (the Velcro holding them on was hot-glued on). Luckily I brought my hot glue gun with me, but by the end of the day, I was out of hot glue! The zipper on the left shoe came apart almost completely, from my ankle (exposing the black boot I used as a base) to just above my knee. I had no hot glue to fix it, but all I had left to do at that point was sit behind my booth and then pack up and leave. The sole of my shoe kept coming off too (and it got all scuffed up), but I just hot glued that back on a couple of times and picked up my feet more when I walked, and it stayed on.



That night, I sewed the Velcro to the boot, which helped immensely the next day.



I had a little bit of difficulty taping myself into my top both days. Since I was sick, I got really nauseous when I looked down, and the tape is ridiculously hard to put on. You have to stick it to your skin, then peel off the paper layer over it and attach it to your clothing. It was the second step that gave me trouble. I was really in a hurry on Day 1, changing in the bathroom with my friend in the stall with me to help, so I only got four pieces on (two on the bottom and one on each side). On Day 2, I got sick in the morning (early onset of Con Plague, I believe), so I slept in and then took my time getting ready, so I managed to get all 6 pieces on where I wanted them.



My belt first off wasn't accurate, I didn't have time to make the one that I wanted. Also, it didn't stay where I wanted it to. As I said, I intended to make an accurate belt, and I was waiting until then to put belt loops on the shorts to keep it where I wanted. However, without the accurate belt, I never attached the loops, so the belt that I had didn't stay where I wanted it. Ah well. The shorts also didn't entirely do what I wanted them to, but they made my butt look good, so I won't complain.



My jacket fit a little odd, but it was really hard to tell with all of that hair in the way. The iron-on details began peeling off at some point too, hopefully I can just iron those back on more carefully and they'll stay. If not, there's always hot glue! (I hate that this costume is so dependent on hot glue though.) The hidden pocket that I made for my cell phone was a little big, and my phone fell out of it several times, which I now blame for the phone's weak vibrating tone (it sounds sickly).



The wig was very heavy, I had to wear the ponytail over my shoulder the entire time, and the wig still slid backward all the time. I need more bobby pins, I think. I also recently read up on the best ways to secure a heavy wig, so I'm going to try those as well. Toward the end of Day 1, I actually ended up buying pain killers from a vending machine because the weight of the wig made my neck hurt so badly. I secured it better on Day 2, I still had to readjust it once, but I didn't end up with a head/neck-ache at least.



It was also a bit of a pain to keep constantly combing the wig out. I was advised to comb it with a wide-toothed comb every hour, which I tried to do, but by the end of Day 1, it was a mess. When I got home that night, I brushed it and was half-way finished when it fell off of the table and sent me back to Square One. Apparently my cursing and angrily throwing the comb down scared my friends a bit. I really need to get silicone spray, and I also now keep all of my long wigs in loose braids, because it's just too frustrating to have to comb them out constantly.



Around 4:30pm on Day 2, the rest of my TTGL group showed up for the cosplay contest. I think they all looked fantastic, and I'm so proud of what little work I did to help with the prop (appropriately named "Dead Kamina"). They took Best In Show in the cosplay contest, though I couldn't compete because I was Emcee. (I'd like to take a minute here to clarify that, yes, these are my good friends, and yes, I'm staff and Emcee of the cosplay contest, but I am not a judge, and I did not talk with any of the judges about contestants at any point of the day.) I wish that they could have been there for more time, or at least that I could have spent more time with them, but it was a very busy day.



At the end of the weekend, Yoko came out a little worse-for-wear, but I more or less know what needs to be done before the next time I wear it.

READ MORE - Kin-Yoobi Con 2011 Cosplay Report (Days 576 - 583)

It's Here! (Day 542)

I woke up to my Yoko wig being delivered today! It's gorgeous, I love it. It's a little small (and heavy o.o), but bobby pins remedy that (except the weight, holy cow). I threw together a "closet Yoko" for teh lulz. The only things in this photo that are a part of the actual cosplay are the wig and the chopsticks. Also, this photo does not show the color well at all. It's a dark red-orange. I bought it from fashiongarden300 on eBay. I'll do a full write-up later.

EDIT: Here is a picture of the color of the wig and the chopsticks.
On a side-note, relating to the first picture, yes, as I'm sure I mentioned before, I do have my naval pierced. I have been keeping an eye out for flesh-colored or clear naval rings, as I can't take the ring out for more than an hour without it starting to heal over. However, if I can't find one, or if they're just ridiculously expensive ($20+ is ridiculous for a ring in my opinion), I'm just going to wear the smallest, least noticeable one that I own. If people have a problem with that, well, that's just too bad.

READ MORE - It's Here! (Day 542)

More Yoko Stuff (Days 534 - 539)

So I finally bought the fabric for my Yoko bikini, which I also decided that I'm going to try to use it for my shorts also. If it doesn't work, well, then I'll have some nice swimsuit shorts to swim in. I also bought a pattern for pants, which I'm just going to shorten for shorts. I bought a needle for stretch fabric and stretchy string (which I found out is just very, very thin elastic) too. I haven't actually worked on anything yet though.

After rigorous searching online, I came across Fabric.com, which, while having the least creative name I've ever heard, turned out to be quite useful. I browsed their faux leathers (mostly poly and vinyl blends) and found two colors that might work for Yoko's awkward-colored purple-brown jacket. Luckily, you can order fabric swatches from Fabric.com relatively cheap ($0.75 each + $1.50 shipping), so I ordered one swatch of each.

My Yoko wig was also just shipped, and I am eagerly awaiting it, I just hope that it's good quality. I'll write more about it (where I bought it, what price, etc.) after it arrives.

I also bought yellow chopsticks for Yoko's hair. I really like them a lot, despite them being a little more rounded-off than I had originally hoped for. However, they looked stained yellow, as opposed to painted, so you can still see the natural wood grain on them, and they don't look harsh or too bright.

So, I need to buy fabric for the jacket and boots and iron-on vinyl for the boots, bikini, and jacket. I also need to find a belt and buckle, which I would just make myself if I knew where to get loose square, metal studs. I also need to decide how I'm going to make the bikini, if I want to go for the underboob, sideboob, or cleavage. I think I can only get two out of the three. I'm actually thinking of going for the cleavage and sideboob, but I'm worried that that will make it look too much like a bra, plus I'll have to spend more money buying push-up pads. It's looking like the bikini will be the last thing that I make, haha. Or I might just end up with three of them.

READ MORE - More Yoko Stuff (Days 534 - 539)

No Progress (Days 526 - 533)

So I have been doing nothing to forward my progress (or lack thereof) on my Yoko cosplay, except for staring at the eBay search results for "Yoko Wig" on and off for what's probably a total of 3 hours. I really cannot choose one, I've heard equal amounts of good and bad reviews about all of the sellers that I'm considering buying from. Basically, I have to decide if it's worth the risk on the cheapest one, wasting less money if I don't like it, or if paying more increases the chances of me liking the wig. I'm also looking into which sellers offer returns and such. Oh, if only the girl selling hers on Cosplay.com would respond to my messages and upload an accurate photo!

So that's where I'm at. I still need to do everything else that I talked about in my last post. Oh, well, I looked at bra pads at JoAnn's and decided that I would get one that fits me and make the bikini to fit over it. I'm sacrificing the accuracy of underboob (and some side-boob) for the comfort of support, cleavage, and coverage. People obsessed with accuracy (including a tiny bit of myself) might hate me for it, but I'm thinking it's a fair trade. I can't convince myself that underboob is a good look anyway, even if it is cannon.

READ MORE - No Progress (Days 526 - 533)

New Cosplay Plans & Material Research (Days 514 - 525)

So! A little while back, I was asked to join a Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann cosplay group for Kin-Yoobi Con's cosplay contest, and even though I can't compete (because I staff and emcee the contest), I decided to join the group, agreeing that, even if I couldn't wear it, I would finish the cosplay by Kin-Yoobi. In the past, I have been asked to cosplay Yoko, but I never had a real reason too, having never seen Gurren Lagann and not even having a group, so now that I was with a group, I decided to cosplay her. Originally, I had planned to cosplay her first, most recognizable outfit, because, well, it was the most recognizable, but after doing a little more research, I decided to cosplay what I have come to know as "Bounty Hunter Yoko" (shown above). I chose this outfit because it looks extremely similar to her original outfit, but is more covered-up, so that hopefully I won't run into issues with convention staff. If I do run into issues with staff, I have a backup plan (in Ep. 5, she wears a robe that completely covers her body, and I find it amusing).

I began researching materials and reference pictures as soon as I had chosen an outfit, as well as started actually watching TTGL. I haven't watched a new anime in a long time (since Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt finished), and of course I find myself completely in love with the series. Now, I'm not sure if this was because I was already slated to cosplay her, but I also find myself completely in love with Yoko. The moment she sat on Kamina's head for saying she had a big butt, I knew I loved her. I might not love her so much if I wasn't going to already cosplayer her, but I'd like to think that things just worked out really well in that regard, and that I would have loved her and cosplayed her anyway.

My first worry about the costume was the materials. With a ridiculously wide variety of materials to choose from, I've seen Yoko cosplayers use everything imaginable, and sometimes, http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwell, it just doesn't work out. The bikini top is an easy one, bikini fabric. I was fortunate enough to find that JoAnn's sells dance/swim knit fabric. Originally, I was going to buy a bikini top and alter it, but you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a plain, black bikini in the right style. I was also surprised to see how easy it seems to be to make your own bikini. The tutorials on YouTube seem so simple, however, they all forget to put any kind of padding in, and a majority of them, they use t-shirts as material.

Wet t-shirt contest anyone?
In the defense of the video creators, their intent may have been to make bikinis for tanning/showing-off purposes only, but I have yet to come across a video that either says this or puts pads in. Regardless of that, though, most of the tutorials that I have seen are very good and easy to follow.

The next material issue that I had to tackle was the flames on the bikini. Originally, I thought I'd use bikini fabric and hand-sew it on, but then I didn't like the thought of all those stitches and the edges of the fabric showing, so I started researching more about applique materials and techniques. I frequently use Heat 'n' Bond for adding details, mostly ribbon detailing on projects such as Franziska, but the http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifkind I use gets very stiff when it's dry, so I wanted to see if there were more options. I was browsing the "bonding & stabilizers" category of JoAnn.com, when I came across iron-on vinyl, which led me to do a Google search which took me here then led me on a fantastical journey of knowledge.

Eventually, I ended up on Specialty-Graphics.com reading about Siser EasyWeed Stretch Vinyl, a thin, soft transfer material commonly used on sports uniforms. It can be applied to "Cotton, Polyester, Poly/Cotton Blends, Spandex, and Lycra", and seems generally easy to work with. At the moment, this is looking like my best option, but it just sounds too good to be true. Also, according to JoAnn.com, the dance/swim fabric isn't supposed to be ironed. So I'm eyeballing this, but also looking for other possibilities.

Another important part of the costume, for me at least, it the shorts. I intend to cosplay several versions of Yoko, and it seems like a lot of them use the same shorts, so I want them to look good. I've never been impressed with any Yoko shorts that I've ever seen. Granted, I have not seen many Yoko shorts, so maybe I just have to look harder. I've seen Yoko's shorts made out of vinyl or pleather, and I can see exactly why cosplayers would choose that material based on the artwork, but I just flat-out do not want to work with or wear pleather or vinyl. Ideally, I'd like leather shorts, but not only are they hard to find and expensive, I'm actually generally opposed to leather, and I'm not sure how ready I am to push my morals on this.

On an outing to JoAnn's, I browsed the fabric looking mainly for what fabric to use, not eliminating any possibilities until I had fully checked them out. Even though I know how taboo is is for cosplayers to use it, I was drawn toward the satin, and even though I knew I didn't want to use it, I will admit to looking at it. Located right next to it was a satin blend, which caught my attention and is shown left. I know it's hard to tell, but the top half of the image is the "right/correct" side of the fabric, and the bottom part of the picture is the "wrong" side of the fabric. Believe it or not, heh, the "wrong" side of the fabric is less shiny, but that picture was taken under JoAnn's bright fluorescent lights (no flash). At the moment, this is the fabric this is the fabric I'm considering. However, since I keep feeling like I have to defend it (it's not that shiny, it's bad lighting, it's darker in person), I'm still looking for something better. So we'll see.

I'm not even going to get into the jacket and boots right now, since I'm completely lost as to what material to make the jacket out of (I'm not even 100% sure what color it is), and the boots are seriously a whole post on their own. I have some vague ideas for the boots, but nothing concrete, so I'll just hold off on posting about them until I get more ideas.

READ MORE - New Cosplay Plans & Material Research (Days 514 - 525)