Tell me about the outfit you are wearing – who are you cosplaying and how did you decide to pick this particular character ?
In this photo I am cosplaying Tsubaki from Soul Eater. I decided to cosplay Tsubaki because 1. I fit her body type pretty well, and 2. my boyfriend cosplays her weapon meister Black*Star, as you can see in the photo.
Tell me about the process of making your outfit – was it easier or tougher than you imagine it to be ?
Tsubaki was a fairly simple cosplay compared to some of the others that I have tackled. The man tan dress-like part of I basically did with guess and check since I really couldn’t figure out how to make a pattern for it. So it basically consisted of me draping the fabric over my dress form then pinning and cutting. The black legging and sleeve tops I made from a stretch knit fabric by using my thigh and arm measurments, then I painted the striping on. The white is a made from a fuzzy felt and the little yellow stars on them were cut and hand sewn on by me. The yellow star on my chest I also stiched on. The whole dress part is held on by some strong velcro. My boots were bought and then gray detailing was put on them with craft foam. The wig I am currently fixing seeing it was a last minute job and I am doing it properly this time around.
Any interesting stories from people’s reaction to your outfit at the con ? ^^
Nothing really interesting with this cosplay seeing as I only wore it for one day for a short period since the wig started to hurt my head after a while and the boots were killer on my feet.
How did you get started cosplaying and what got you interested ?
I got started cosplaying after the first time I went to Otakon, back in ‘04 or ‘05. It was my first anime convention and I knew nothing about cosplay. I was fascinated by it at the con and knew it was something I wanted to try out. My mother helped me some since she already knows a good deal about sewing, but a lot I taught myself, the next year I debuted by Kaorou Kamiya cosplay from Rurouni Kenshin. Only one person recognized me but I think that’s because I wasn’t even wearing a wig. I did better the next year with Haruno Sakura from Naruto. As the years have gone on I have attended more cons and made more cosplays. I now attend anywhere between five and seven cons a year and I try to do at least one new cosplay per con.
What are the con did you first attended and what’s your favorite con that you’ve attended so far and why ?
The first con I attended was Otakon, but I think my favorite con would have to be Katsucon. Mostly because it’s the con where I met a lot of my good cosplay friends, and my current boyfriend! It was a lot smaller and more sociable than Otakon so I got to know a lot more people. I had such a fabulous time and I can’t wait for the upcoming one in 2010, it’s going to be awesome. Debuting 3 new cosplays (I am going to be super busy over Christmas break) and participating in Masquerade this year this an epic beyond epic skit, for sure.
What does cosplay mean to you ?
Cosplay means a lot to me, in many different ways. It’s something I have a lot of fun doing and I love making something that I can wear and show off, not to mention impressing my mom with my growing repritoire of sewing skills. Cosplaying is where I have met a lot of my good friends I have today, and I look forward to seeing them at cons and having a blast with them. Not to mention I met my boyfriend through cosplay. Getting dragged outside for a private Soul Eater photoshoot, I was in Dr. Franken Stein and he was in Black*Star. Anyhow the shoot resulted in many amazing crack photos, it was one of the best moments at that Katsucon. Anyhow he found me and contacted me, and I talked with him cause his brother was one of the photographers and I wanted the photos. Well we kept on talking and here a few months later are actually dating. So as you can see participating in cosplay has brought me many wonderful things in my life, through some everlasting friendships, cause I know my buds aren’t going to stop going to cons anytime soon!
If you had unlimited funds/technology/time, what is your dream cosplay ?
Um, it would be to create the rest of the cosplays that I want to do from Magic Knight Rayearth, with fabulous execution I might add. I’ve done Hikaru already but I also want to cosplay Umi, Fuu, Alcyone, Eagle, Nova, and Inova (maybe more). See Magic Knight Rayearth has an extremely special place in my heart, it’s what got me started with anime. I have loved this series since about seventh grade. And it’s one of my favorites and I would love to do so many cosplays from it. But of course, it’s Clamp, so the character designs are outrageous and would take a lot of money and time to finish. But I will cosplay them all eventually! Because Magic Knight Rayearth is amazing and it’s so under cosplayed!
