Poodles.

Talking with Mandi this afternoon made me thankful for all the ways cosplay has become easier since we started 10+ years ago:

-High quality wig shops opening in the US like Arda, Epic Cosplay, and Gothic Lolita Wigs that feature pre-pigtailed and -ponytailed wigs

-Welovecolors.com and their incredible array of color-matched tights, gloves, and stripes, saving us from having to stripe or dye our own.

-Mobile phones with touchscreens and true-to-life colors for helping us shop in cloth stores for the right color fabric

-Quality YouTube & DeviantArt tutorials on any number of cosplay subjects

I’m sure there are more I can’t think of.

Fanime 2012 brought two costume debuts, Fai from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and Pinkie Pie’s Grand Galloping Gala dress from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Fai involved well over a billionmillionthousandhundred hours of satin-stitching, and as I estimated, has well over a mile of thread throughout. Chains connect via rotating lobster clasps for easy on/off, and the spats were made special to fit over my Danskos, since I avoid wearing heels for conventions as much as possible.

This costume was very preparation intensive, as all the applique and satin-stitching had to be done before any of the pieces could be sewn together. This meant that I spent a long time matching up the places where the applique crossed seam lines.

Pinkie was also a slow-going costume, but far more on the finishing end, rather than the preparation end as Fai was. I did spend a fair amount of time striping the fabric for the bodice, as I wanted to use very specific colors of taffeta, and naturally nothing came in the width/shades I wanted. 

Pinkie’s bustle had a lot of hand-work involved, since the bustle attaches to the main skirt in some very specific locations involving gathering. There are several sets of hooks and eyes holding the skirt together correctly.

Each candy piece is its own applique, applied with Heat n’ Bond (which I recommend highly over Wonder Under). The hat is made from fun foam and covered to give it the perfectly round shape.

I will likely not attend Fanime again. I was unimpressed with their registration. A person should not have to spend over five or six hours to get a badge. Maybe when I was a teen I would have put up with that more, but I frankly have better things to do with my time, like sleep or see friends who live out of state.

I’ve also realized that since I really don’t watch anime anymore and tend to do costumes from that genre when friends request it, I just don’t have the heart to fly to out-of-state anime cons. My focus has really turned toward the genre conventions such as Dragon*Con, and I’m highly anticipating Denver Comic Con, which is in Colorado later this month. I’m too much of a cranky old lady for the younger atmospheres.