General: Okay, I admit... I waited until the last minute to throw this costume together *big sweatdrop* But all in all, it did come out to my satisfaction (and the group's hopefully). It seems that I keep getting dumped with the cross-dressing roles (go figure), so I didn't have too much of a problem wearing it. I usually don't wear feminine clothing anyway (i.e. skirts and what not). And due to lack of rear shots, the back of the costume was quite hard to pull off. Thank goodness for the cape ^_^ I just wish the material used for the cape was heavier. And the HAIR... ooh, we can't forget that. I had to use this stuff that came in a spray can because I didn't want to bleach my hair. It didn't come out as I expected, not to mention it got all over the place.
The Body Armor: OH, you BET I have a lot to talk about on THIS. You wouldn't believe the amount of materials used for the armor. Alrighty, here's the list of materials used for the body armor or in attempt to make it: felt, wire mesh, fiber glass cloth/weave, resin, velcro, staples, spray adhesive, acetone, high-gloss white spray paint, cardboard, posterboard, Tacky glue (gotta love that stuff), an Exacto-like knife, scissors, papier mache, and air-dry clay. By the end of the day, Ten Ken and I were pretty high on fumes from everything. Could you believe we completed the whole armor in ONE DAY? I love you Ten Ken!! I owe a lot to her for this and I'll always be thankful for all her hard work and effort she put into helping me. The bolts were made using the air-dry clay and the Tacky glue. Two of them fell off at the con, but were easily glued back on using cement.
The Body Suit: Probably the easiest part of my costume. Basically it was a pair of stretch pants and a long-sleeved shirt. I cut off the sleeves to use for the arm pieces, and made the shirt into short sleeves. Since the cloth store didn't have leather material, I had to use felt for the "leather" instead. It came out pretty well however, but the felt had a habit of "clumping up" and getting all fuzzy. That was annoying, but not a huge problem. I hate tight things, so I made sure no one ever saw my rear (good ol' cape) o_O It was hot in the day time (since it's black) and didn't provide too much insulation at night, so either way I lost. I also sewed velcro onto the shoulder area and the insides of the shoulder plates to keep it on. It was a last-minute idea that worked extremely well in attempts to try and keep the plates on my shoulders and increase mobility.
Prop: Damn, I LOVE my sword!! I still have it, though the handle used to use the sword as a lance is starting to get loose. Again, I have Ten Ken to thank for the construction and painting of the sword. It's basically carved from wood. Originally, the handle's edges weren't rounded, and were sharp, so we sanded them down to make the grip a lot more comfortable. The gold paint occasionally rubbed off onto my hands, but it was very little. I've also noticed it doubles for a fanboy whacking device as well ^_^
The Group: I think we were able to pull off this group well. It was
something we planned for since Fanime 2K, but unfortunately I've been a lazy
bum and didn't get started on it until the week of AX00. I love Kousuke
Fujishima's artwork, and it was such a pleasure to dress up as characters
from his design. He's one of my role models and I model some of my artwork
after him. I think we all enjoyed doing this cosplay. I know I did ^_^
General: I love this costume. Its really comfortable, really nice looking, and I had fun wearing it. I guess I'm getting used to wearing feminine costumes, but I think it looks really nice and kept very well to every detail. The dress was in two layers, but luckily they were farily thin because it was so hot!
The Hat: I normally hate hats, I'm always afraid they'll fall off, but my Mint one stayed on well, and I think it looked cute. I used my computer to design the crosses on my hat and on my dress.
Outer Dress: The gold trim on my dress was a pain. The metallic thread I bought to match the fabric kept breaking, so it all had to be hand stitched. It took forever, but there are no visible seams, so it was worth it. It matches my rod too!
Prop: My rod, the original middle circle piece that was on it broke in practice, so I had to do a quick repair on it. Luckily it looks fine now. The top is part of a stair banister piece, I think.
The Group: Wait a minute, does that look the same to you in this
picture? The worst part about this group was a lack of pictures, but we
pulled it off! I think we all looked great, especially Klarth. *wink
wink nudge nudge* Of course, I am also partial to Cless. All worth it
to show how great this game is! Yay! Go Namco!
General: This costume was certainly an... interesting one to make. I think it must have been one of the most (if not the most) elaborate costume of the ToPhantasia cast. It's a very impressive and good-looking costume (not to mention, a good looking bishounen ^_-) and I'm glad to have handled this costume so well. Cross-dressing rules, BTW. ^_- I'm honored to have received Cosplay Closet's Hall Costume Award for this, as well as winning Honorable Mention in the AX2K masquerade. It was totally unexpected. ^_^
The Gold Danglys: Talk about dangerous. Those gold dangly things on his hat, chest, belt, wrists, and boots were the terror of this costume... I had to cut each little individual dangly out of sheet metal, drill a hole, spraypaint them gold, string them together with beads, and attach them to the costume. When I wore the costume, the bracelets cut up my wrists; I have these terrible scratches as a result. The danglys had a tendency to hurt other people as well, which made it interesting in the dealer's room. ^_^; I also was unable to set my hands down on anything, so when I sat down, I had to keep holding my hands up. In addition, I also had to watch how I walked. The danglys on the boots were really dangerous too. ^^;
Sash: One of my favorite parts of the costume. The part around my waist was backed with thick elastic and wrapped around itself to fall down the right side. I cut over 30+ small pieces of white twine, gluing them on individually all around the sash. Then I threaded some hemp through the glued on twine pieces. On the hemp, I attached several pieces of the gold danglys on the side, in addition to adding a few beads here and there. I also got some wood pieces in ovalish shapes and glued them onto the belt as well. The overall effect is very nice. ^_^
Markings: The markings on his face, arms, and legs were painted on with black acrylic paint, suggested to me by a friend. The paint worked pretty well and had a solid, black color. It dried fairly quick, it was just a nuisance to paint on the things. Perhaps I should have coated the paint with something, or not tried to dry it really quickly with the hair dryer (^^;) because after wearing the costume for awhile, the paint would start peeling and would require a touchup.
Prop: Okay, everyone else in the group has some cool-looking prop, so I needed one too. So I made this humongous hollowed-out book. ^_^; Well, Klarth DOES use a book in the game... and the prop proved very handy at the con; we stuffed all our stuff into it while trooping around and it held up well. It was also used as my weapon on our onstage fight skit.
The Group: As I'm sure the others will point out, one of the biggest problems with these costumes were the lack of pictures of the characters themselves. I never even got to see a backshot of Klarth, so I had to wing it in the back.. which wasn't too difficult, I suppose. All in all, I think we all did a great job in pulling these costumes together, as difficult as they were, and I'm thrilled to pay this tribute to such an awesome RPG series. ^_^
General: I liked this costume a lot, especially the big puffy pants... they just make me happy as anyone in the group can attest to. I used crape for the fabric of the pants and over shirt that is comfortable and easy to sew. I wish that I had made a better choice in selecting the fabric for the undershirt; something a little less radioactive would have been nice. I love the earrings, I simply painted styrofoam balls blue but I think their great. I also had to dye the gloves pink and actually paint the boots white. The only things store-bought were the bracelets.
Wig: An apparently homemade wig. I made it from yarn and a regular cheap hat that I flipped the rim up in the front to, try to, get the whole spiky bangs thing going. I wish I had spent a little more time on but since it's the first 'wig' I've ever made I think it came out fairly nice. Its also taught me that yarn does not take to gel very well.
Broom: ok I love the broom! Its made from a closet poll and those decorative stick things they sell with the fake flowers. Too bad it fell apart around the end of our AX skit. I've since repaired it.
Group: Being in a group was really fun. The lack of pictures was a pain, but I think Arche actually had a fair amount when compared to some of the other characters. It was still difficult however and even now Im not totally sure whether Arche has an actual under shirt or a scarf... I think it may be a scarf. Anyway... it was really great to be part of a full group.
General: This was my very first costume, and I had one heck of a time since I hadn't used a sewing machine in a few years. But the pattern was fairly simple. Using mostly cotton it turned out to be quite comfortable. (except for the scarf *choke*)
The jacket: Like I said, fairly simple. I actually ended up using my dad's old gui and just improvised on the pattern. The trim was a little tricky because my sewing machine didn't like the thickness, but it came out pretty nicely.
The pants: Yet another simple based patten on a friend's old pair of kung fu pants. The cuffs were made out of silk so it was a little tough dealing with such delicate material, but it was a nice accent.
Prop: Ah, I ended up actually using a staff (bo) during our skit, but normally walking around I had an old katana strapped to my back. Unfortunately the strap was just a strip of cloth (not very professional ^^; nor comfortable) but it served its purpose.
The Group: Being my first cosplay, I had a great time. Yeah, lack of pictures definately, but seeing as how I had probably the easiest costume out of the group it made my life a little easier.
General:This Costume was great~! Comfortable to wear and fun to make ~! Since I had a few different style pictures to base Chester on I had to make some choices as far as construction for the tunic shirt thingy ^^; ( bestway I can describe it ) . Other than that there were no construction problems ^_^x .
The Hair: Oh god this was fun~! Well i used my nautral ( err ...what was left of it...) hair for this and a looooooooong extension for this . First i bleached my hair twice ( my hair is ...was ;_; dark brown. Then I dyed it using punky color ~ ( dont over wash it because it washes out from the first time you put it in ^^;) Next came the con . My hair was turning a light blue green almost ... so then came KOOL AID~!!! yeah baby ~ that stuff worx great for hair ~ and then some white powder ti lighten it to the perfect color for chesters hair~ I also used a large assortment of different hair styling ... ummm stuff from gel-to-glue i used it all~! then a hair dryer to get it to stand up a bit ^^; owari~
Prop: Well like everyone else i had a neato prop ~ this was my compound bow ~! It did'nt actually work ...but it looked awful nice ~ This was designed by me ^^; and made by Sana chan's awesome neighbor Bob ~!!!! yeah BOB THANX A MILLION~!
Group:Hmm what's there to say really ? We did a great job ~ Im proud of everyone for living up to there characters~ great job minna~ ...::puts on sleuth mask:: (8)P hohah time to be a ninja and run off into the night ... more over to my sewing machine... next costume is in the worx~!
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