1. How many costumes have you worn and who all have you dressed as?
Oh goodness....This may take a while.
2001 Sakura
- Sakura from CCS. Winter School Uniform
- Piyoko from Digi Charat (this was right after she had only been in 1 or 2 eps)
- Sailor Jupiter from the Sailor Moon S, the movie. This was a convertible costume that looked like her regular fighting outfit, but could transform into all white (Skirt and Collar and Bows) like in the movie. I made 7 of these, plus the Sailor Moon costume from S and the Snow Queen and these won Best Costume at Sakura 2001.
- Ash/Satoshi from Pokemon
2002 Sakura
- "Death" from both Neil Gaiman's "Little Endless Storybook" (kind of a chibi version) and then the regular more grown-up version.
- Sakura from Street Fighter 2
- Generic Miko (very much in the style of Sailor Mars and I even had hundreds of her spirit wards made up, but I did not do anything special with my hair.
- Kyoko Kimono was in the dealers room that year, so I purchased a real vintage silk Kimono (Pale Green with some pink flowers and the slightest touch of dark blue) accenting part of the hem and one of the sleeves. The design made it very easy to never put it on backwards because the design won't show if you wear it wrong. The Obi is dark blue with a pink embroidered flower that accents the back bow perfectly. I wore this while being a Cosplay Judge at Sakura and while announcing the winners.
- CCS Winter School Uniform. But I didn't bother with the Sakura wig, so I was just being a generic student.
2003 Sakura
- What I'm known best for, Hermione Granger. Pictures taken at the con have gotten me several modeling gigs at bookstores and movie openings.
- Japanese School Girl Sailor Fuku. Very close to Sailor Stars, but not an exact match. Very close.
- Navy blue and white Gothic Lolita
2003 Kumori (I'm not sure I remember too much about my clothing)
- Pre day one... Harry Potter! And Joe borrowed my wig, a grey skirt and some large Mary Janes and was HERMIONE! (Lizzy was Malfoy and Amanda Penrose was Ron as well.
- Day one...I think I wore my staff shirt maybe???? Whatever it was, I was clean and covered. Still too tired to remember.
- Day two...Kasumi from "Sparkle Hearts"
2004 Sakura
- Female Strongbad!
- Female Homestar Runner
- Red "Race Queen Dress" (those sexy red dresses with the cut outs that 4 of us wore.)
- Comfortable outfit that was Harry Potterish. I had very short dark brown hair and I wore my prescription glasses that are exactly like his movie glasses. I wore Khakis and a red Quidditch long sleeved quilted shirt that was only sold at Spensers and Marks in the UK (looked like the movie sweater). When asked, I told people that I was Harry's long-lost, more powerful twin sister Mary-Sue Potter.
2004 Kumori
- Female Strongbad! (I loved the response that got at opening ceremonies when I yelled out Trogdor! That audience rocked!
- The only other two costumes I remember are cheerleader Bobby from Karaoke Revolution 2 as part of an obligation to the product manager! I know they have those up in their offices.
- The other is the practice cheerleader outfit from CCS as Sakura.
2005 Sakura
- I spent a lot of time in "Normal Clothes" because I was singing and doing improv for opening/closing ceremonies and performing with the 404s during their Friday and Sunday shows.
- Pocky Cam Girl (one of the girls in the Swiss type dresses. Most of us were the same girls from the Race Queen group the year before.)
- CCS Sakura practice cheerleader.
Not at cons (just a few highlights)
- Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz from when the movie was still in black and white. I made an exact copy of her trademarked dress in black and white rather than blue and white (I looked for sepia colored fabric to really be accurate, but I couldn't find any). I wore black shoes and wore grey makeup to look "Black and white." A lot people guessed I was trying to be either "Gothic Dorothy" or Dorothy like in the movie Pleasantville. (I explained to the Pleasantville guessers...no..Dorothy like the beginning of the Wizard of Oz....you know...when it's in black and white?). Most "got it" though.
- Draco Malfoy. Let's just say I had a hair bleaching accident (which is why my hair was so short in 2004 and leave it at that!). Tip, don't fall asleep with level 40 bleach in your hair! As long as my hair fell out and was that short and was that light and I had a Slytherin Sweater...why not?
2. What's your favorite costume you've worn?
On my own I'd have to say Female Strongbad. It was based off of the picture you can kind of see in the background of my avatar. The drawing was on a Japanese message board my husband found.
A close second is Hermione at Harry Potter events. I love reading to the kids as her!
http://www.sailornaboo.com/potterMy favorite cosplay event ever was being in the Sailor Jupiter costume with all the girls I had met on line for the 2001 group "Knights in White Satin." It was a dream come true! I had always wanted to be a member of a cool group, but I had a specific idea of what I wanted. I didn't think I could find 9 others willing to make the exact costumes I wanted to my pattern and I didn't think I could find enough people willing to pay for them. So, I just bought everything myself, found the girls on line and told them they could keep the costumes for the cost of the materials only (no labor fee and I bought in bulk so the outfits were inexpensive). I didn't want to star...I only had one line.
The part that was best about these costumes? Winning was great and I still have the certificate hanging up, but the best part was meeting the girls for the first time right after they changed into their costumes to see if they fit! We were so many different shapes and sizes and I put my heart into seeing that the each costume was cut specifically for each member's measurements and unique body type. I didn't just make the costume generically bigger or smaller, there were major design changes involved, but made to look the same if the largest member was standing next to the smallest.
OK, I know this is getting long, but my favorite thing that isn't based on costumes that I actually make have been the past 2 year's Cam Girls and Race Queens at Sakura. Teams of models (campaign "cam" girls who go to different kinds of events or Race Queens- groups of girls that are paid to support a certain driver or auto part) are a HUGE cultural phenomena in Japan and many groups sell calendars, trading cards, videos, posters, and some teams become more popular than who they represent. (There are also Hentai videos made with girls who are supposed to be this kind of model, just like they do with anime. We're pretending to be the legit kind!)
3. Who do you plan on cosplaying as this year?
I'm designing some Asian inspired Fashions this year. I have some material and some sketches and I'm looking at doing something that is closer to fashion design. It's not fruits, it's not lolligoth (perhaps some Lolli influence though, but no lace). It's closer to a 1950s French influence on traditional Japanese with some modern touches.
Female Strongbad will be back. It's too popular not to bring her/him out.
Other than that, I'm still looking.
4. What are some of your favorite costumes you've seen other people wear?
Joanna's Da Qiao:
http://www.waxwolf.com/kumoricon/2004/set2/10.htmlWe talked about it at Sakura (last year?) and she told me about all the work she put into the gradient blue color of the sleeves. They are prefect.
There is a mother/daughter team at Sakura that is SO CUTE and the costumes are so perfect! The do mommy/daughter outfits to die for! Like mom as Sakaki and the little girl as Chio-chan. Also the little girl as Sailor Luna makes me want to go adopt a little girl right now!
5. Have you ever glomped a cosplayer who was dressed as a character you liked and/or been glomped by someone who liked the character you were dressed as?
Been glomped A LOT. I glomp friends, but not because of who they are dressed as. (OK, maybe Joe as Harry Potter a little bit, but I'm a married woman!).
Thanks for the fun survey. I'll edit it if I remember more about what I've worn at Kumoricon!
