2007 Cosplay Review

[ladyofthethread]

I know most people already did this a week or two ago but I'm just getting to it now. ^_^;


New York Comic Con
new: original Count D (I actually made it fall 2006 but didn’t get to wear it at a con until February.)
reworn: D’s peacock dress

Anime Boston
new: Ayame (parent teacher conference outfit)
reworn: Renrin, Count D (peacock dress and original)
won 1st place advanced craftsmanship in the hall costume contest with Ayame



my favorite from the photoshoot lionboogy did for me ^_^ reminds me of some artbook pics with D peering through flowers and foliage


A highlight of this con for me was finding a terrific Bird of Paradise to take pictures with. Amazingly, we matched this well just by chance! o_o (And one of these days, I’ve got to make Q-Chan not look drunk when he sits on my shoulder… >_>)


Anime North
new: D’s vacation outfit
reworn: formal Terra (with a minor rehauling, including new scarves), Renrin, Count D (peacock dress and original)
won an award for sequin and beadwork in the masters division of the masquerade for Terra







hikaruchan showed me these great doors in the hotel basement and we took Twelve Kingdoms pictures next to them. ^_^




with novaraven as D's father (unfortunately, most of the pics of this were blurry and I didn't really know how to fix them)


and with her sister and friends as pets


AnimeNext
new: D’s sister
reworn: Ayame (Golden week outfit), Count D (peacock dress and vacation outfit)
won an honorable mention in the hall cosplay contest for D’s sister

from a photoshoot with ngmaster


This one is from my brother and I thought the reflections in the glass were cool.




MangaNext
new: nothing
reworn: artbook Tohru, original D





New York Anime Festival
new: 19th Century D
reworn: D’s sister, Ayame (parent teacher conference outfit)
won 1st place craftsman and tied for Best of Show in the hall costume contest with 19th Century D







Youka never made it to a con this year but I did wear it for a photo session when my brother was working on his portfolio in February.


Chomp, chomp, chomp. T-Chan munching on D still amuses me…


Fun with stuffed animals (Yes, I know I have a zillion pictures of this costume. ^_^;;)


Missed the cherry blossom festival by a week since I was sick but there were still some flowers. Still have to get in a proper shoot of this costume sometime.


*insert Halloween pictures with amnesiac D wandering through the subway and hanging out on a park bench with magical bunnies* XD (my brother still hasn't given them to me! ^_^;)

a D pic I hadn't posted before




So, I made 4 new costumes this year, which is the usual number for me. I felt the costumes I made this year were kind of boring though. :-/ Last year, I did crazy stuff like the extension with the huge loops of hair for Youka, tons of beading on Terra, and the hand painted peacock feathers plus tricky neckline and glove on my first Count D costume.

But this year has leaned towards simple stuff and I didn’t try out many new things since Ayame made me feel burned out. (Brother broke the sewing machine; new machine was defective and had to be exchanged; iron leaked all over and had to be replaced. x_x The craftsmanship was great and I’m happy I got a nice award for it but I was just sick of working on it towards the end and depressed that I ended up not liking how I looked in it.) Plus, I wasn’t used to having 3 big cons within 2 ½ months. I usually work on an average costume over a month or two so I always felt behind then and ended up postponing more ambitious projects.

On the bright side, my parents cleaned up a room in the basement and gave it to me to use as a sewing room this summer. ^_^ Still need to get it properly set up and decorated but it’s useable. I also got myself a dressform since the sewing room meant I finally had space for one. ^_^ And after a break from sewing, I made the latest D costume, which helped bring back my enthusiasm for making costumes and got me out of my slump. It’s now my favorite costume and I’m happy to end the year on a high note with it.

I also attended 6 cons this year, more than ever before due to both traveling more and having more events pop up locally. For a couple of years, I’ve wanted to try some cons beyond NY/NJ and was happy to make it to Anime Boston and Anime North this year. ^_^

For 2008, I’ve got stuff planned for a couple of series I haven’t cosplayed yet and hopefully, I’ll get back to doing some more challenging stuff. ^_^ So far, the only cons that are definite are Anime Boston and AnimeNext. And I’ll probably go to whatever things pop up within commuting distance like NYAF (although I might skip NYCC since it’s mainly the anime/manga stuff I’m interested in). I’d like to travel for one more con next year but I’m not sure what.

Anime North is out since my family doesn’t want to go back and Katsucon is highly unlikely because it’s relatively close to Chinese New Year which is a big deal to my mother (plus I’m not crazy about the idea of traveling in February). I’m wondering about going back to Otakon although I didn’t find the con itself that great when I went in 2006 or checking out the new Providence Anime Conference. Anyone have suggestions? Nothing too far away (I won’t fly) and preferably something with at least a few thousand attendees (I find it somewhat easy to get bored at tiny cons ^_^;).