イベントレポ : Connichi 2012

Hello everyone! Those of you who followed my previous LJ blog know that my con reports are always terribly late. And who am I to break this tradition? So, with a three-week delay, here's my report on this year's Connichi in Kassel.

This year's Connichi was different in a lot of ways:
For one thing, we didn't get to stay at our usual hotel close to the convention site, because they had -much to our ... dismay- cancelled our reservation due to construction works. Let me tell you that getting an affordable room in Kassel for the Connichi weekend isn't an easy task - not even when you search as early as January, which is eight months in advance. Luckily, our friend Sarah managed to find a nice guesthouse which was quite cheap and big enough for the five of us. The catch: It was very far from the convention site and almost impossible to reach by public transport. So this year, for the first time, we went to Kassel by car. It's a 5 hour trip from where I live and quite exhausting (even though I only served as co-driver for my sister), but it went considerably well. The road network in Kassel is pretty insane, though. The crossroads and roundabouts are huge and confusing and caused quite some frustration. The guesthouse was really, really nice. Very spacious, nice kitchen (only one bathroom, though), comfortable beds. If everything works out well, we'll propably be there again next year. After all, our hotel is already fully booked, anyway. Yes: 12 months in advance.
Another difference to the prevoius years was that Maddi and I had decided not to take part in the German World Cosplay Summit preliminaries. I can only speak for myself, but it didn't regret that decision for even one second. Apart from all the money and time we saved before the con, it was also wonderful to be able to really appreciate the con itself without having to worry about meetings with the organisers, additional rehearsals and all the emotional stress that comes with taking part in a competition. Even though a lot of people came up to Maddi and me expressing their dissapointment over our not entering I don't think I will take part in the WCS prelims ever again. This year made me realise that I'm not much of a competitive cosplayer anyway and I much more enjoy watching other people's skits than to worry about mine.


Thanks to these changes, Connichi 2012 was a very unique experience for me. Never had I had so much time to chat with other cosplayers, never had I enjoyed a con so much.

That's for the general valuation, let's proceed to the costumes and some more in-depth information about each con day.

My costume lineup shouldn't be a surprise, I already announced it in my previous post.

Friday

	Margaret (Persona 4) Friday is usually the shortest con day, so I decided to rewear my Margaret costume. I had made this (and my sister's) costume back in March. For more information, see my report on Leipzig Bookfair. We had originally planned to come together again as our Velvet Room group, but René couldn't make it, so it was just my sister and me. It was nice to wear this costume once more, since I really want to sell it but couldn't say "good bye" just yet.  Pictures below taken by evaYabai (1), Gildartz (2) and Maddi (3&4, edited by me) My sister Patapata as Elizabeth and myself as Margaret.
As expected, Friday was really short. We didn't get to the convention site until 4:30pm, but we didn't have any plans for that day, anyway, so we just checked the dealer's room (lots of plush alpacas and Nekomimis this year), chatted with other cosplayers and did some grocery shopping. Saturday
	Saturday - Wonder Woman (Odyssey) I was so nervous to debut this costume on Connichi. First, because I'd be wearing a comic costume on a manga/anime con, second, because propably noone would recognise me (the Odyssey arc never got published in Germany, afaik). Wonder Woman turned out to be really popular with the photographers and congoers, though, which made me really happy. I'm also really glad that, contrary to my expections, my armour parts didn't fall apart and the costume survived the day nearly unblemished. I've never had a costume that included that much craft foam armour, so I had been quite worried. For more information read my WIP post. Pictures in the 1st row pictures taken by Andy K., 2nd row by Niklas Liebig, 3rd  row by EvaYabai.  Picture No. 10 taken by Rose, picture no.11 taken by En-Ki.
Saturday was a blast. And hot. But awesome. I was expecting to feel (and be treated) like a "commoner" with my leather jacket and pants, but quite a lot of people recognised me as Diana. One women in her late 50ies (I guess) came up to me telling me that she grew up watching the TV series and requested to take a couple of pictures with me in which she posed like a sidekick. I also managed to have some longer  conversations with Aigue-Marine, who wore her beautiful Daenerys costume that day and later changed to her Wonder Girl cosplay, in which she took some pictures together with me (for most of wich I am still eagerly waiting). Speaking of pictures: I was very lucky to have had the opportunity to have mini photoshoots of sorts with Andy K, Niklas Liebig, EvaYabai, Rose and En-Ki, who each took breathtakingly beautiful pictures of my cosplay. I was told that the red fabric I used for my top looks great in pictures, because it kind of reflects the light in an very interesting way. The more you know! The only drawback that day (next to the sun unceasingly beating down on my leather jacket ) was that we didn't get to see Yaya Han's panel, because it was full. I wasn't so much interested in the panel itself; But I'd have liked to see her in person at least once. But then again, I'm not too sad about that, either, because it was during that panel that I had 3 of the above mentioned mini photoshoots. Sunday
	Frog Queen (original design) I was quite surprised how many people recognised me as the frog prince (given, the golden ball might've been a good hint). I was kind of shocked, though, how little people know the actual story and were talking about kisses and stuff when there isn't even a single kiss in the original fairytale. That's German cultural heritage! General knowledge! It made my fairytale loving self kind of sad. My sister had agreed to be my princess, but because I didn't have much time, I simply altered my old Euphemia cosplay from 2008 instead of sewing a new costume. She had to change back quickly, though, so we hardly took any pictures together. For more information on this costume read my WIP post. ↓ 1st row pictures taken by Des-Henkers-Braut ↓ 2nd row pictures taken by EvaYabai (1&2) and myself (3)
As usual, Sunday was quite short as well, because we spent a lot of time in the main hall to watch the WCS prelims. My feet were thankful, though. It certainly wasn't the brightest idea to wear high heels three days in a row. It felt kind of strange to experience the prelims solely as part of the audience, but we highly enjoyed the show. The Rainbow Riders (Team Germany 2012) acted as anchors and they were hilarious. Seriously, those girls have a tremendous talent for comedy! The overall quality of the skits was a bit lower than in previous years. About half of the skits was very, very entertaining and inventive, the other half, however... wasn't. In the end, Cherry Sky won with an incredibly well choreographed, action packed skit to Kamikaze Kaitô Jeanne. They were among my favourites, as well, and I think they'll make a good Team Germany 2013. After the prelims, we spent some time in the nearby park, where I got to take some pictures with my dearly missed Krone, with whom I hardly get to take pictures anymore since she moved away. Eva took some really nice pictures, as well. The day went by really quickly, but I'm happy I got the chance to talk to some cosplayers I'd only known online before, such as Salyu. I also (very briefly) met Sumikins and Rynn (Team USA 2010), who were incredibly nice. I'm so sad I missed them on the other days, because their craftsmanship is truly superb and I would've loved to see them in costume. We watched the closing ceremony, changed back and drove back home, where we arrived around 11pm, completely exhausted - in a good way.

That was my Connichi 2012 experience. I'm already looking forward to next year!


Con season in Germany is slowly coming to an end. There's only one convention left I'll attend: AniMaCo in Berlin, my local con. This is my lineup:

Friday: Frog Queen (Original)	Saturday:  Fionna (Adventure Time)	Sunday: Azusa Miura (The Idolm@ster)

I also had two photoshoots (Persona and Idolm@ster), which I'll cover in another post. Bye!


PS: I just read through this post (spell-checking etc.) and felt it was horribly unpersonal and flat. So here are some outtakes. Yes, serious business, indeed:






Am I pretty yet?

衣装製作中 2012年版

Hello-ho! It's time for my annual WIP post before Connichi.

Most of my WIP can bee seen on my tumblr, but once in a while, especially for bigger projects, I think it's nice to have everything neatly in one place, so you can actually see the progress happening.

This year's Connichi (which is the biggest con in Germany, by the way) cosplays are rather simple compared to previous years, mostly because I seriously lack time due to my upcoming graduation.

Nonetheless, both my new cosplays are very dear to me, because I've been looking forward to sewing (and wearing) them for quite some time.

Here's my lineup:

Friday: Margaret (Persona 4)	Saturday:  Wonder Woman (Odyssey)	Sunday: Frog Queen (Original)

MARGARET

Margaret is a costume I've already worn at Leipzig Bookfair. Refer to this post for in-depth information.

WONDER WOMAN

I've been a huge fan of the TV show with Lynda Carter when I was a child (I watched the re-run of the re-run of the re-run in the early 90ies), and loved the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve as well as Tim Burton's Batman movie adaptions (although, admittedly, they totally freaked me out when I first watched them). Live-action TV-series and Hollywood movies -  that was about all of my "exposure" to comics.
Until recently, that is. I think it was last winter when I was re-introduced to US comics through Aera and Boa, who's talking about the Batman series, the DC universe and the reboot got me curious. So I started reading. I began with Batman (pre-reboot; about #655) and found myself really enjoying the dark stories, twisted villains, witty dialogues and the interesting page layouts. I'd been reading manga for so long that I'd almost forgotten that there are other approaches the the medium of comics.
Remembering of my childhood heroine, I started reading Wonder Woman (#600), as well. Neither the storyline nor the art were my cup of tea, but I liked the modern approach the writers had taken. Later I read some earlier WW comics, as well as The New 52 series and was glad to see these were of  a much higher quality.
It wasn't until one fateful day and a Halloween episode of  The Big Bang Theory that I made up my mind about cosplaying Diana.
 
I would've wanted to cosplay her iconic starry-pants outfit, but I seriously lack the guns to pull off an amazon princess. Therefore, I decided on the Odyssey costume, which comes with long pants and a leather jacket, which not only is a good thing to wear on a con in September, but also would conceal the fact that I'm nowhere nearly as well-toned as Wonder Woman.

Design-wise, I decided to use Alex Garner’s cover artworks as a main reference, because it is more detailed.

On to the actual WIP pictures:

My first try on the pants. Considering this was my first time working with stretch vinyl, they came out quite good. Still, they were nowhere as tight as I wanted them to be, but I also couldn’t sew them any tighter, because then I wouldn’t be able to walk (let alone sit) anymore. Why? Because, although the vinyl I used is 4-way stretch, it’s too thick (read: not stretchy enough) to really do the job.
The failure made me rethink my fabric choice in general.

I was looking for nice, affordable fabric that would arrive in time for me to sew it. Instead, I found a pair of high-waist lycra leggings with a leathery look. Perfect. I cut them up to put in some decorative seams and then sewed them back together (tightening them in the process). It took me almost an hour to unstitch the factory serger seams alone, so I’m a bit unhappy about how the finished seams I put in are almost invisible in pictures. On the other hand, the pants are very comfortable. Extraordinarily so.

The top is made of two layers of 4-way-stretch fabric (because the red one is really thin) and has a shitton of decorative seams, as well. I couldn’t help but feel reminded of Spider-Man’s suit when I looked at the result, but at least these seams are visible, because I used a darker thread.
Putting on the golden straps and bias tape was a pain, because I made them myself out of stretchy golden vinyl. Anyone who's ever sewed a tube out of thick fabric and had to turn it right side out knows what I'm talking about. Nonetheless, I'm quite happy with the result.

The bulletproof bracelets (which are actually gauntlets in this version of her costume) are made of thick craft foam I covered with the red fabric I used for the top. I decided to make the actual bracelets and the glove part seperate pieces, so it’s easier to put them on (they’re closed with hooks and eyes, btw.). The golden pieces of armour are craft foam, as well. I love them!

The belt is made out of craft foam, as well, and covered in multiple layers of golden paint. I wasn’t quite happy with the outcome, though, because it looked too costume-y (even for a cosplay). What I really like about Wonder Woman’s Odyssey costume (in contrast to her signature starry pants costume), is that it looks like something you could actually fight in, so I wanted my costume to look more like real, worn clothing and armour. Therefore, I tried my best at giving the belt a slightly rusty, weathered look. I used the same weathering technique on the other armour parts and the tiara, too. The belt is closed with poppers (covered by the big red star in the back).

While buying the pants was a spontaneous decision, I had wanted to purchase a jacket instead of sewing it right from the start. I felt vindicated when I came across this pleather jacket on ebay, which I bought for 1€. Then, I shortened it, removed the zipper and collar and attached a new collar. I finished it with another set of decorative seams in the back and on the shoulders and by attaching the star shaped gems.

The shoes were another bargain, but much, much more comfortable than they look. I know, high-heels on a  costume meant for combat don't make much sense, but the artwork shows different kind of shoes and -more importantly- I'm not going anywhere wearing skin-tight pants and flats. Nuh-uh. The spur-thingies are craft foam. As are the tiara and the Wonder Woman emblem. Surprise.

Make-up test. On Garner's artworks, Diana's make-up looks rather gothic-y, but I decided to tone it down and go for a more classical, yet dark look.
Oh, and I love the wig. I was a bit sceptical, because I know dark hair not always works for me, but I really think it suits me this time.

The full costume at 100%. Or 99%. The lasso is still missing. I hope the one I ordered will arrive in time. If it doesn't, I have a plan b, which you can see in this picture.

FROG QUEEN

The Frog Queen costume is another costume I've been dying to do. Although I have already done it. Back in 2007, I was part of a cosplay group of original design fairy tale characters as the Frog Prince. The group was awesome, but everytime I looked at my costume, I felt I could’ve done so much more.
Now, 5 years later, I decided to revamp this cosplay. First, I wanted to salvage as much of the original costume as possible, but as it is horribly crafted and I didn’t like the fabrics anymore I chose back then, I instead started all over again from scratch. For the design, I researched different types of male and female fashion from the 17th-19th century and pretty much included everything I liked plus some pin-up style high-waist panties for teh sexiness.

I started with the panties and they were quickly done. They fit nicely and I like the colour of the fabric. I added some leftover lace for fanciness.

The stockings were a pair of tights, which I turned into stockings by cutting them and attaching some elastic. I’m really happy to have found those tights, they were exactly what I needed and I lovelovelove the design!
To cover the elastic I sewed in, I sewed some garters out of this really cute lace I found. The ribbons were a spontaneous purchase in a nearby penny goods store, but I loved the stripey-green one so much I wanted to use it on this costume, so I put little bows on both the garters as well as on the sleeves.

I had some beautiful leftover fabric that I wanted to use, but unfortunately it was pristine white  - much brighter than what I was looking for. I was about to buy new fabric, but Feder convinced me to try out tea dying first - which I did - and it came out great. On the upper left you can see the original colour, on the right is the new, champagne-coloured result. The difference is very subtle, but the shade is perfect now. Later, I also put some more laces on it. They’re leftovers, too, so I could only use them on the front, but the back is covered by the coat, anyway.

I had a hard time finding nice shades of green and red that would go well with each other, but on my second fabric quest I found this beautiful taffeta in light green and a nice, coppery red. The tailcoat is fully lined and hemmed with gold trim. I also love the buttons with the little crowns on it. I hate sewing button holes, by the way.

Some details: I'm not entirely satisfied with the sleeves (although I can't put my finger on why that is), but I love the lace and ribbons.
I hadn’t planned to use lace on the neckline, but when I found this one, I couldn’t help but to put it everywhere - same goes for the golden trim.
The fake pockets and the... er... bar in the back (no idea what they're called in English) are made out of leftover brocade.

The crown is one of the few things I salvaged from my old costume (see left), but I spraypainted it to a more brass-y look and also changed the fabric. Then, I added the veil (which used to be the jabot for my old costume, by the way) and pearls. Threading pearls is an oddly calming pasttime.
The whole thing is still abit lopsided, so I will work on it just a bit more.

The gloves and detachable cuffs have been part of my earlier Frog Queen costume, as well. The gloves aren’t made by me, but a hand-me-down from my great-aunt. They’re actually bridal gloves (I was told). I added new buttons (to match those on the tailcoat) and -surprise- even more lace to the cuffs. They’re easily my favourite part of the costume.
On the right you can see the accessory: A neckband (made out of the same fabric as the pants; the "gem" is an old button I painted) and two rings. I'd have fitting earrings, as well, but they'd be hidden by the wig, so I'm not going to wear them

Make-up: I had loads of green body paint along the edges of my face down to my jawline to give it a more fantasy-like feel. Unfortunately, 40% of the make-up became all but invisible due to the unexpectedly good lighting on my balcony, another 50% are covered by the wig. Oh, well…
Wig: The wig is actually my Garnet wig, which I sewed together out of two wigs (see WIP here) last year. I just slightly pulled it up to give it more volume in the back.

This is the almost finished costume. I still need to work on the crown (see above) and I want to glam up the shoes.

Phew.

It feels somewhat surreal to have all costumes finished three weeks before the actual con, but I certainly won't complain!