The End of Kera and the Gothic & Lolita Bible

Hello Everyone! Today I'll be giving my thoughts on a very sad topic: The ending of Kera's print edition and the suspension of the Gothic & Lolita Bible (G&LB). I considered making a video on this topic, but since I don't currently have any editing software and I know there will be a lot of crying, I decided it would be best to stick to writing a blog article.


 As many of us in the J-Fashion world have learned over the last few days, Kera and the Gothic & Lolita Bible will no longer be releasing printed magazines. After learning about Fruits magazine's cancelation earlier this month, this is coming as a very hard blow to many of us who have loved and collected these magazines over the years. While I only recently started to collect Kera and have one copy of G&LB, my original love for Lolita was due to a friend introducing me and my sister to the fashion and lending us copies of the English edition of G&LB to look through. I would never have gotten into Fairy Kei when I did if it hadn't been for my interest in Sweet Lolita and finding a more wearable option for day-to-day. Even though my introduction to Kera was within the past couple of years, it quickly became my favorite magazine and I was looking forward to getting more and more copies in the future. However, due to it's cancelation I won't be able to get any more after the last print issue comes out this month. I personally like having a physical copy to flip through when it comes to fashion magazines, though I can understand their decision to switch to a digital only copy due to the decrease in popularity of print media in general. I'm going to miss being able to collect new issues of Kera, though I will treasure the ones I have (especially the one with a street snap of Mana-sama).


 So with the end of three of the most iconic J-Fashion magazines, what does that mean for Harajuku fashion? I at first presumed that their closures were merely due to printed media being less popular nowadays due to the internet allowing easy access to so many things, but I might have been wrong. After finding out about the end of the magazines, I saw a video by one of my favorite YouTubers, Cathy Cat, a German Lolita living and working in Japan, where she expressed her feelings on the matter. To summarize what she said in her video, the generation of Harajuku kids and Lolitas that started and promulgated many of the crazy, over-the-top styles that Harajuku is known for are getting older and changing to more demure styles that suit them better or completely giving up J-fashion to fit in better with the general populace. Because of that, those fashions are not as present in Harajuku as they once were because the younger generation aren't wearing them. Cathy Cat goes to Harajuku a lot for her and Kawaii Pateen's videos, so she gets to see what's going on there regularly and she said that she's seeing less and less bold fashion present in Harajuku. She ends her video stating that in order for these fashions to survive, the older J-fashion generations need to bring the younger generations into our fashions and stop discriminating based on experience in a style.


 So, from what I've seen, I've gathered that Harajuku fashion isn't so much dying as changing. In the Keras I have as well as street snaps I see online, styles are getting more toned down and changing to more muted pallets instead of brighter colors like Decora or OTT Sweet Lolita tend to use. In the G&LB I got recently, I noticed almost everything in it was Gothic or Classic Lolita and seeing as how many of the original Lolitas I know of are getting along in age, OTT Sweet may not suit them as well as when they were younger. Even outside of Lolita, styles such as Cult Party Kei with more muted color pallets are getting more popular. Softer pastels are more in than bright colors as are black pieces and detailing. As to the end of Fruits, cancelation of Kera's print edition, and GL&B's suspension, these are most likely due to the drop in popularity of print media and could also be affected by the change in popular J-fashion present in Harajuku.

What do you guys think? What are your thoughts on the end of many J-fashion magazines and the style shift in Harajuku? Let me know in the comments below!

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How to Make a Uchiwa fan

 Hey everyone! Today I'll be showing you how to make a cute uchiwa fan. You may remember seeing one in a past tutorial I did and my promise to make a tutorial. Took a lot longer than expected due to sorting and editing the pictures I took after the fact. Here's a picture of my first fan:

Materials:

• Cardboard box (a cereal box or pancake mix box will work)
• Attached chopsticks (the ones that are separated won't work)
• Glue (One that dries clear to avoid mistakes showing)
• Scissors (regular ones and fabric scissors depending on your covering material)
• Clips (either binder or clothes ones can work. Wood ones can stick to glue though)
• Compass (the ones for drawing circles)
• Ruler
• Paint, nail polish, or whatever you wish to paint the handle with
• Cloth, paper, a plastic bag, or whatever you wish to have for the cover of your fan
• Ribbon or bias tape to cover the edge
• Decorations (lace, ribbon, rhinestones, charms, etc.)

Let's start off by painting the handle so it has time to dry before we need it. Using paint or a nail polish that goes along with the cover for the fan you're using, paint the chopsticks leaving a bit unpainted at the top so you can hold it while painting (see image below). Let this dry. If you used a matte paint and want the handle to be glossy (recommended to avoid splinters) go over the handle with a clear nail polish after the original paint has dried. Let this dry completely.

Leave room so you don't get paint on yourself!

Yay for creative drying racks!

While the handle is drying, cut along the seam of the cardboard box you're using and open it up (see image below). Determine the size of the box along the shortest part of the front or back of the box. Set your compass to half this measurement and make the largest circle you can.

Now, turn your circle into an oval by shifting the compass over a bit and drawing another curve outside the circle. I recommend using a ruler to make sure the sides are even (see image below).

Cut this out, then place it on the other side of the box. Trace a rough outline using the first oval as a template. cut this rough oval out, then line the other one up with it and cut to match. Once you have the ovals cut out, it's time to start assembling the fan. Start by figuring out how much handle you want showing. I held the handle about where I wanted to hold it when it was done and positioned the cardboard accordingly (see image below). Mark the cardboard at the sides and the top of the handle so you can place it properly later.

Leave a little extra room above  your hand.

Working quickly, spread a thin layer of glue over both cardboard ovals. I used a brush for more even spreading. Place the handle in the outline you marked an spread glue on its other sides. Sandwich the handle between the two cardboard ovals. Place clips on both sides of the handle, on both ends of the oval, and across from the handle to keep everything together. Place clips around the rest of the fan's edge while the glue dries (see image below).

After the glue has dried, remove the clips and do any touch up gluing necessary. Time to cover up the cardboard! Place your fan on top of the material you'll be covering it with and mark an outline slightly bigger than the size of the fan. Cut two of these out and proceed to glue the first side on. Glue it on in sections instead of all at once to make it easier to smooth out the material as you work. Since I used fabric for this fan, I folded over the excess fabric round the edge of the fan. You can skip this step and just trim off the excess if you use an opaque ribbon or trim for the edge of the fan. While waiting for the edge to finish drying, I started playing around with my decorations to determine how I wanted to arrange them (see image below).

Once you decide on the decorations, start gluing them on. If you have multiple layers in one place, glue each layer separately to keep it from getting messed up. Also, be careful when gluing lace and other such fabrics to not let it dry too long or the clip could get glued on too and damage the material when you take it off. Now you're finished!

The finished fan.

You can make all sorts of different sized fans by using larger or smaller boxes. For small fans, use a popsicle stick instead of the chopsticks and cut or break off any excess. Have fun!

My fans thus far.

All pictures were  taken by me unless otherwise noted. Please ask permission if you wish to use them. I'm on Twitter now! @animlolicouture

Japanese Tableware

A few years back a friend and I were at a Cost Plus World market shopping for some gifts for Christmas when we came across a set of Japanese tableware for two. Since we both had yet to buy a Christmas present for each other, we decided to split the cost of the set and each keep half of it. Since my friend liked the red set the best, I got the black set of the tableware. Both sets came with a plate, a dipping bowl, a rice bowl, a spoon like the ones at Chinese restaurants, a mat, and a set of chopsticks with a holder. All of the pieces have the same characters on them, which I unfortunately can't read at this point since I'm not any good at reading Japanese calligraphy.

The full set

Lolita on a Budjet: Hime Lolita

Who doesn't want to be a princess at some point in their life? As girls, many of us dream of being a princess and with Hime, or Princess Lolita we can make dreams reality! Hime Lolita is definitely a extravagant style, so it can be fun to wear on occasions when one feels like going the extra mile to look glamorous. Perfect princess hair and makeup is only part of the look, and here I'll show you an affordable Hime Lolita look using items from Bodyline! This outfit costs $114 to $167 plus shipping and handling.

The base of a Hime Lolita look is always an elaborate dress. I feel that this pink flared sleeve dress is perfect for the Hime style and it's got the added benefit of removable sleeves, making it so you can wear it as a Sweet Lolita dress as well. And what outfit is complete without a great pair of shoes to go with it? These ribboned heels are pretty and cute and give you an extra boost of height for that added confidence as you stroll along. I felt that a pair of lacy tights would work best with this look and was pleased to find that Bodyline! offers cute bow patterned tights. For that extra touch of glam, a pair of pink lace and bow nails is just the perfect touch. And for icing on the cupcake, put on a cute flower headpiece that is elegant and cute. Or you can glam it up and get a tiara, which unfortunately can't be gotten from Bodyline!, but can be easily found at stores around Prom season. Not everybody has perfect Hime Lolita hair or the time to do their hair up, so if that's you you can also get a Hime wig from Bodyline! in just about any color you want! I hope you enjoy this Hime Lolita outfit.

All of the items in this outfit plus more in this style can be found on the Bodyline website. No pictures due to the fact that I haven't received permission to use Bodyline!'s images. Check me out on Twitter.

Japanese Dolls and Geishas

Here's another one of my collections, this time featuring my items with traditionally garbed Japanese women. I have a statue, a doll, and a note pad in this collection (see below).

The statue features a lady wearing a kimono doing a traditional Japanese art: Ikebana or flower arranging. I like how delicate this statue is and how it mostly uses soft colors that all blend nicely together.

The next item is the doll. I believe that this doll is a highly simplified version of the Hinamatsuri, Japanese girl's day, Ohime-sama doll as it is in a similar style to other Hinamatsuri dolls and has a tiny fan, like the full sized versions of Ohime-sama have. I love how simple and small this doll is while still being very elegant and detailed.

The last item in this collection is the note pad. It's a very pretty note pad with a geisha featured on the front. The paper inside has a nice delicate pattern using different shades of purple. The outside has lot of metallic gold accents, making it very difficult to get a good image of the cover.

All images are by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Lolita on a Budjet: Gothic Lolita

 Gothic Lolita is the first Lolita style I tried and today is one of my favorites.The one thing I dislike about Gothic Lolita is that it lacks bright colors, so I enjoy wearing other styles of Lolita as well. For this Gothic Lolita outfit I chose to do an outfit that's mainly black with white accents to keep the outfit from looking too dark. For those that prefer an all black Gothic or Kuro Lolita, I'll do an outfit later on for that style. This outfit costs $120 plus shipping and handling. Let's go!

The most important part of any Lolita ensemble is, of course, the dress or, in this case the jumper. For this outfit I chose a ruffled jumper that comes with a matching katayusha, or head bow. I love that this jumper's cute yet inexpensive and that it comes with a head bow as well making for even more savings. For a blouse to wear under the jumper, I felt that the ladder race blouse in white would be the best since it allows one to wear the sleeves long or short making it a very versatile blouse. Since it's a white blouse it can also be used with many ensembles or by itself with a pair of jeans if you want a casual but cute look for every day wear. I thought that over the knee socks would look best with this look, but a cute pair of lacy white tights could be substituted for a more mature look or to keep your legs warm in winter. I love how cute all of Bodyline's shoes are and these are no exception! The triple bow shoes in black are very cute and I love the little heart shaped clasps on them. To top it all off, I thought that adding a few cute rings would be nice. My favorite ones are the black crystal rose and bow rings. Now add a petticoat and a pair of bloomers and you're good to go! I hope you enjoy this look and look forward to more in the future! Bodyline! is always adding new items, so there's sure to be more looks in this and other styles in the future.

All of the items in this outfit plus more in this style can be found on the Bodyline website. No pictures due to the fact that I haven't received permission to use Bodyline!'s images. Check me out on Twitter.

Gothic & Lolita Kodona Blouse

A while back I got a blouse pattern from Miss Carlyfornia out of a Gothic & Lolita Bible she owns. The blouse was part of a Kodona Lolita (Boy style) ensemble that included a frill, ribbon, and belts for the sleeves of the blouse as well as a pair of shorts. Seeing as how I barely fit extra large Japanese size blouses, I doubted I'd fit the shorts pattern so I only copied the blouse pattern. A little while back I took the time to actually make the blouse that was in the instructions since I'd only used the bodice of the blouse to make a puff sleeved sailor collar blouse. This time I altered the pattern to make it slightly longer as well as making the modifications called for in the pattern to give the blouse tails and enough space in the front to make it a button up blouse. Fortunately the alterations all turned out well and I was able to assemble the pattern fairly easily. My main struggles were with the sleeves, as they were in three different sections and I'd sized the middle section a little off, and the collar, which was a style I'd never done before. The buttons were also a little difficult making sure that they were positioned properly, but the part that brought me the most grief was the button holes. This is mainly because I'd never done button holes on a sewing machine before, but also due to the fact that the pieces for button holes decided to stop working for no evident reason partway through several of the button holes. Overall, the blouse turned out really nicely and it fits very well.

I'm wearing my new blouse with a ribbon at the collar and my loliable skirt in the image above. The blouse also works really nicely with my Gothic Lolita Pinafore by Miss Carlyfornia.

All images are by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Lolita on a Budget: Punk Lolita

Punk Lolita is probably my least favorite Lolita, but that is mainly due to the fact that I'm not especially good at putting together punk outfits. Also it's partly due to personal preference since I prefer more cute styles of clothing. Here I've done my best to put together a Punk Lolita outfit using clothing from Bodyline! exclusively. The total for this outfit is $142 plus shipping and handling. Let's go!

The asymmetrical skirt, in blue and black, is one of my favorite parts of the outfit as I like the way that the blue underskirt stands out from the black over skirt. The blouse was a little difficult to decide on, but I eventually found one that I thought would work nicely. This ruffled vampy blouse  in off white is very elegant, but still works for a punkish look. To add a bit of color to the top I chose to use this dark blue ruffled pin at the neckline of the blouse over the ruffle. For a slightly Gothic feel, I decided to pair the outfit with a pair of spiderweb print tights, but a pair of lacy black tights could be substituted as well if spiderwebs aren't your thing. My next favorite part of this outfit is the shoes, chunky heels with chain accents. I love how these shoes retain the more innocent look of the mary jane shoes while having a punk accent with the chains and little skull charms on the backs. The last item is optional: take a couple chous or scrunchies in black and put them around the top middle part of your upper arms as sleeve garters to add a bit more color to the blouse. Alternatively, one can buy or make sleeve garters instead of using the chous. If you don't mind spending a little more, you can also get some cute skull accessories from Bodyline! to match the ones on the shoes. I hope you enjoy this outfit!

All of the items in this outfit plus more in this style can be found on the Bodyline website. No pictures due to the fact that I haven't received permission to use Bodyline!'s images. Check me out on Twitter.

Poll for Blog Content

Hello everyone!
 I've decided to do a little poll to try to find out what my current readers and any potential readers would like to see more of. To vote, simply leave a comment below. This specific poll will close in two weeks time, April 24th 2013, so I would appreciate it if readers would avoid posting comments after that date. Without further ado, here's the poll!

What would you like to see more of on Anime & Lolita Couture?

• Cosplay tips.
• Lolita looks on a budget.
•  Recipes for cakes and other sweets.
• Tutorials such as for hair and crafts.
• My home made clothing.
• Reviews of clothing and items I have.
• My various cosplays. (I don't have many cosplays to my name as of now.)
• Other stuff. (List your ideas in your comment please!)

 Make sure to leave a comment below telling me what you'd like to see more of. Thanks for your feedback!

Lolita on a Budget: Wa Lolita

 Wa Lolita is one of my favorite styles of Lolita clothing. The cute kimono styled dresses, geta sandles, and traditional Japanese accessories all add to make it a style that is a lovely combination between traditional Japanese clothing and the ultra cute Lolita style. Today I've put together an ensemble featuring Bodyline's cute and inexpensive clothing. The total for this outfit is $115, not including shipping and handling. Here we go!

 

The Kimono dress is definitely one of my favorite Wa Lolita dresses that Bodyline offers. It comes in multiple colors allowing for different looks to be achieved, but I like the blue one the best since it reminds me of cupcakes. n_n I felt that the over the knee socks would look best with this dress since it ends slightly above knee level. Unfortunately, Bodyline! does not sell geta sandals, but they have plenty of cute Lolita shoes that would work well with this outfit, especially the blue and off white ones. The small flower pins Bodyline! sells are very cute and simple as well as cheap allowing for one or more to be bought to adorn hair as well as modded for use as a bracelet or other accessory. The pink ones match the best with the one on the dress. For an accessory, I thought that the Neko purse was a perfect mix between kawaii and the Japanese style. The drawstring allows for a more traditional Japanese look as well as allowing it to be worn around the wrist.

All of the items in this outfit plus more in this style can be found on the Bodyline website. No pictures due to the fact that I haven't received permission to use Bodyline!'s images. Check me out on Twitter.

Gothic Lolita By Miss Carlyfornia

So, a few years back I decided to buy a dress from Miss Carlyfornia after working with her on my Senior Project. At the time I commissioned my dress from her, I also decided to buy a cute Gothic Lolita pinafore. She was able to make me a very cute Gothic Lolita dress that allows for a wide range of sizes meaning that I don't have to worry about growing out of it as long as I don't go putting on a few hundred pounds. (I like food, but not that much fortunately.) The dress only took a few weeks for Miss Carlyfornia to make before I was able to go pick it up. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. The fabric is all cotton, making it comfortable to wear and keeping it from being overly formal. I love the fact that the dress is very versatile. The style of the dress is very nice allowing for one to wear the dress four different ways, forward with or without the skirt gathered up or backwards either way. The dress looks great any way you wear it whether by itself or over a blouse, with or without a petticoat. My favorite part of the dress is the eyelet fabric used for the under skirt. It's very cute and delicate along with the eyelet lace keeping this dress from looking overly dark.

 Overall, I feel that this dress was well worth it as it has lasted me several years with semi-frequent wearing. All of the seams have held up just fine as well as the ribbon, lace and fabric used for this dress. Just about every time I wear it I get complements on how cute it looks, even in non anime crowds. If you can, I highly recommend getting a dress from Miss Carlyfornia as they are inexpensive and very cute. Last but not least, here's some pics of the dress!

Miss Carlyfornia can be found on Twitter and Facebook. All pictures are by me unless otherwise noted. Check me out on Twitter.

Loliable Hairstyles: No Bangs

 Please be warned that this post has quite a few images in it. If you have a slow internet connection I suggest you stop the page loading once you can see the text, then loading the pictures individually as you come to them.

 Recently I decided to cut my hair so that I have long bangs that frame my face, but before I did this I was still able to do cute loliable hairstyles with my long hair. Most of the time I'd wear my hair loose, but I came up with a few pretty and creative hairstyles that are easy to do. I've decided to post tutorials of a few of these for those with long, bang-less hair to follow if they choose. My hair curls naturally when I let it air dry, so if your hair doesn't then you might want to curl your hair before styling it or once you finish the look. Even if your hair does curl naturally you can always give your curls a little boost! On to the tutorials!

Simple Clipped

This first style is by far the simplest. Begin by sectioning off a small piece of hair from in front of both of your ears (See image below). 

 

Take both of these strands and pull them around to the back of your head and clip them into place (See image below). Alternatively, you can braid the two sections together and fasten them with a hair elastic.

 Liz Thompson Hairstyle

This hairstyle is based off of that  Liz Thompson's from Soul Eater. I like this style because it gives you the same look as loose hair, but it keeps it out of your face. If you are wearing this style for a Lolita look, you can curl it and add hair accessories. If you are cosplaying Liz Thompson, straighten your hair either with a straight iron or by another method then put your hat on after you finish the style. Start by sectioning off two sections at the front of your hair like in the Simple Clipped style. From here, take each section and tuck it behind your ear (see image below). To make sure it stays in place, you can also criss-cross a couple bobby pins over the strand behind the ear.

Pull the remainder of your hair forward to cover your ears (see image below).

Mini Twist
 I got this idea from one of my friends who showed it to me when I bought a pretty flower clip from her. Start by parting your hair on the side. I chose to do a part on the right side of my head (see image below).

Now, section off a small piece of hair from the side of your part with more hair on it (this would be the left side for me)(see image below).

Next, take this piece of hair and make a small loop in it that rests just above your temple (see image below).

Finally, clip or pin it in place with a decorative pin on hair clip (see image below). It can be a little difficult getting the loop to stay, but you can always criss-cross a few bobby pins over the top and base of the loop before adding your hair clip.

 Faked Bangs Ponytail
 For this hairstyle we will be using sections of our hair to imitate long parted bangs. Begin by coming a section of your hair forward, like you would if you were cutting your own bangs. I already have bangs, so I pulled more of my hair forward than someone without bangs would need to. Take the rest of your hair and pull it back into a low ponytail, but don't put a hair tie on. (See image below.)

For the next step, twist the ponytail and flip it over your head. Clip it in place. I find it works best to clip it at the point where you would position a high ponytail (see image below). I used two smaller clips for this tutorial, but you can also do this with a larger clip. Flatter clips work better than rounder ones. For more stability, you can instead use criss-crossed bobby pins (pin smaller sections of hair instead of trying to pin it all at once). I find this to be more comfortable and longer lasting than using a clip if I'm going to be wearing this hairstyle all day.

Flip the ponytail to the back of your head and position the hair so that the clips or pins are covered (see image below). Your hair will be shorter than usual pulled up this way, so you may want to adjust it slightly. If you want your hair to be longer, take out the clips and then adjust the height of the ponytail. Don't pull it up as high as a high ponytail would go though as this is where you will be clipping the hair. Instead, position the ponytail at least two finger's width (or the width of your clip) down from where you will be clipping or pinning the hair up. I recommend clipping the hair in place instead of pinning it the first time you do this style so you can make adjustments more easily. This way you won't have to take out and put in a ton of bobby pins three or four times before you are satisfied with the length of the ponytail.

For the next step, we will be teasing the undersides of your "bangs" to make them stand up a bit. Alternatively you can use a curling iron or heated curlers to give your "bangs" more volume. Pull the "bangs" up individually and gently tease the bottom four or so inches nearest to your hairline. Fix with hairspray. The finished style should look similar to the image below. If any of the steps are confusing, please leave me a comment below and I will try to clear it up.

If you have any questions or comments about the tutorials, please comment below. I will only be able to do hair tutorials for girls with long hair, but there are many very nice tutorials available on YouTube. Some of my favorites are some of Venus Angelic's more recent ones after she cut her hair. All images are taken by me and are of me. If you wish to use any of my images please receive permission from me first and do not alter them in any way. The fan in the images is one I made myself. Tutorial for it will be coming later on.

Lolita on a Budget: Bodyline Clothing

 Not too long ago, I discovered a very nice, inexpensive online store to buy Lolita from. Bodyline has many different types of dresses, most for under $100, along with blouses, shoes, and lots of different accessories. They also sell some cosplay costumes too as well as wigs, making this an excellent place for beginner cosplayers, as well as those on a budget, to buy from. Many girls into Lolita can be found wearing Bodyline clothing such as Living Doll Venus Angelic. She can be seen wearing the Bodyline polka dot dress in her Real Life Anime: Kawaii Cupcakes video that she made a few months back. I have yet to order from bodyline, but I look forward to increasing my Lolita collection with their cute affordable pieces in the future. Look forward to outfits I've assembled using Bodyline clothing that can be purchased for less than the price of a brand name dress!

Computer Generated Videos

This is slightly off from my main interests, but recently I've picked up an interest in computer animation. I've started using Blender to sculpt characters and put bones, or armatures, into those characters. I haven't started animating these characters yet, but you can view some animations that one of my friends has made using Blender here:
http://www.youtube.com/ninjaobsessed

I have also been using a program called Miku Miku Dance, or MMD for short. It is a free promotional program to try to get more people interested in buying the Vocaloid software, which uses computer generated voices to sing to your own music. Unfortunately, the only computer I have that MMD works on runs really slowly when I'm trying to use MMD. Currently I am trying to figure out how to import the character files from MMD, pmd files, into a format that is usable in Blender so I can more easily animate the Vocaloid characters.

If you are interested in using either Blender or Miku Miku Dance, here are the download links. Both programs are free to download and use and many resources can be found for them on the web.

Blender:
http://www.blender.org/download/get-blender/

Miku Miku Dance:
http://www.geocities.jp/higuchuu4/index_e.htm

Enjoy!

My new Cloud Cosplay

For those of you who are Final Fantasy VII fans, you will most likely recognize Cloud as the main character in the series. For those of you who aren't Final Fantasy VII fans here is a description of the character:
 Cloud is the main character in the Final Fantasy VII series. He is a former member of SOLDIER, the army in the game, and now works as a mercenary who works about any job. At the beginning of the game Cloud is hired by a rebel group called AVALANCHE that works to undermine a large corporation called Shinra Inc. that is monopolizing all of the power in the world. As the game progresses, Cloud is caught up in a struggle to prevent all of the energy being sucked out of their planet. Cloud's weapon, usually called a buster sword, is a giant sword taller than he is, and he must use it to battle many enemies during his adventure.


For those of you familiar with the series and those of you who have looked up pictures, you are probably expecting an epic soldier-like cosplay. I will admit, it is pretty good, but it's not Cloud's usual outfit. For my Cloud cosplay I chose to do his outfit from Wall Market when he was infiltrating Don Corneo's mansion. For those unfamiliar with the game, at one point fairly early in the game Cloud has to dress up like a girl to get into the mansion of Don Corneo's, the mayor or equivalent in that area, to rescue his childhood friend Tifa and gain information that is crucial to Cloud's quest. Cloud was all for just breaking in, but Aeris, a flower girl he met earlier in the game, suggested that Cloud dress up as a girl so that the two of them could get in and rescue Tifa. Before they could do this though, Cloud has to talk to multiple characters to obtain items such as a dress and a wig to be able to dress up as a convincing girl.


So I've posted some pictures of my outfit at the end of the post so you can see how it turned out. I made all of the outfit except for the boots and that is my real hair, not  a wig. The Cloud face isn't my real face. Finding references for this outfit was a little difficult since the graphics in the game are not the greatest, but I was able to modify and combine patterns that I have to make the dress look the way I wanted it to. I had to come up with a pattern for the sash and the flared part of the sleeves on this outfit and am very pleased with how they turned out. The puffed sleeves look adorable and the skirt turned out to be just the length I wanted it to be. The sword in the last picture was made by one of my friends out of cardboard and duct tape. Please tell me what you think of my new cosplay!

Cosplay Tips 3

Hello all. This will be a continuing series of tips and suggestions I have for cosplayers and anyone interested in cosplaying or just dressing up for Halloween. I'll try to do a few examples if necessary for each of these posts. So, without further ado, here is

Cosplaying tip #3: When to Wear What Cosplay

I chose this topic for my cosplaying tips because of one of my friends. In my last cosplay tip I mentioned that I had altered a hoodie for a friend's cosplay. My friend wore that cosplay costume to a convention at the end of summer and got a case of heat prostration because of it. To help avoid this happening to others I chose to write this post as a tip and a warning.

DON'T WEAR COSPLAY COSTUMES WITH SWEATERS OR HEAVY JACKETS DURING SUMMER.

The main exception to this rule is if you plan on being inside an air conditioned building that is NOT overly crowded. Another cosplayer I met who was cosplaying as Death the Kid from Soul Eater at that convention was mostly hanging out in a less crowded part of the convention and highly recommended against doing a photoshoot in the desert in the middle of summer in a Death the Kid cosplay.


Another recommendation I have is to avoid wearing shorts, thin clothing, and other summer weather clothing at conventions taking place during winter or fall. The original shirt I had for my cosplay costume for Liz Thompson from Soul Eater was made from and old pair of stretchy pajama pants. As ingenious as this shirt was, I was freezing cold outside. And it was worse when I wore the same shirt with shorts for my cosplay costume for Patty Thompson, Liz's twin sister from Soul Eater. If you do wear shorts or a short skirt for a cosplay costume during cold weather, I highly recommend you wear pink or tan tights, depending on your skin tone. Not nylons, tights. Tights tend to be thicker than regular nylons and I frequently wear a pair of footless or convertible tights under my jeans when it's cold outside. They work very well for insulation without being too thick or bulky. One of my dance teachers used to take her old tights and convert them into a shirt by cutting off the feet and cutting a hole in the crotch for her head to go through. If you do this, I recommend using clear nail polish on the edges to avoid runs in the tights.

My New Bloomers

This past week I finally had the time to sew a new pair of bloomers. I used the same pattern as for the bloomers I made for my senior project, but I lengthened the legs a bit so that they come down a bit farther. I used the same lace and purple ribbon that I used for my other bloomers since I had some left over from my senior project. I had to take out several seams as I figured out how to make the longer legs properly, but it wasn't very hard for me to figure out how I should sew the legs properly. My bloomers turned out wonderfully! They come down to just above my knees and poof out nicely. Here is a picture:

Cosplay Tips 2

First of all, I would like to apologize for the long intermission between postings. I unfortunately had school take over my life, but now I am back with more posts. Enjoy!

Hello all. This will be a continuing series of tips and suggestions I have for cosplayers and anyone interested in cosplaying or just dressing up for Halloween. I'll try to do a few examples if necessary for each of these posts. So, without further ado, here is

Cosplaying tip #2: Make your own Cosplay- Choosing Materials

  Many people buy pre-made cosplay costumes, simply just to have a cosplay costume. I, being a bit of a cheapskate or broke most of the time, choose to make my own cosplay costumes. Another reason I make my own cosplay costumes is: quality. I see lots of cosplay costumes that use cheap fabrics that are poorly made selling for horrendous amounts of money. This has always bugged me because when I cosplay I always try to make my costumes look like real clothing, not just a costume.

 When shopping for clothing to use for cosplaying, I look for clothes that I can wear normally too. I also raid my closets to find clothes that I can use for cosplaying. One example of this is my current cosplay costume for Misa Amane from Death Note. A while back I had bought a strapless black dress at Love Culture that I recently realized I could use for a Misa cosplay. I paired it with a black camisole that I pinned underneath to give the impression of a strapped dress and some black lace gauntlets to make an adorable Misa Amane cosplay costume. Since I didn't have a necklace that looked like the one Misa usually wears, I just tied a black ribbon around my neck like a choker and wore my dog tags instead. And in place of black lace stockings I wore black tights. Also, last time I bought a pair of jeans I bought them with cosplay in mind. I bought a style that I could wear on normal days as well as for my cosplay costume for Liz Thompson from Soul Eater.

 I admit there are many cosplay costumes that can be pulled off with normal clothes, but many, like Sailor Moon, require out-of-the-ordinary pieces. Not many people walk around in a white leotard with a blue mini skirt on a daily basis. For costumes like this that have to be made, I highly recommend making your own costume or buying a costume made with real fabrics, like cotton or linen, as opposed to costume fabrics. Many costumes are made out of low-quality fabrics that are meant only for costumes. These fabrics not only look bad, but they don't hold up nearly as well as other fabrics. I admit for some cosplays it doesn't matter because the outfit the character is wearing is a costume, but many anime and manga characters wear their outfits all the time. So, let me ask you: Do you wear cheaply made clothing that looks like a costume on a daily basis? For many of you, the answer is most likely no. This is why I choose to use real clothing for my cosplay costumes. Also, real clothing and costumes made out of better fabrics hold up better than most costumes.

There are some cosplay costume parts that look like regular clothing with an anime twist. Instead of killing yourself trying to make the whole costume piece, use as much of an article of clothing as you can. An example of this is the jacket for a cosplay of the character Soul from Soul Eater that I revamped for a friend's cosplay. I started with a black hoodie that my friend had. I removed the seams attaching the sleeves of the hoodie to the body, used them as a pattern to cut out new, yellow sleeves, then attached the new sleeves I had made to the hoodie. I then cut out the shape that Soul has on his jacket's front and back and sewed them on to the hoodie. Granted I did this all the night before and on the drive down to the convention my friend wore it to, so it didn't look perfect. However, my friend was recognizable as Soul, which was good enough for me.

I apologize for the length of the post, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

Lolita in Anime

Lolita is rather frequent in anime and manga along with cute maid and other cosplay outfits. One of my favorite animes/mangas, Monster Princess/Princess Resurrection has multiple characters who wear Lolita all the time. This anime was actually one of my first introductions to the Gothic Lolita style. I automatically fell in love with the outfit worn by the main characters master, Hime, and have wanted to cosplay her ever since I first watched it. Even now I still love how her skirt has multiple ruffled layers. My lovely Gothic Lolita Pinafore has a similar skirt, but with only two layers instead of three.  Her sister, Sherwood, has an equally pretty outfit with red roses around the waist and an adorable crown that she wears at the top of her ponytail. A cute little cat girl character, named Hiroko, that showed up in the anime only had a different maid outfit in every episode. All of her outfits looked very Lolita-like with lots of frills and lace on them. In the manga, another one of Hime's sisters had a white Lolita outfit similar in style to Hime's, but without the tiered skirt. I, unfortunately, can never remember her name, most likely because she isn't seen very often in the manga and does not appear in the anime. It's unfortunate that my favorite character in the Monster Princess anime, Hiroko, doesn't appear in the manga and that, likewise, my favorite character in the manga, Hime's other sister, isn't in the anime. Some of the main things I dislike about the Monster Princess anime are that it is a completed series and that it did't go into the story in the manga very deeply. It is still an enjoyable anime despite that. Also, it's less bloody that the manga, making it a lighter story without as much death in it. In one particular story, there was a monster that controlled people's body's and sucked the life out of people. The main difference between the manga and the anime was that in the manga, anyone that had the monster control them died, whereas in the anime they were still alive, but only just. I like the anime better in some ways, but I also like the manga because there are more stories in it. Both are definitely on my favorites list though.

Dreaming of Dollfies

A few years ago I saw a very pretty doll at an Anime convention I was attending. She looked so delicate and dainty, I fell in love with her. I later found out that she was a Dollfie, an asian ball-jointed doll. Ever since then, I've been interested in getting one. Sometimes I'd look up pictures of different Dollfies. And then, one day, I looked at the price of a Dollfie on an online store. It was enough to make me shriek. Luckily, I didn't. I was startled that anyone would be willing to pay so much for a doll. My hopes of getting my own Dollfie were flittering away as fast as a bird being chased by my cat. However, recently I found that there are other doll manufactures that make similar dolls for much lower prices. My hopes of getting a Dollfie, or a cheaper imitation, were renewed. All of the dolls I found were still rather expensive for my price range, but I still hope that I can get one of these beautiful dolls that I can dress up in homemade Lolita dresses that match my own.