Banzai!

Last week I said I might post pictures of our costumes for anime banzai. I am actually feeling positive about them so I decided I would. For those who don't know, Moose and I are going as characters from the anime series, GUNDAM WING. I am pleased to say that I don't have as much work to do. I still have to make our trousers, but the trousers don't have trimmings so they shouldn't take too long. I have roughly 2 1/2 weeks left to finish them.

And now for a side note. Lately, when my friends learn I am making costumes for an anime convention they say "Have you seen HEROES OF COSPLAY?" This is a show on SyFy that follows dedicated cosplay artists as they tour around conventions. (If you are interested there are three episodes available on the SyFy website.) These people are crazy. They build insane costumes in less than a week. And Moose and I are hooked. Granted as we sit in our living room sewing and trying to build things out of cardboard with hot glue, we feel rather inadequate. Yet, every year my costumes get a little better. In ten years I may be comparable to what they do.

So back to the costumes. I have posted the actual characters and then what I have accomplished so far. My coat looks better on me than it does on the hanger, surprise surprise. Moose's costume is missing the buttons. I still have to do the fancy shoulder details as well. All-in-all, I am quite pleased. The other nice thing is that my costume is actually quite comfortable. I think this is the best costume I've done for myself.

As a side note we also watch PROJECT RUNWAY and FACEOFF. Between all of the shows we've gotten really good ideas for different aspects of costuming.