2015 Cosplay Year in Review

What a rollercoaster the year was, with lots of highs and dark lows. At the very least I learned a lot of important lessons when it comes to both life and hobbies.

​2015 MILESTONES

• Cracked 10k likes on Facebook & 2K on Twitter. Thanks for the support!
• ​I finally cosplayed from my childhood favourite show Sailor Moon!
• Conquered my fear of leatherworking

Noteworthy Blogs of 2015

1. Wig Dyeing guide v2.0
2. Seashell Bra Tutorial
3. Are Cosplay Prints for Me?
4. Online Resources for Cosplayers
5. Get Organized

---

Costumes

I think I got a nice variety of costumes for the year. For more information about how they were made click on these links: 
| Queen Beryl | Bard | Five | Takane | Ursula | Ravenna | Dark Angel Olivia

WHAT I LEARNED

1. It is very satisfying to use materials you had sitting around for years
2. If your costume requires a specific bra, don't forget to pack it
3. Also, make sure said bra can actually be worn without the straps
4. Corsets aren't that difficult to make, they're just time consuming
5. Don't be intimidated by leather, just take your time because it isn't forgiving
6. Make your piping if you can't find it easily or for cheap, especially leather piping
7. Putting a big crystal at the top of a prop makes it top heavy and will make your wrists sore the next day
8. Balancing a big cross-like weapon on your back is awkward, especially in a plunge shirt
9. Don't forget to remove the pins on your armour strapping and actually stitch it together
10. Seashell bras will hide cleavage so you will need some extra lift
11. You can sew a mermaid tail in a car on the way to con. It sure can fill the time.
12. Multi-tone sequins shine different colours in and out of water
13. Secure two shoost for every costume whenever possible
14. E6000 fabric glue is great for glueing feathers to fabric
15. You thought you ordered enough feathers? Always order more
16. Don't trust the sizing on pattern packaging
17. Fosshape will go soft again if you fold it enough times
18. Feather capes are warm to wear in the summer
19. Secure your wings tightly
20. Pick heavier fabrics for costume pieces with pleats
21. Don't kill yourself by depriving yourself of sleep to finish a costume
22. On that note, you don't function properly without sleep
23. When you are not having fun with your hobby it's time to step back and re-evaluate yourself
24. Don't let the community pressure you one way or another
25. Life and friends come before cosplay
26. Cosplay friends make for great friendships
27. Google hangouts with cosplay friends sure help with motivation
28. You don't have to have a new costume to every event.
29. Heck, you could go to a con with NO costumes

Costume Expenses

Total: Approx $1,500CAD
​This is the total spent on completed costumes, it doesn't include money spent on ongoing projects that will be completed next year (hopefully). Much improved upon last year's $1,800. Hooray for saving money!
​My costume averaged about $200. Not bad. 

Most Expensive
Ravenna from SWatH at $363

This isn't really a surprise since this costume has lots of fabric and many many feathers ($130 worth to be exact). The wig and the lace fabric both cost about $45, so these are the biggest expenses for the costume. I really love this costume so it was worth it.

Least Expensive
TAKANE from IDOLM@STER at $83

I saved a lot of money on this costume by using an old wig (my T-elos wig from ages ago), plus worbla, an old bra, and fabric dye I had lying around. The most expensive part was buying all the beads - which I had to hand paint.

Favourites

Favourite Costume
Queen Beryl - Sailor Moon

Beryl wins this year for two reasons:
1. I was able to participate in a large Sailor Moon group with friends from all over the country.
2. I was able to design this costume and I was very pleased with the result.
It also doesn't hurt that I have long been a Sailor Moon fan and this is the first costume I have made from the series.

Ravenna is my second favouirte because she has such a beautiful design and I really like playing her evil character.

Favourite Prop
​Ravenna's Crown

I was beyond happy with the result of this crown especially since it's from a live-action source. It's probably also the best thing I've ever made with Worbla's Finest.

An honorable mention goes to my harp for my Aion Bard because of its strange shape and it was fun to paint with iridescent paints.

Favourite Convention 
Katsucon - Washington DC

I thoroughly enjoyed Katsucon this year because I got to see many friends from across Canada and the US, plus I got to collaborate with many photographers. This epic Sailor Moon group happened at Katsu and I don't think we will be able to reunite anytime soon :(
I'll be honest I almost put Colossalcon up here for the 4th year in a row but I didn't because I missed half the event including the great parties on Saturday night. I was only there for 2 days  because I had a wedding to attend for the rest of the weekend. Colossal is losing a little bit of it's lustre, so we shall see how it hold up in 2016.

---

Forward to 2016

As you can see I'm already well into my 2016 projects. I currently have 15 on the go costumes and I truly want to complete the bulk of them before 2016 drops a bunch of new pretty costume ideas on me. The plan is to use up as many leftover fabrics now that I made a fabric swatch book to keep track of everything.
​
For a list of my upcoming events and costumes you can visit my "PLANS" page.

​See you in 2016!

-MM