Sailor Moon Couture Intermission

Instead of the usual rant of how the Cosplay is coming along and the research done to complete outfits and get them just right, I've decided instead to grace my BlogSpot with a quick Sailor Moon Gothic Lolita Couture. (Keeping it as amateur as possible.)

Also, all images were searched on google images. Links to the search engine's find provided.
Let us begin by starting with the blond Lolita wig.
Blonde Lolita Wig
Red Hair Bows
Pearl Hair Clips
The wig is a nice color, very similar to that of Serena's own golden locks, it is just a bit more pale in comparison. It is about 40 inches and very cute for Lolita style.  Styling tips would be to create odangos for the hair piece and to clip twin red hair bows to the front almost as substitutions for her odango covers, following with twin pearl hair clips above the bangs.

Blouse
Next is the Blouse. It is a MM Emmanuel Puff Sleeve Blouse with button up front, lace trims, a white cotton bow on the neck and a high neck collar with lace trims. It is elegant and gives Serena's usual sailor fuku and run for its money.

Corset Fingerless Gloves
Serena often wears white elbow high gloves, I thought, white gothic fingerless corset arm warmers/gloves with compliment the white shirt and give a spin on her plain white gloves.

High Waisted Skirt
The high waisted skirt is a Iw's Lilly Emblem Pintuck Frill Skirt in black. However, following Serena's sailor fuku, the color we'll pretend it is is navy blue or royal blue. To give it a puffy look, a white pettiskirt should be worn underneath. In the manga, Sailor Moon's skirt had a fullness and had lace underneath, we can recreate this with the pettiskirt.

Red Boots 

Lastly, are the red ankle suede boots. I had actually had to decide between two others, these, and these. I decided on the ankle boots in the end only because of my own preferences. Because of the length of the high-waisted skirt, a thigh high pair of shoes would ruin the look. (Sailor Moon's thigh highs work well with her mini skirt) And since the high -waisted skirt is long, a lower pair of boots would look nice. The second pair is much nicer, but I disliked the simple look, although it would also work well with the piece. I also think, because of the low cut of the boots, she'd be able to pull off a pair of printed stockings such as the ones above.

So, here we are. Doll Master playing virtual dress up.

Sailor Moon Cosplay pt 3

As the end of January comes up fast, the preparations for the Sailor Moon Cosplay are being properly constructed. Wig Styling being the first because of wigs being purchased online (and all 6 are coming from China.) Although it seems the actual cutting and sewing of the cosplay should be priority number one; it's actually the last on the list. Whereas, mediocre things such as accessory fabricating and posing and posing for photos has been researched first, as well as staying in character.

The Tutorial for Posing was found here  Behind Infinity. It's a Guide to Posing and Proper Convention Etiquette. I read this top to bottom, left to right, in and out and found it to be a delightful description and informative read. I think anyone who wants to give Cosplaying a shot or just wants do some research, ought to give it a look over.

However, I haven't actually tried this on Dolls as of yet.


I think letting the little ones ease into it during February until the convention itself is the way to go. And once I've done that, it'll be posted in another part of the Sailor Moon Cosplay, along with pictures. However, right now, I have them actually watching some of the episodes on loop and easing some of the dialogue into everyday life just to see if they catch on; that's what I've been doing.  I've said some things like, 'my cookies came out perfect and yours are funny looking, just like you.' and the more obvious, 'in the name of love and in the name of justice.' and got smiles and giggles from them. Remember, the 2012 sisters are just babies and if I had said anything not too blunt and obvious, they might not have picked up on it.

So right now...progress is kind of hiatus, since I'm doing research until I get a significant amount of cash to spend on my soon to be profession.
So, instead, read about how I turned into a young adult on the day of my voodoo magic manipulation day (FairyTaleVomit) and received Sailor Moon Volume 1 (shown to the right) as the best birthday present I could ever get! I literally got on my knees and cried. And I used the word 'literally' meaning that I actually did get on my knees and bawled like the little child I am. I also received the first volume of Sailor V, but I was too lazy to google a picture. So enjoy the Sailor Moon image posted.

But for those interested in what I've really been doing all this time. Here's a head's up. After Anime North, we're hoping to hit up Canada's second (hoping there is,) Lolita Convention, Atomic Lollipop 2012. I've been researching the Lolita fashions and coming up with dresses to hand make for each of the Dolls'  personalities as well as cute wigs to buy for them (to the left.)


So, don't fret, as soon as I get any money, I'll post all that I've bought and take lots of pictures to show my progress.

Sailor Moon Cosplay pt 2

It's only been 16 days into January and already preparation for the Sailor Moon cosplay is underway. I have been reading up on wig tutorials and found two great websites to use for reference. The wig tutorials will help in the creation of wigs for all three girls. I started with the wigs because I have no doubt  that making the actual costumes will be a problem. I am, however, not too crafty with wigs.
That tutorial was found here at HezaChan which was found through Cosplay Tutorial. Below are pictures from both websites. Instruction are not included, so if you'd like to learn how to do this step by step check out the links provided.

A Wig Tutorial Break Down and Commentary

Both tutorials had similar instructions of taking wefted wigs, pinning them to a foam head, straightening the hair if curly, then stubbing them and finally putting clear caulk around and on the top of the stubs to get them hard and sealed (shown to the right.)

They had to be tight and sealed off before they could be removed to create the stubs. The subs would later be used to hold the odangos and the puffy pigtails in the finished product.

(Although the hair here is pink, the same process can be used to create Serena's hair style, seeing as Serena, Rini, and Chibi Chibi have the same hair styles with a slight difference.)

The next step of creating odangos was a bit tricky. Taking styrofoam balls of the right shape, cut a small hole though the body of the ball and them hollow it out. This proves to be hard. Hollowing it out to big makes the ogando an odd shape and makes it weird when you sit it on your stubs. So I found taking your time to be valuable. Don't rush or you'll find yourself redoing odango after odango.

After that taking a bit of hair, tie a bit of  it off, caulk around the stub and stick it into the styrofoam. (shown to the left.) Using left over hair or extensions of the same color, wrap around styrofoam ball to create the odango look. This was tricky too, because hair strands kept pulling out. I assumed that I didn't caulk off enough of the stub. So, what I've learned is to get inside the hair as well. Get it nice and hard and firm (That's what he said.) Even use more than one rubber band to tie off the end. Extra precautions. Also using hairspray worked wonders to keep the hair, glued down.

In the end, the odangos ending up looking like hair buns and the overall effect was lovely.

Setting aside the odangos, I now worked on the long pigtails. I used the hair I had cut off from the wig and looped it around the stub. (shown to the left) It got a little bit difficult, seeing as there was over 54" of hair to wrap around with a rubber band. And then (thanks to my odango fail) I used more than one rubber band to make sure it wasn't going to slide off. Then I carefully glued (the easiest step) the odangos to the subs and made sure to cover up the extensions and anything else that would give away just HOW this wig was made. To give Serena's hair a bit of depth, I teased it. At first I had teased too much and she ended up looking like a blonde Hatsune Miku. Teasing was just brushing from the bottom up and then spraying and detangling with my fingers. In the end, the wig came out looking fantastic and the 2012 sisters and 0104 loved wearing the finished product. 

Styrofoam balls for Serena was purchased at Dollarama. A more triangular shape styrofoam was found at Walmart and a heart shaped styrofoam ball was created using three balls bought from Dollarama as well.

Sailor Moon Cosplay pt 1

Wikipedia

(Please note that I will refer to the characters in Sailor Moon by both Japanese and English names. Example: Serena/Usagi. If you are not familiar with...lmfao, who am I kiddin'? Everyone knows Sailor Moon)

Sailor Moon was one of the very first animes that I watched. Everyday after school, I'd rush home in time to catch the starting of the show and for half an hour, I'd stare at the television without blinking or making a single sound--too afraid to miss a single second. I longed to be like the female protagonist; fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight. I have to admit it, I had completely fallen for the Sailor Moon Series in every way. Even now I can relate to the blond haired, blue eyed air headed teenager. She was terrible with her studies, a big crybaby, but a caring friend. (Which is exactly what the English Theme Song states.) And even now my excitement and interest in Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts still exists. In fact, my Cospay Dolls are all introduced to Sailor Moon as their first animes, so that generation after generation of Cosplayers will know who she is and keep all that she stands for alive.

So again, she is my first choice to cosplay as well as my Dolls.

Sailor Moon will be portrayed by Cosplay Doll, Rorrīpop 0104, and Sailor Mini Moon and Chibi Chibi will be portrayed by the sisters Makkenjī 2012 & Samansa 2012.


The production of our cosplay will be as authentic as possible. All items will be handmade or sculpted.


For example, wigs have been 'bought' and are b'eing styled' by me, all in preparation for Anime North 2012. Two sets of cosplay clothing are in preparation as well. 0104 will be wearing Usagi's School Uniform (shown to the right.) It will most likely be made with broadcloth or a cotton blend material. Her brooch will be hand sculpted using either modelling clay, fimo clay or harden clay...whatever and it will be glazed using sculpey glaze coating. Shoes (aside from the wigs) might be  purchased instead of being replicated. She will not have a school bag.


 Makkenjī 2012 & Samansa 2012 will portray Rini (Sailor Mini Moon) and Chibi Chibi. They are
roughly the right sizes to cosplay them accurately. The only problem with the cosplay are the uniforms they will be wearing. Rini has a sailor scout uniform; pink sailor collar and skirt (shown to the left) while Serena's uniform is royal or navy blue. However, she has multiple uniform changes as she gains more power. Though Serena and Rini have been shown in their first Sailor Fukus. However, by the time Chibi Chibi enters the scene, Sailor Moon has her eternal outfit and Rini isn't even IN that season simultaneously with Serena and Chibi Chibi. (Anime only.) As if I care. Cosplaying is serious business and minor details such as those do cause complications for professional cosplayers or anime lovers.



Anyways, for the first few hours of Anime North, Makkenjī 2012 will be wearing Rini's school uniform (to the left) before switching into her sailor fuku. Her brooch will undergo the same process and then glazed. Her socks will be handmade, (a simple pair of white socks with a red bow stitched on.) Shoes will be purchased and she may not have a school bag.


Lastly, Samansa 2012, will cosplay Chibi Chibi. She first appears in Act 44 of the manga and Episode 182 of the anime. She's about two years old and so is Samansa 2012. Chibi Chibi is too young to have a school uniform, however, she is always wearing an outfit similar to Usagi's and Chibiusa's school uniforms (as shown to the right.)

Samansa 2012 will wear a two piece outfit. A shirt and skirt, much like Serena's school uniform. It is a fairly easy cosplay to pull together.


After that they will 'transform' into the Sailor Scouts. Deciding which sailor fuku to have my Dolls wear (as mentioned above) was a challenge, but in the end, it has been decided (subject to change) that they would all wear their original sailor fukus. (Pictures opposite school fukus.)




I have five months to get these cosplays together. Measuring, buying material, clay, glaze and sewing will be hard work, but I don't doubt my sewing abilities and my determination to have my Dolls become successful professional cosplayers.


(School fukus and Sailor fukus for all three girls, that's a lot of work.)
Thank you so much for checking out Cosplay Dolls. Hope you enjoyed yourself.