Steampunk Geisha

For the May 2012 expo, me and Onee-chan had decided aaages ago that we would do steampunk geisha outfits. Because we planned it so long ago we've managed to design, collect material and accessories to make it look really good and professional. We're going to go all out. I don't really see her very much because she goes to uni very far away and I don't have a car... But she came home for christmas and I got to see her then! So we painted the guns for our outfits...

Before and after shots of the guns, they were only £1 each from a cheapy shop!

Mine are the top middle and two little guns on the right image

Close-up of one of my guns I painted. We made them look

dirty by tissue dabbing them with black and a tiny bit of bronze paint

These are the goggles and mask which I will be wearing. I still need to colour 

them with bronze, gold and silver and the goggles are too big for my tiny

head so I'm going to be wearing them as an accessory attached to my belt

These are my belt and suspenders which I will be wearing. The belt is small but

the detail at the front adds a corset element to my outfit as I thought a corset

would be too much. The suspenders will be on show as my skirt is short at the front

but long at the back so their beauty shall be seen!

The parasol which is huge! I will have this with me but it's very fragile so I will have to be very careful with it... And then there are the boots I will be wearing! I love these shoes so much and they fit me so perfectly it's like a dream! They are originally sold on http://www.immenotyou.co.uk/  but I got them off eBay (^_^)

And finally this is the material which will be used to make my outfit. It's a mix of brown and gold and my wonderful Onee-chan said she would be working on it this week! I LOVE HER SO MUCH! I'm so excited!

For my hair I'm going to be wearing my black wig which I've bought a bun attachment for so I look more like a geisha. The colour is a bit off, but only slightly so hopefully no one will notice. The wig has a blunt fringe and is quite long but I've taken some of the front and stashed it inside the bun, and then the rest I've platted to make it look similar to dreadlocks (as is the steampunk way! As I did some research on the internet...). And I shall be posting pictures of it soon once I cut the fringe a bit. I have a very small head and the fringe goes into my eyes :'( .

London MCM Expo Oct 2011

This year me and Onee-chan didn't want to cosplay characters. It was kind of a last minute decision because we weren't planning on going, but in september we decided that we should because we love expo so much! Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ
The theme we were going to do was Wa Lolita. I'd describe it as lolita meets geisha and I soon got really excited. My colour scheme was black and white and Onee-chan's was red and black. I got even more excited when I was told we were asked to do a photoshoot once we were there by GDWass Photography! This was one of the contacts we had made when we did the Bleach meet. And this is one of her photos of me at Expo.

(Picture by Getty Images)

I could have added more to my outfit I guess. I think I should have gotten a better wig, or some proper lace to put in my hair. The lace I had wasn't really lace, more like really thin material and broke almost everytime I tried to tie a bow! I would probably also add more black around the costume or in the umbrella just to make the outfit come all together and match properly. I had a lovely time and can't wait for next expo!

London MCM Expo May 2011

For this expo, me and Onee-chan decided to dress up as characters from Bleach, an extremely popular manga which I also read and enjoy... a lot.

Actual Soi Fon

Me dressed as Soi Fon (middle, in case you didn't realise :P)

My Onee-chan kindly made me most of my outfit, apart from the shoes, sock and hakama (those enormous trousers I'm wearing). She made me the sash, top (out of an old Ralph Lauren shirt, stylish designer cosplay FTW!), the wig and the sleeves (which were made out of leggings (ーー;) ). If I had more time (and money...) I would have bought some proper gloves and probably thinned out the wig. It was quite thick and I thought it looked too big on my head. I would also get a better bra... That one looked silly >_< ... Cosplaying someone from a popular manga is so much more fun, so many more people recognise you and want to hug and take pictures all the time. The amount of times I was stopped was ridiculous! I will definitely cosplay a popular character some time soon. I also got to meet loads of new people from the Bleach shoot and it was really fun talking to people who actually new what Anime and Manga were. Unlike most of my friends who frown upon my hobby and think I'm strange.  ＿|￣|○

London MCM Expo 2010

This is me dressed as Road Kamelot from D.Gray Man and my friends (one of them dressed as Tyki Mikk). 

Don't diss my costume. It was my very first cosplay convention and I was really nervous that no one else was going to dress up -_-. My mum kindly made the petticoat/tutu which took her hours, and the velvet suit and tie I got from primark. I must admit that looking back on it, it wasn't that great and I could add so much more to it. And get myself a wig instead of dying my hair black with some cheap halloween spray paint that I got from Clintons... So cheap that black dust kept coming out of my hair and onto my face and white shirt that by the end of the expo my face, neck and bright white shirt were now grey... Not the best look. But hey! I really enjoyed myself and started planning for next expo. ^_^