Madam Red, or the anime convention day II

I decided that I wanted to make one really elaborate costume for the convention. I spent days scanning anime on Netflix and requesting manga books and anime DVDs from the library. As I was watching an episode of Black Butler, I gasped and stopped the DVD.

I had found my costume.

Black Butler is a series set in Victorian England in the 1880s (or thereabouts. Anime is not too terribly big on historical accuracy.)

This particular episode showed the main character’s aunt, widely known as “Madame Red”.

YES! I could do a Victorian/steampunk costume and it would still be anime!

And since I’m planning on going to Teslacon later this year, I could actually wear the pieces again.

I already had the Victorian underwear - a corset, petticoat and chemise - so I could just concentrate on the outer layers.

Here’s the character:

 (I’ve seen this image all over the internet, but could someone PLEASE tell me who it belongs to so that I can attribute it appropriately and ask permission to use it? I hate copyright infringement.)

I adapted this Simplicity steampunk jacket pattern:

 

I had to make it double breasted and redraft the collar and hem, but it had the same basic shape.  I made it just a tad too short, though. Seems to be a habit of mine. Oh well.

I didn’t really have a skirt pattern. I just went through my books on costume history and adapted some of the pattern shapes to create the skirt. The fun part was the pleating!

Yes, I know that I am weird. I actually think pleating is fun.

Do you know what the secret is for long-lasting pleats?

Natural materials & vinegar.

Synthetic materials don’t take pleats very well. You really have to use natural fabrics to get that nice sharp crease. And if you spritz them with a vinegar/water mixture while ironing, the pleats will stay through just about any wearing.

I had the right boots already. I just made some spats for them based on a Youtube tutorial I saw years ago.  Found a red hat on line & trimmed it up. Made a white cotton and lace ascot.

I found a good red wig on ebay.  And then I found that cutting a wig is hard. The bangs especially And it’s not something that I really want to do again. But it came out okay this time.

And finally…the pics from the professional photographer!

What the heck am I doing at an anime convention???

I’ve seen a few animes and read some manga, but I am far from a big fan. So why would I go to an anime convention?

The costumes, of course!

A friend of mine in the local costuming guild got put in charge of the cosplay part of a local convention called Naka-kon. She asked me to help judge hall costumes. I thought “Sure. Why not?”

Then I realized I don’t own any anime costumes.

Horror!

What am I supposed to do? I’m NOT going to be judging costumes in regular clothes!

So I put my historical costuming on hold & frantically started researching the kinds of costumes that I could expect to see.  I figured that I had enough time to make one elaborate costume and two simpler costumes to see me through the 3 days of the convention.

I looked at the Naka-kon web site and found that it was also a con that promoted and taught Japanese culture.

Aha! Lolita!

I have always wanted to deck myself out in lolita-style clothes but never had an excuse. Well, I had an excuse now. Woohoo!

So I researched lolita style and found out that it’s actually segmented into a number of sub-styles. Check out this page for some of the different ones - http://lolita-handbook.livejournal.com/3035.html

 I liked the “sweet lolita” style, but there’s way too much trim for me to sew two dresses in this style. I wouldn’t have time. So I decided on one sweet lolita.

What else could I do for a simpler, quicker costume?

Well, I had a kimono that I made a few years ago. So I decided to cut it down into a top and do a wa lolita outfit. (Wa lolita is one that has Japanese traditional elements like kimono tops.) I also had a couple of accessories and some Doc Marten boots that I could combine with it. So I ended up with a wa/punk lolita combo.

There was a professional photographer (Ron Berg) there the first day, so I actually got pro photos of this one!

Yeah!

My favorite part is the fabric of the skirt. It's kind of "shabby chic" ribbon roses. But when I cut it out, I found that I made it too short! So I rushed to the store & found a pretty white trim of very similar style flowers. Sometimes it's the mistakes that end up being the best things, creatively speaking.

 

By the way, you can see in these photos how long my hair really is. Compare that to the very short curls in the post about the hedgehog style!

The Hedgehog Hypothesis

Based on the title of this post, I guess I’ve been watching too many episodes of The Big Bang Theory. Oh, who am I kidding? There’s no such thing as too much Big Bang Theory!

Anyway…on to the costuming.

To go with my curtain-along costume, I’ll be doing a hedgehog hairstyle. That’s the big, round, poofy hair in the pic I showed last time.

It’s basically a big afro with a ponytail hanging down the back. You make it by curling your hair in lots and lots of tiny curls and then teasing the heck out of it until it stands out like a dandelion fluffball.

Well, I have fairly curly hair anyway, so I wondered if I could get it to stand out without teasing. I used setting lotion & curled my hair in tiny perm rollers. After sleeping on it overnight, this is what I got:

You can’t tell from the pic, but I actually have long hair (just past my shoulders). The setting lotion REALLY worked!

So then I ran my fingers through it and threw on a fichu (scarf):

Wow! I might not even need to tease it!

I added a small extension down the back with a bow to see how it looks:

When I get around to doing it for real, I’ll run a comb through it to get it out further and make it more even. Then I’ll powder it. ‘Cause you don’t see many 18th century portraits of people sporting red hedgehogs, now do ya?