Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Fashion Monster Preview

This month  has been really hectic for me, so I haven't had a chance to really sit down and go over my last con and my new cosplay. It's looking like it will take me a while, so for now here are some pictures from the convention of my newest cosplay, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's Fashion Monster outfit! I am still working on her guitar which goes along with it, and as soon as it is done it will be posted. Everything was made by me :D

I'll have more updates for you all soon!

-QK

EOS Dolly Eye Blue Circle Lens Review

For many of my cosplays, I have used these lenses. I used my blue set for all my Luka cosplays, and will be using them for a few upcoming ones as well. For both my Alice cosplays, I had also worn the Dolly Eye contacts in Green, so I'm pretty familiar with this line of lenses. Since My green and blue pair are virtually the same but just in different colors, I won't review the green pair, and just know they are the same as far as comfort and all that goes. You can see how the green pair look by checking out both my Alice cosplays :)

Website Ordering

I have ordered a few pairs of these now, and had no issues. I bought them from PinkyParadise. For one of my orders, I ended up having to request a replacement due to one of my lenses being defective. When I contacted Pinky about it, they immediately dispatched a new lens to me, and I had it within a week. I'll get more to the discomfort portion of that story later, but as far as customer service goes, I couldn't have been happier.

Color/Enlargment

When it comes to standing out, these lenses take the cake. I had a lot of people notice them immediately, both up close and far away while wearing them. For cosplay I would say these are great. They help achieve a noticeable effect, while also helping you be accurate to certain characters. For example, Alice from AMR, had very unatural green eyes. They were incredibly large, and super green. So using these contacts for her cosplay ended up perfect, because the black ring around the edge made them pop like in the game, while the super bright green color also matched nicely. Same with Luka, who's eyes are a deep blue. Since these contacts are meant to stand out and not blend, they are great for achieving that dramatic, cartoony look. However on the flip side of that, you will notice that because they do not blend, your eye color underneath ends up showing through. This happens with almost all circle lenses, but because these don't blend it stands out a lot more in photos. Keep in mind however, that at a distance, this is not apparent, and people can very clearly see you eye color change. If you are looking for everyday contacts, or subtle color change, these aren't the contacts for you. For costuming purposes however, they are awesome, and highly recommended.

I will say the makeup for this one is exceptionally bad XD I ended up doing it twice, because the first time was so awful. I wasn't too terribly happy with my second try, but was short on time so it will have to work >.>

Comfort

Here is where things get a little sour..

When I first put these in, I had some extreme discomfort in one of my eyes. I took out the lens I was having troubles with, and checked it to make sure there wasn't anything on it, or that it wasn't inside out, and found nothing. I repeated this multiple times, trying it in different eyes, and got the same result. I checked the lens more closely and thought I saw an imperfection on it, so I went through Pinky's process of getting a replacement and was given one immediately as I mentioned earlier. However when the new one arrived, I went to take another go at it, and had almost the same issue with the new lens. I started to think maybe it was something wrong with MY eye, but after trying different brands,  I found the only issue I was having was with these. Even after ordering an entirely new pair when my old ones expired, I still ran into the same issue. It was never a specific eye or lens, they would just randomly hurt, or be so uncomfortable, I had to remove them. Eventually I got to the point where I would just leave them in and fight through the discomfort until it eventually subsided, which often took a while. While putting these on for this review, I even experienced the same issue, had to take one out, and after putting it back on a second time, suddenly it was just fine. After owning all the pairs I have, and experiencing this same issue with all of them at random, I really don't know what is to blame for it. So I guess the only advice I can offer, is make sure they are really clean, and if you aren't used to wearing contacts, you might want to wear some others and get accustomed to them before trying these out.

Another important thing to note about these, is that due to extreme pigmentation and the fact that they do not blend, you will get color out of your peripherals when wearing these. Also make sure to keep them moisturized with stuff like Visine, as they tend to shift when you close your eyes or blink, causing them to make your vision colored for a moment when you open them. This seem to be an issue mostly when they are dry.

Website 5/5

No issues ordering, and great customer service.

Color/Enlargement Effect 5/5

Perfect for costuming purposes!

Comfort 3.5/5  
Take care when wearing, and anticipate some discomfort.

Despite issues I've had with them, I would buy again, in fact I already have ^.^

Hope this has been helpful and informative. Let me know if you have any questions and good luck shopping!

I have a few costume write ups, a con recap, and more circle lens reviews on the way soon :D 

-QK 

G&G (known as Dueba/Barbie) A21 Grey Circle Lens Review

For my echo cosplay, I got to try out an all new color for circle lenses. I had never bought grey lenses before, so I had no idea where to start. The problem I ran into, was that a lot of grey lenses seemed to be made to wear for beauty purposes, so they weren't necessarily designed for dramatic effect. I did A LOT of research on this, trying to find good pictures of them on other people online, and after literally a few days of looking, I finally decided to settle for these. While ultimately I wasn't really happy with them as cosplay contacts (I'll go more into that later), I have been wearing them every once in a while on days that I dress up, as a nice enhancement to my normal eyes.

Website Ordering

I purchased these from Pinkie Paradise, which is where I usually order from. Ordering was smooth as usual and they arrived fast because I chose the more expensive shipping option since I needed them for a con. I found it hard to find pictures of people wearing these on their site which made the process take quite a bit of time.

Color/Enlargement

As far as color goes, I was disappointed with  these as cosplay contacts as I said earlier, but not with the contacts as a whole. For cosplay, they do not cover the eye enough to make a dramatic or noticeable effect. Since a lot of circle lenses are meant to be worn for beauty purposes, they are a lot of the times made to blend well with the wearers original eye color so they do not look super fake. So as beauty lenses, these are actually really nice. The grey color blended really well with my own eye color creating a very subtle color change, while the black ring around the outside helped make my eyes POP. For every day use these are a nice way to enhance your eyes, but as far as cosplay goes I would not reccomend them. It would seem I am back on the hunt for new grey lenses, but at least I found a really nice pair for everyday use!

Here are the pictures again of the contacts. Again I'd like to reiterate that I'm not an expert at makeup, but I am learning. I'm also still not having luck getting a sunny day to take pictures, since the weather here is so poopy.

The following pictures are not photoshopped and little to no editing was done so they look as close to real life as possible.

Comfort

I was able to wear these comfortably at a convention all day without any issues. The fact that the color is so far away from the pupils also makes them easy to see in without catching any color when looking in your peripherals. The only time I ever had an issue was when I first got them, because one was inside out when I put it on. It took me a while to actually realize what the problem was since I get these without a prescription. But once I did I felt like an idiot. Really though, these are kinda difficult to tell whether they are inside out or not, so be careful when you put them in, or really any circle lens for that matter.  Besides that one instance these were pretty comfy lenses and I often times forgot I was even wearing them.

 Final Verdict:

Website 5/5

No issues ordering

Color/Enlargement Effect 4.5/5

Great for everyday wear but not really good for cosplay.

Comfort 5/5

Wearable all day!!

Would buy again for everyday use, but not for cosplay.

These are nice, comfortable lenses and I would recommend them if you are wanting a subtle boost to your normal eyes. Hope this helps some of you out, and I will have more reviews for you soon! Naka is this next weekend and after that things will calm down enough for me to get caught up on them. 

Thanks for stopping by!

-QK  

Super Pinky Bright Red Circle Lens Review

Wig is Persephone from Arda :)

There is never a shortage of red eye'd character I want to cosplay. Obviously with my all time favorite character being Motoko Kusanagi from GitS, red contacts are kind of important to me. Even though Motoko's eyes change throughout different versions, there are still a TON of characters, I plan on cosplaying with those bad ass red eyes. So for a while I have been on the hunt for a good pair that I like. Recently while shopping for some for a cosplay, I decided to give the Super Pinky Bright Red contacts a try. As always I had trouble finding someone with around the same eye color as me to compare to, so it was kind of a gamble.

First pic shows my natural eye color

Website Ordering

To start I ordered the from Honey Color instead of Pinky Paradise this time. Pinky only had them in prescription for some reason and I don't require one. This was the first pair I ever bought outside of Pinky, and as far as customer service goes, I didn't have any issues ordering/receiving them and I would buy from again.

Color/Enlargement

The contacts themselves are big. REALLY BIG. I almost thought I wasn't going to be able to get them on my eyes. The enlarging effect is really good, and perfect for portraying anime characters, or if you just want big eyes that POP. I am totally in love with the color too, however like a lot of people who have lighter colored eyes, I had the issue of my natural eye color showing through when my pupils were constricted. You could really only see that though if you were looking up close. If you have very bright colored eyes, keep in mind that your natural eye color will show though a bit. If you have dark brown/black eyes, these will probably look much more natural on you. These are definitely noticeable on me, someone across the room could easily see them, but for much darker colored eyes yours might blend more.

Here's some pictures of them in some different types of light. I apologize the horrible eye makeup. I was in a hurry and makeup isn't really my strong suit anyway. I also apologize for not getting a direct sunlight pic, but it was rainy outside so I had no sun :(

The following pictures are not photoshopped and little to no editing was done so they look as close to real life as possible.

 My new DSLR turned out to be a solid investment. It takes nice detailed pics for this.

 Comfort 

 When first wearing them I found them to be pretty comfortable considering their size, however after applying my mascara, I started to notice some irritation. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, because my eyelashes were not touching them in anyway, and I didn't get any makeup on them. After a little while the irritation subsided and I was able to wear them comfortably just fine. I know a lot of websites say to put in contacts AFTER you do your makeup, but I used to do that and I ended up ruining my makeup 100% of the time that way. Since I don't wear contacts on a regular basis, I have trouble getting them in and my eyes water a bit after I do. I asked my friend who have worn contacts all their life how they do it, and they said they always put them in first. I've never had any problems until today, and I still don't really know what it was all about.

 Final Verdict:

Website 5/5

No issues ordering

Color/Enlargement Effect 5/5

They are big and the color is so pretty ^3^

Comfort 4.5/5

I'm still not sure if the discomfort was operator error, or the fact that they are so large.

Would buy again!

I'm definitely going to be using these for a while, and they are perfect for cosplay. I might just wear them around everyday I love them so much XD

Well I hope this review was helpful. If you have any question feel free to contact me!

-QK

Time for an Update!!

I suppose I am due for an update huh?!

After the holidays my year started off busy pretty much immediately. I'm already struggling to keep up with crap but here's what's going on in my little cosplay world.

I am unfortunately not attending Katsucon. I just couln't get enough people together to go. Next year I'm seriously going to try though!

I am attending Naka-Kon as usual.

For that I am working on this as my major project..

AWWWWWW YEEEAAAAHHH

Out of all the things she has done, I just couldn't resist this outfit. Mostly because of DAT GUITAR. I'm so excited to wear this.

This is what I have so far..

Everything made/altered by me. I will better explain how I made everything when the costume is all finished.


I'm also doing another costume for Naka, but due to some issues I've ran into I don't want to announce it just yet becasue I'm not 100% sure it will happen.

Just cross your fingers for me.

I'm also making another costume for Michael, and doing some work for other people so I have a lot on my plate >.<

As far as pictures go I am still trying to get caught up on photo shoots as well. The first one I'd like to knock out is Officer Jenny, and that should be done when the weather gets warmer.

Anyways I should be back soon.

As always thanks for stopping by!

-QK

Echo from Pandora Hearts Cosplay Breakdown

 Echo from Pandora Hearts

Echo was definitely not the type of character I'm used to cosplaying. Her personality is way more passive and quiet then I am used to. Nevertheless I was still for some reason drawn to her. I liked the transition from quiet/passive to ultra bad ass in an instant. After watching Pandora Hearts for the first time I really fell in love with the series. Originally I had felt like making this would be pretty strait forward, however it proved to be much more of a challenge than I had originally anticipated.

The first issue I ran into was the fact that Echo, like many anime characters, suffers from "Anime Proportions." You all probably know what I'm talking about here. In this case Echo has these freakishly long legs, while still being one of the shortest characters. This would be an issue for me considering I'm 5'8" and a full grown adult >.<

But by adjusting the pattern a bit I was able to make it some what proportioned to my body. Granted it meant making a shorter skirt than I'm comfortable wearing. Luckily I had some shorts to wear underneath..

The pattern was hand drafted, and I started off with the blue dress as a base. I wanted to have the white center peice actually connect the dress in the front, but later I decided that might be a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen, so I "faked it" so to speak.

 

 That is an example of the dress base. This is a later picture when I added the buttons on it, becasue I didn't get a picture of it initially. 

After making the dress, I decided to move on to the sleeves next since I needed the dress done to fit them properly.

Originally I got super excited about this cosplay simply for the fact that I didn't have to attach the sleeve to anything SINCE I HATE DOING THAT. But really these turned out to me just as big of a pain. Three failed pattern attempts later, I had things going.

 I marked my designs on it first using sewing chalk

On top of the strange design, this sleeve posed another issue for me.

Bias....

I decided the best way to achieve the look in the ref pictures was to use bias. I'm not use to sewing it with such detail, so it took me a while. I suppose the extra time paid off though, because the designs on the sleeve didn't turn out NEAR as bad as I thought it would.

My dog looks so enthusiastic..

After finishing the bottom I added a cuff at the top and Ta-Duh! My weird unattached sleeve was finished!

I made a second sleeve and then moved on to the front white piece.

I drafted the pattern and double the fabric so it would be nice and sturdy. After that I got to try the automatic button hole maker on my new sewing machine.

I got way too excited about this..

GAHHH I love that feature!! The old sewing machine I was using didn't have this and I had to do it by hand. I can't imagine ever doing one now without this! I made 8 button holes in a flash, and it couldn't have been easier.

Double checking to see if it looked right..

And there.. After that things were starting to come together. I marked where I wanted the button to go on the blue dress underneath. But before I could put the buttons on I had to solve a small issue. 

I needed the right color buttons.

In the ref pictures, they are a really nice periwinkle color (that was my favorite color as a child :3) the problem was in my local fabric stores, this color button only came with 2 in packs of 8, and I wasn't about to buy 5 packs of buttons just to get 2 of the colors I needed. I probably would have been able to buy them online somehwere, but I was short in time so I improvised..

So I decided to hand paint all of them!

I used acrylic paint to achieve the exact color I wanted. However the paint I used created some what of a powered matte finish on the buttons, and I knew it would come off with the slightest scratch. To solve this issue, I used a good old clear coat to make it shine and protect the paint.

The result was awesome! They ended up looking like I bought them that way.

After that the buttons were attached to the blue dress as illustrated earlier, and they seemed to line up OK!

The tie was also made during that time, which you can see in the photo. I just used some left over black satin and ribbon bias to make it. It attaches in the front with velcro :)

From here on it was crunch time, and I didn't get as many pictures. For the dress shirt underneath I found a mens dress shirt from the thrift store and added my own sleeves to it. I made hand pressed ruffles for it that would stick out of the blue sleeves. After that I put the finishing touches on it by adding the covered buttons near the armpit area and attaching ribbon to them, which ran through previously made loops on the detachable sleeves to the back where the bows were. 

In case you have no clue what I'm talking about.

While it looks like in the ref pics that the sleeve is held on entirely by that button loop system, I was worried it may not hold or sit properly so I sewed the sleeve to the top of the armpits on the blues dress just in case. As a result it was much more secured, and I was still able to move just fine in it.

 Test run!

After that things were pretty much done besides the stockings. I threw those together real fast and basically made them boot covers to go over my shoes. for this costume I styled my first wig as well. I used a Jaguar in Silver from Arda wigs, which can be used for another costume as well. My contacts were grey, and purchased from Pinky. I want to start getting in the habit of reviewing lenses as I buy them so look for that soon.

Photo by Daniel Ramirez. Do not use or alter without consent.

After all that here is the final result! 

I'm excited to report I won my first craftsmanship award with this costume at
Nebraskon 2012!

Guess all that work paid off :) This actually ended up being a pretty fun costume to make! I was very happy to see it come together and even more excited to win an award for it. I'm planning on wearing this again soon and hope to maybe get some pictures with other Pandora Hearts Cosplayers. I haven't seen many around my local conventions, however I did see another Echo cosplayer at Nebraskon which was neat :D

Anyways sorry for the somewhat abrupt end to this write up. The holidays are already keeping me really busy so finding time to update stuff is beginning to get difficult. But I'm looking forward to next year with new con's and new costumes :) 

See you soon!

-QK

Making Megurine Luka's Project Diva Kimono Outfit (Long Title is Long)

Due to the stress of making two costumes in such a time crunch, I didn't get as many pictures as I'd like to for a write up. Still, I think I have enough to get my point across. Again, this isn't meant to be a "how to" or a tutorial, but if these help someone make something, or inspires ideas AWESOME!

The costume is the Project Diva Kimono outfit, and was all made from a hand drafted pattern. I had some difficulty getting the right colored fabrics for this, but in the end I'm OK with what I found.

This costume was especially fun (sarcasm) considering it incorporated two of the things I hate most in sewing.

- Sewing silky fabrics.

- And sewing sleeves.

 SIX sleeves to be exact. 

In order to get the layers she has in the ref picture, I made 6 different sleeves, basted them together, then attached them to the main torso piece which you will see here in a second. I really wasn't keen on the idea of making 3 separate tops and wearing them together, so I made 1 and faked the layer you see in the front of the top.

 Top before sleeves were attached

 After that I drafted the pattern for the Obi and bow. I used interfacing for both to make them stiff and sturdy.

I followed used the same idea for Alice's obi on Luka's. It attached at the front and was secured with velcro. I then added button snaps to the bow once it was finish and made it detachable from the main piece for better transportation.

I also got to bust out the fabric paint again for this! I was able to use leftovers from my Alice cosplay which was convenient since jacquard is expensive and my JoAnn's doesn't carry it anymore (those assholes!!)
I really didn't get a good picture of the final product when it comes to the Obi's bow but you can see it in the final picture.

For the main skirt wanted to achieve the crinkle and gradient effect I saw in the ref pics. To do this I actually hand dyed Muslin fabric, twisted it up and let it dry wrinkled.

 I dyed the first section purple, then flipped it and dyed the other part pink.

Someone suggested I used starch to keep the wrinkles from falling out which I ended up not having. They did fall out a bit during wear but I will be going back to address it.

I think one of the things I loved most about making both of these costumes was the accessories hehe ^.^ I used some extra fabric from the hand dyed piece to make my rose clip along with some satin fabric and a silk rose. Both the giant bow and rose had metal hair clips secured to the back of them.

As far as the rest goes, the other black skirt looking portion of the dress was just doubled silk fabric. My shoes were some wedge booties that I made cuffs for. My tattoo was made by me as well using Papillo tattoo paper. I used it to make my friend Linda's as well after making the design in Illustrator. If you want a good tutorial on how to use this stuff check out Vensy's tutorial. I used it, and it turned out wonderful! Vensy is so great <3

Here is the finished product after all that!

 Photo by Mike Tinsley. Miku cosplay by Linda!!

There are still a few things I'd like to tweak on Luka. Otherwise I'm happy with the result regardless of what a pain in the ass it was. Hopefully me and Linda can do a photoshoot soon with these. Once again I Apologize for the lack of photos. If there are any details I missed or if you have any questions, leave a comment or get a hold of me on one of my other profiles.

Breakdown for Echo will be on the way soon. Thanks for stopping by!

-QK