As you might have read on twitter, life hasn't really been stable for me. I was living with my boyfriend temporarily as my apartment was unavailable and as it happens we broke up. This caused me to move in with my mom while my apartment was being renovated. Besides the stress of that there is a lot of sickness in my family right now (cancers and broken bones) so I have had to deal with all that before going back to cosplaying. I am now in the middle of getting back on my feet and getting my life together and I am ready to just enjoy life :-)
This of course means that I have more time for cosplay ^_^
As for getting back into my cosplay I have begun working on Weiss Schnee. In this post you will get an overview of the Weiss build and the planning behind it. Later, as I am building the cosplay, I will share my more detailed plans for each part and I will share my notes as well.
For me, a cosplay build starts with a lot of research. I divide the cosplay into different parts and plan the build according to my schedule. Usually the train of thought is as follows:
1. I divide the cosplay into different parts and I research each part separately to determine which materials, tools and techniques will be needed for each part. This step is really important to me as I otherwise would get overwhelmed with the whole thing, as most cosplays consist of many parts and lots of different techniques.
I am also not very artistic in general which I make up for with careful planning and researching!
- In this step I usually write and draw a lot on paper. I will show you these notes at the appropriate points during the build.
- This is also the time where I estimate the cost of the build and also figure out important deadlines for online shopping.
2. I start buying materials and tools I will need. This is to ensure that I spread the cost as much as possible. This process sometimes takes a week, and sometimes months ;-)
3. Slowly I start building. Usually I will start with fabrics and mock-ups. I usually start with the most time consuming part of the build.
4. While building I frequently stop and do a bit more research or evaluate what I'm doing, just to ensure that I am working as efficiently as I can.
5. I'd like to be done at least a week before the con, just to be able to redo some things and such. This almost never happens - but I try and plan for it, so there is room for some delays!
This is the overall plan for every cosplay I build. During the Weiss build, you will see this in a lot more detail and - I hope - get a view of how I think and plan my builds.
Weiss:
Meet Miss Schnee.
Weiss is from the Rooster Teeth animated series RWBY. I fell in love with this character during season 1 and have been going strong ever since. She is strong and dignified, but with a troubled past and difficult family relations and her look really suits what I have been wanting to do with my cosplay for a long time, so the decision to cosplay her wasn't hard at all.
So - first of all, let's break her down into pieces as to not get overwhelmed from the start.
At a first glance Weiss has
- A bolero
- A dress
- A wig
- Boots
- Myrtenaster (the sword)
I divide these into 4 categories.
Clothing: The dress and the Bolero plus the belt and her small bag (not shown)
Bought accessories: Wig and contact lenses
Shoes: Knee-high wedges.
Props: Myrtenaster, the hair piece plus jewelry.
Mind you. These categories will expand as you research - all these research details are included in my notes. But as an example - think of the wig: It is a long white wig - but to actually replicate it you first need to pick out the wig, then consider if you need extra wefts to hide where the ponytail attaches, you have to cut the wig, restyle it and then make her hairpiece. There are so many small details to look out for, and the wig is the easiest when it comes to that.
Clothing: I bought this pattern at a local fabric store and I will base my work on this and then modify to my needs.
Obviously the bolero need to have bell sleeves and a tall collar. The dress I will make as is, and then put a petti skirt underneath. This is the part of the build I am planning to do first and I plan on having the first update in a week or so. I will do a mock up in a cheap fabric first just to get to know the pattern before moving on to satin.
Bought accessories: For the wig I will buy Arda Wigs' Jeannie in pure white and perhaps some loose wefts as well.
The contacts will be the 'Ice Blue' from EOS
Shoes: I haven't really figured out the details for the shoes yet, but I will buy a pair of generic wedges and then modify them. My shoe-making skills aren't great, so look forward to that struggle ;-)
Myrtenaster: I will not go into detail about Myrtenaster here as it deserves its very own post when I begin building it. I am currently gathering materials for this and trying to make a space where I can actually work on it, instead of having to travel 1.5 hour to borrow my Mom's garage :-P
Basically, this is the whole cosplay planned out in very broad terms. As we go along I will go into detail about everything, but to do it here would definitely be an overload of information.
Also, if you want a more detailed explanation of planning a cosplays in general, write it in the comments and I will see to it.
So until next time
- Miliyia
Twitter: @MiliyiaCosplay
