Supanova Saturday

Next up was Supanova Saturday. I didn't have a lot of plans for the day, but I was there to support Abi in her stall. I did get around the venue a bit for some shopping though and picked up some beautiful Disney figures, a few pieces of artwork, an adorable pop figure of Tyrael from Diablo 3 and a new Star Wars Rebel Alliance backpack for Uni. I tried my best to restrain myself, especially now that I am not working.

I couldn't decide which costume to wear for the day, so I decided to do two. I started out the morning dressed as Mugi from the anime K-ON!. This time though, I wore the summer version as I had recently acquired a vest and replica shoes. All I had to do was cut the long sleeves off the blouse. It was a hot costume to wear on a hot and humid day, and by lunchtime I was ready to change.

Back to the hotel room and I got frocked up in my Margaery Tyrell costume - which I love but didn't manage to get any full length shots this time.

I did get a bunch of shots of the wonderful Seams Nostalgic Setup.

I also tried to get some photos of the other amazing costumes that were out and about for the weekend, but I don't like to clog up the shopping hall with stopping people for photos so, I didn't get as many as I would have liked to take photos of.

K-ON in Sydney

Late, I know, but I got the dreaded con sickness and have been pretty ill this week. This is probably the first moment I have had of clear-headedness, since I got back. I am tracking my whole trip to Sydney, including the the touristy stuff over on my travel blog if you are interested: http://pkholidays.blogspot.com.au/ but otherwise, here's how it goes.

Last weekend, I made the trip down to Sydney to stay with my fellow costuming buddy the wonderful Wendy. The intention, to visit Supanova - our round of Aussie pop culture conventions. I flew down very early on Friday morning to avoid the mishaps of last year (4 hour flight delay). Though, it probably helped that I chose to fly QANTAS instead of Virgin. I arrived rather early in the day and spend my time doing the touristy thing around Paddington (inner-city Sydney) before getting ready to head on out to the Olympic Park where it is held.

I decided to make it easy on myself and go light on the costumes this time so as not to stress myself out over luggage weight allowances or sewing deadlines (one was bad enough). So, for Friday night, I chose to re-wear my K-ON uniform. You've all seen it before, worn as the characters Yui and Mio, but this time, I decided that I wanted to be Tsumugi. The real difference between the characters in their school uniforms is the hair and the socks. Thankfully, I had bought the blonde wig some time ago, so I simply pulled it out of my wig box. The only problem I had was that being winter in Sydney, and nighttime, my legs were freezing.

There were a number of great costumes out for Friday night, so I managed to snap a few of them. I had planned to line up to buy some autograph vouchers, but the line was insanely huge - snaking around at least 10 times. There was just no way I was going to stand in line for 4 hours. But it was great to be there for the opening night, catch up with a few people and grab our weekend pass wristbands - to stop the queuing in the morning. 

A Supa Weekend

And that brings me to Sunday at Supanova. Again, another full day out and about. It kinda sucked that I didn't have a lot of money to spend as I usually do, 'cause I saw so many amazing things that I wanted to buy - but I held back. It was great to just wander around all the shops and encourage my brother to buy all the things. :P I ended up sitting in some really amazing panels - Barbara Eden, Rose McGowan, Adam Baldwin, Eliza Dushku and Yuko Miamura (the voice of Asuka in Evangelion). But we called it an early day and made the 2 hour drive home to Brissie - through crawling traffic.

Since I canned my Madoka costume, I decided that I would instead wear my K-ON! uniform as Yui, which I really love. So my photos to share...

And the other costumes from the day, including the panel with Yuko.

Supanova Brisbane 2012

And yet another Supanova has come and gone. In case I have not mentioned it before, Supanova is a pop culture convention held in Australia. We get television and anime personalities out and the costumers and cosplayers come out in droves. Naturally, I am there the entire weekend, and in costume.

It starts on Friday. I knocked off work early and got all done up in my Saber Lion suit for the afternoon. By far, this has to be my cutest costume of all. It's quite comfy in that I don't have to worry about corsets, however the sports bra that flattens my chest out underneath can get a little uncomfortable. It's also quite a warm costume - being made entirely of polar fleece (not the best thing to wear in spring in Brisbane), but luckily the weather had turned to wet and breezy, so I wasn't too overly hot. The costume was received well and I was actually recognised. Something does not usually happen with this costume in Brisbane. My brother and I took the opportunity to shop to our hearts content as there is a much smaller turn out on Friday, the crowds around the stalls aren't quite so bad. We made it to the opening ceremony where they announced that they are planning to have Eliza Dushku come for Gold Coast Supanova in April next year. Afterwards, we headed out for some Thai food before calling it a night.

Saturday morning, I rose bright and early ready for a full day out and about. I decided to wear my K-ON! uniform as the character Yui. The wig was a new addition to change the costume up from when I last wore it. It was a rainy and wet day, so I thankfully didn't get too hot in the full tights, skirt, skirt and blazer ensemble. Again, my costume was a success with many people recognising me. A couple of girls even said that my Yui was perfect. A huge compliment in my eyes. My brother and I spent most of the day in and out of talks. We saw James Masters, Felicia Day, Billy West and John Di Maggio. Best of all, James Masters let slip that he will have a reoccurring role on Warehouse 13 next season. We shopped some more and rounded out our evening by attending a small James Masters concert. He is a great singer and I really like his style.

Again, I was up early and ready to go on Sunday morning for the final day of Supanova. My brand new costume had been sitting on my mannequin ready for me to wear. I started to get ready with my mum helping me to get dressed. Then the zipper jammed. We soaped it up, got it done up all the way and then it decided to split open. From there, we had to cut the zip to get it off me. My wonderful mum then took the dress from me and unpicked the zip (I was by far too stressed and freaking out). I replaced the zip (not using an invisible one this time) and got all dressed again. Thankfully I was only a half hour behind my original schedule. I tell you though, that is the very last time I use and invisible zip - evil things really. But in the end I was determined that I was going to wear my dress - especially after all the work I had put into it.

It was for Lottie from Disney's The Princess and The Frog. For those who haven't seen it, Lottie is Tiana (the princess)'s best friend. It was a real chore putting this costume together. Underneath I had made an underbust corset to support all my undergarments and was wearing my mum's oversized crinoline and my full ruffled petticoat. The dress itself took about 4 mock ups to get the pattern right. The bodice has a sweetheart neckline in front but a full back panel with a sewn in collar and huge puffy sleeves. It's made of taffeta and georgette with a faille sash. I stuffed the sleeves with toy fill so that I would not be constantly puffing them up, and the collar has a piece of buckram lining it as well as a bone that goes from the top of the collar to the bottom of the bodice to help hold the collar up. I didn't want that thing to flop or go anywhere. It was so stiff and in shape I almost took out an eye. :D It does up with a zip and some hooks and eyes under my left arm. All in all, aside from the zip issue, I was very pleased with how the dress turned out. The wig itself was another drama that I will cover in a tutorial - but it did take me three goes to get it right. I knew that I had gotten the dress right when I got out of the car and before I had my wig on - someone pointed to me and said "hey look, it's Charlotte from The Princess and The Frog"

We eventually got to the event where I promptly lined up for my photo with James Masters. Afterwards I met up with my fellow big skirt and Disney crew. We had a Tiana (my cousin), Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, a Steampunker and Kaylee in her Shindig dress from Firefly. We were held up with photos for quite some time. I then spent most of my day wandering around the stores and catching up with my friends, two of which were visiting from Sydney.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. I spent way too much money, but I had a blast. I am looking forward to the Gold Coast on April next year now. The costume plans start now!