The first post of the month should be my bullet journal artwork but uhh… I’m still working on it lol. Here is a different type of post, my cosplay plans for the next 2 years!
I forgot if I already mentioned it, but I started to cosplay (anime and videogames and other media and culture) since I was in high school over 2 decades ago, even longer than lolita, and I expect to cosplay forever if able. I am not an expert and I don’t go for 100% screen accuracy, I just love the challenge to look and pretend I’m someone else by my own handiwork if at all possible, like many crafters do. Previously I would keep a mental list of characters I like to personally cosplay and other times I cosplay as part of a group so I cosplay whichever character I am suited for or was leftover. After the pandemic, I decided it was high time to start a cosplay notebook from these empty notebooks gathering dust which will have all my references printed out for easy access instead of me running to my PC or squinting at a tiny phone screen. So that’s when the cosplay goals list started ,because I needed to narrow down which costume images to print out.
I didn’t start the notebook right when the pandemic started, but in case you care, here are the costumes I did from 2020 to 2021
- Madame Yu (handmade 2020)
- Ning Yingying (bought)
- Kaeya (bought)
My previous list was for 2022 and 2023 (on twitter) and included…
- Xinyan (finished June 2023, concert outfit also worn in late 2023)
- Jiang Cheng modern hanfu (worn July 2022)
- Sakizo White Rabbit – Three of Spades (finished July 2023)
- secret fifth character???
My current list is for 2024 and 2025 (on twitter) includes…
- Qi Rong donghua
- Yun Jin (casual lolita worn January 2024)
- Sakizo Black Rabbit – Hearts
- Obanai Iguro
- secret fifth character different from last year’s secret character, (I dropped Xinqiu because 1 Genshin character is enough) and secret sixth and seventh character!!
Just kidding, I probably will finish just 4 costumes, if that many, in 2 years because of this hand injury, so I will push the secret characters to another year, maybe have a year of all secret characters lol. I also wanted to make alternate outfits if they exist so I can reuse the wig, and Yunjin has a concert outfit as well, but my attempts to thrift her costume failed so it’s currently not listed though I am still keeping an eye out for it.
I will obviously post more about the costume making process after I make the costume, but there are a few neat aspects about my current list that I want to point out. First, I cosplayed my own rendition of Qi Rong from the novel in 2019 to test making hanfu (on twitter), and while I can’t really reuse my old cosplay for the new one, I am pleased to see his official donghua/manhua outfits also included a fur collar, though off-white instead of black. Then notice how Yunjin’s outfit includes a similar fur collar, but obviously whiter and prettier, I’m brainstorming how I can reuse the collar for both costumes. Next, Sakizo Black Rabbit will reuse some pieces from Sakizo White Rabbit, mainly the skirt, maybe the corset if I redo the center front and shoes if I redo the heel and decorations, those shoes are hard to find. For Iguro and Qi Rong, I plan to rewear the hakama-like pants from Jiang Cheng’s modern hanfu even though technically Iguro wears navy blue, I guess it depends on how lazy I feel about sewing pants. Also, I could probably use old wigs for all 4 cosplays (my Yunjin casual outfit reused the Sailor Mars wig). Finally, there are parts of Yunjin and Iguro’s costumes I can use for future cosplays! I dunno, it just makes me excited to be thrifty and give old costume bits an extra chance to shine, as I am trying to cut down on waste and overall be more eco-conscious.
Anyway, I hope you’re excited to see these cosplays come about in the next 2 years. The first one is going to be Qi Rong because there I might go to a spring event where cosplaying as him would be relevant. After that is most likely going to be Sakizo for summer if I go to Okashi-con and Iguro for fall, assuming there is a fall or winter local con to attend. One of the secret cosplays ideally would happen in August and the other one in December, but they’re not as flashy and therefore not as important lol.
[…] I finally took photos of my quick 2 day make from 2024, Fern from Frieren anime/manga series. I made this for the Frieren-themed autumn/Halloween local art market in which they invited many English voice actors from the Frieren anime series. I decided 2 days before the event to make the cosplay because it looked simple and while I never made her mage staff which would have been her signature prop, I felt like I finished a recognizable costume on time and am pretty darn proud of myself. The voice actors and other shoppers thought I looked cute, too, which certainly made my day. This is one of the two secret cosplays I had planned last year by the way (original post here!) […]