Recap: Arisia 2014

Sorry for being not around. I'm gonna come back eventually. But here's a thing I didn't get to post about.

I've probably mentioned that I've been attending Arisia since I has a child-in-tow, and this year I was able to go in my own right.
I was able to be on three panels: All Ages Comics,  Making and Modifying Patterns, and Cross-Cultural Costuming. All three were wonderful experiences, but very intimidating.

Your friendly neighborhood spider-lady is on the scene!

 In the All Ages Comics panel, I was not only the youngest panelist, but the only girl! I sat next to the moderator and was really glad that he made sure every panelist had a chance to talk equally. The only downside of the panel was a panelist's horrible word choice saying something like 'We've talked about a lot of great female characters, but now let's have some male representation'. Put me in a bit of a sour mood for the last few minutes of the panel, but I hope it didn't show.

The panel about patterning was nice, though I felt like I didn't know anything by the end of the panel. Everyone had so much experience and I have what,  not even three years. Most of the advice that I gave was things my sister taught me.

And the Cross Cultural Costuming panel was just as one would expect. It basically boiled down to don't be a jerk and do some research.

But all that is the boring part. There was a time travelers' ball on saturday night with some really well dressed peeps as well as people just there to have fun out of costume:

This girl here gets a special mention as my favorite costume of the night (besides my sister but she cheated) I've fallen so out of love with steampunk, but this outfit is so great.

The historical dance troupe I'm a member of did a Dr. Who themed performance for the Masquerade half time show on Sunday.

Complete with a Dr an K9

Most of the dances were really fun, and my trusty friend Sarah got some great pictures:

And while I was busy with dances and quick changes, I sent Sarah out to get some pictures of costumes from the Masquerade itself:

In all I would call this con a success, I kept myself busier than usual and it was nice.

Vote for Julia! (please)

Hey guys, I'm still taking a small break from my blog, but Sunday was a small costume competition at my local Anime merch store, Anime Zakka. I somehow managed to scrounge together a Sailor Jupiter costume the day of the event, after helping my friend make a costume for herself. I was super lazy and stressed, so I never got personal pictures of our costumes, but the photographer they had did an amazing job.
So First off, here's how the contest works: Anime Zakka posted our pictures on their facebook page and whichever costume gets the most "likes" before Monday (11/4) will win the prize of a gift card for their store. easy peasy, right? I'd really appreciate if my readers could help me or my friend win (you can vote for as many entries as you like, so also look at the other contestants).

 As I mentioned, I made this costume the day of, with some help from my mom (she had to sew me in because there wasn't enough time for a zipper). I still need to put the sleeves on, then closures, then I wan wear it again. You can vote for me here.

Winnie is definitely on my list of cutest Kiki cosplayers,and by far the cutest I've seen in real life. She even borrowed a little Jiji and a broom like the one used to save Tombo. You can vote for Winnie here.

At New York Comic Con

Hey guys. I'm at NYCC on Saturday, work on Sunday, and resting Monday, so I don't know when a new post will be.

Best of Bombshells

I'll admit I love the DC Bombshell series of figurines, but I seriously don't have the budget for them. Second best thing is finding the art and similar art on t-shirts which are much less costly and easier to show off to the public.

$18.95 at Graphitti Designs

I'd have to say that my favorite of the Bombshell series is the Supergirl. I love the bright primary colors and the patriotic background. also cute dresses are a thing I like, in case you didn't know.

$18.95 at Graphitti Designs

Harley here has the advantage of as well as being a bombshell, she is also riding one. The two-toned bra look is now pretty common for Harley, but is actually fitting here. I think the design is pretty strong and the "slightly dangerous" is pretty cute.

$25 at We Love Fine

Not a DC Bombshell, but still pretty is this "War Bird" Captain Marvel shirt.  Again, I love primary colors so I am a bit biased. I'm loving her shirt ans skirt, while her shoes leave me a bit confused. I like that while she has many similarities to the Supergirl design in her colors, her scarf, and her hair, both are clearly independent designs.


Graphitti Designs also has a Wonder Woman bombshell shirt and a Poison Ivy bombshell shirt, While We Love Fine has a Black Cat bombshell shirt.

College Night at the Museum of Science

So I got myself trapped in one of those "If I ignore my blog long enough, people will forget I haven't updated in a while" cycles where I wasn't doing anything in my social life and feeling really bad about it. I don't know when my next post will be, so no false hope for you guys, but I did go on a little adventure with some friends recently.

As many of you remember from last year, the Museum of Science has a night each year that's free to college students. I think last year they actually closed the museum early so the college students had free reign. I saw a few children this year, so maybe they kept it open still?

Here's my outfit:

I had wanted to wear something science-y, but I guess that's just not in my closet atm. But hey, I have a scientist, an engineer, and a doctor on my chest and that's close enough.

I didn't get any pictures besides these. Playing around with scale and size. I couldn't decide if I was supposed to feel like Goldilocks or Alice in Wonderland. I liked the biggest chair most of course 'cause it made me feel tall.
There's a Science of Pixar exhibit in the works and I thought the most interesting part was a real life model of a single room where you turned dials to change the lighting, then went to a computer with a CGI model of the same room and try to recreate the same lighting. It's really not as easy as I thought it should be since the lighting doesn't follow the same rules. There was also a display where tiny balls would be released down  an incline to show how CGIwater is made to flow using the same principles.

Oh and a short update in my life is I finally got a job, where being jobless and moneyless was part of the reason I was so inactive.

Wa-Lolita and Cultural Appropriation

I'm terribly sorry about not updating in months, I've been kinda depressed and unenthusiastic about everything. But on the bright side, that means I have a backlog of things to post about. First up is a long one that's been on my mind for a while.

As my twitter followers might have noticed around month ago, I went to my first Lolita meet-up. In honesty I was extremely nervous: my outfit was homemade, and I have met and seen very brand oriented people in Lolita; and I had chosen to wear Wa-Lolita, a subsection inspired by traditional Japanese clothing. I didn't want to be branded as a "weaboo" or seen as too costume-y, but I was in love with the style.

I never got a better picture with the parasol, so here's a selfie

and the final product of my hard work

I was really surprised by how nice everyone at the meet-up was. There were quite a few new people who I made friends with, as well as some really experienced members of the local group. Everyone was really impressed by my dress, and I figured maybe I had just been exposed to the wrong people. I, feeling more confident in the lolita community, looked on Tumblr to see if what others had worn in way of Wa-Loli since many of the girls I had talked to expressed interest in the subsection.

The most common phrase I found together with Wa-Loli was cultural appropriation. This was all soon after the whole Lone Ranger fiasco with teenage girls dressing up in what they thought of as Native American attire (suede with fringe and feather headdresses) to match Johny Depp's character, so the term was already on my radar. It was really surprising how vocal some people were, arguing to never wear wa-loli because it is cultural appropriation and offensive and bad and on the same level as wearing a geisha costume for Halloween. It got me thinking "had I just done a bad thing?"

My answer is no. I don't think I've done anything offensive. My first reason is tied to what Wa-Lolita is. As I stated earlier, Wa-Lolita is a subsection of the Lolita street fashion. Lolita originated in Japan and is designed to mimic European fashions usually from the Victorian era or the Rococo period. Wa-Lolita is a fusion of the Japanese kimono with the aesthetics and silhouette of Lolita fashion. Wa-Lolita is not a cultural symbol, but a fashion style.

"But in changing the kimono, a cultural symbol in Japan, you are being disrespectful."
I have been interested in and casually studying Japanese culture for five or so years. I researched how kimonos are made in order to make the pattern for this dress. Honestly, kimonos are not taken very strictly anymore. There are few rules, all of which I adhered to such as only closing it left-over-right and giving it as close to an accurate a fit as I could with my body type. There are kimonos for special occasions, sure, but I had based mine on the Yukata, which is a very casual garment. With the obi, I looked to find if there were any rules, but as far as I could find, it all comes down to aesthetics fro color and skill for the knot. There are even obi belts that hook closed with knots or bows that get hooked on the back

Along with the actual kimono, I paid close attention to what Japanese Wa-Lolita dresses look like. Here are some examples:

Wa-Lolita with a plaid print and accenting "obi" and underskirt (similar to what I had done) from Bodyline

Wa-Lolita with a traditionally Lolita print from Bodyline

various Wa-Lolita from Japanese brand Lacrima

Wa-Lolita scan from a Gosurori magazine

I'm not trying to argue that just because a culture changes or misuses a piece of clothing or a symbol, it is then acceptable for everyone to do the same. I am just saying that before you try to argue that something is offensive to a culture, you should first learn if it is offensive. In the case of teenage girls wearing feather headdresses which are not only a ceremonial garment, but are also earned, that is totally a case of cultural appropriation which is very offensive. In the case of me, a white girl, wearing wa-lolita, it could be cultural appropriation in it's most basic definition. There are many reasons why I would be surprised if a Japanese person came up to me telling me that what I was wearing was offensive, but if that did happen I would retire this outfit. If someone from an altogether different culture tried to say that I was offending Japanese people with this dress, I would instead explain to them all the points I mentioned in this blog post.

While I can understand people being cautious about accidentally offending people, there are some people who I think are a bit too trigger happy about calling something offensive (to somebody else).

Sailor Moon's Miracle Romance Cosmetics

In celebration of Sailor Moon's 20th anniversary, Bandai is releasing various Sailor Moon inspired cosmetics.
First to be released was a reproduction of Sailor Moon's transformation compact. It appears to come on a golden chain so it can be worn as a necklace.

Even the pressed powder inside is reproducing the inner design shown in the anime.

 

 The second part which hasn't gotten quite as much media attention is a nail polish set recreating the colors shown in the transformation sequences. I understand that it's not as recognizable in practice, but personally I would find it more useful. 

The individual bottles are super cute, so I'd probably end up trying to recreate the colors and refill them if they ran out.

If you can read Japanese, you can find more information here, and the bottom of the page has links to other anime inspired cosmetic lines.