Minilmalist WIP | Minimalism vs Cosplay - An unusual battle of extremes

Minimalism has changed my life in many ways. I am sure many are bored to hear the same thing. But it is true, this lifestyle will not only change the way how you live in general but it will change the way you think. Individuals who have converted to or casually followed this lifestyle can easily tell you how it has impacted them in how they see things now. One of the major change in us minimalists is ethics.

At least to me, the ethics in the clothing making industry - or simply fast fashion - affects me greatly. I am in no way an expert in this topic nor I have the figures to argue with you, so I will leave the floor to the people I follow on YouTube to provide some insight on it:

• My Green Closet on “Affordable Sustainable Fashion - Conscious Shopping”
• TED x Talks on “Fast Fashion’s Effect on People, The Planet, & You” by Patrick Woodyard

For now, I’ll give you two of my favourite channels - there are more, but you can start with those. I am not necessarily an avid fashion-oriented consumer, but I used to be in that fast and cheap fashion trap. After learning the things involving how a single garment is made - I recently have changed the way on how I shop or obtain wardrobe items. I started to accept hand-me-downs and go to thrift shops.

In case you are curious, the thrift shops I mainly shop at are Beacon’s Closet and No Relations Vintage in Brooklyn, NY.

Now, the reason why I brought up this topic is because I enjoy cosplay. For readers not familiar with this term, a cosplayer is simply a person who dons a costume of fictional character. And the term “cosplay” refers to the exhibit of the costume - it comes from the words “costume” and “play”. This hobby is mainly appreciated and practiced by audiences who like Japanese animation, a.k.a. Anime. In the early 2000s, cosplay was steadily on the rise, especially in Japan. However, it wasn’t as popular in the west - it was not surprising that the availability of these costumes are non-existent. The only way to have access to a costume was to make it.

When I first started cosplaying, I did what most in the cosplay community would now frown upon, closet cosplay. Which is to use what you have in your closet or ready made clothes (bought from stores) to wear as a costume that in a way are similar to the character you are intending to portray. From what I have heard, most have started like that - so I did not pay too much attention it. After my first closet cosplay, I decided to invest in a sewing machine and start to make my own costumes from then on - that lasted about two years - and resulted in 10+ costumes! What a ride!

Now that my views in regards to cosplay has changed, it certainly made me question my hobby a lot. Cosplay has definitely made me a more skilled person, I can mend my own clothes, know how to operate a sewing machine and a serger, alter clothing items, make cloth items, etc. It has given me fun and sad memories. The list can go on, but I digress - the point I want to make is that cosplay has made me hoarder for keeping around all the unused fabrics, scraps, mock costumes, buttons, two sewing machines, wigs, costumes, makeup, etc. for about 4 years.

I live with roommates, and in the past, I was told multiple times that I have way too many things for one person. Why I didn’t listen to them?  To a person who lives on his/her own, collection of things and hoarding things are practically a dead weight. It is hard to move around with a mountain of things. And living on my own, even without the hobby, there are other things that are essential in my life that I still have to keep with me whenever I move. To tie this in with fast fashion, this hobby also creates a lot of waste - textile waste is one of the major pollutants on the planet. Therefore I do not want to add on to the pollution problem... or at least try reduce the amount of waste I am producing.

I am in no way trying to condemn the hobby, I LOVE cosplay - the hobby sparks a unique joy in me that no other hobbies can - but now it is time for me to think of other ways to compromise it with my new lifestyle and values.

Currently, I do not cosplay often. It is simply a hobby I only enjoy with friends and attending conventions. I used to own about 10+ costumes and possibly 20+ wigs - and since I have started practicing minimalism, I have donated or sold most of my handmade costumes and wigs. I freed myself from the ones I am not satisfied with, ones I do not want to wear anymore, and ones that I have bitter memories of. I have only kept the ones that are my favorite ones and comfortable ones.

Here are the methods on how I would want to approach cosplay as a minimalist:

• Purchase second hand costumes from other cosplayers;
• Closet cosplay;
• Thrift and alter clothing into cosplay (in Japan cosplayers used to be very creative and make their own version/interpretation of a character); and
• Re-use old favorite cosplays.

I have also been looking into @fabscrap on Instagram - FABSCRAP is an organization in NYC (yay! it's near me) that provides pickup and recycling of fabric scraps from design, fashion, and entertainment companies. I believe one can volunteer and get some of the fabrics fer free :D I may give it a try one day!

If you have other suggestions - please kindly let me know!

Cosplay Progress: Avatar/Legend of Korra: Air bender/nomad Costume

As a follow up from my last post about a month and a half ago - I have finally finished the Airberder/nomad costume! I was so happy with the results.

Trying to do the tree pose but failed because I was falling while taking a picture.

Fabric choices: *Please bear in mind that decisions on my fabric purchases may be due to limited color choices or fabric quality* Another thing I would always consider is when I plan to wear the costume (e.g. fall, spring, summer, etc)

Orange (cape/sash/cuff) - I went with a medium heavy cotton blend, I believe I bought it as a white fabric and dyed it into the desired orange color. The reason why I would decided to custom dye my fabrics is usually due to the lack of fabric color choices that did not meet my desired color shade/tones; or maybe the color I needed did not offer the quality I look for. Tip: always go for a lighter color or white fabric to custom dye your fabric.

Yellow (top/trousers) - Not very sure of the name of the fabric but it feels like a satin and cotton blend - no stretch. Though I wish the yellow fabric did have some stretch because it was somewhat difficult to wear, especially trying to fit my head through the collar. Overall it was easy to work with and the weight and quality of the fabric met my needs. 

Maroon - I purchased a pair of tights. Particularly thick tights with some lining inside. That is because I am planning to wear it during the fall - when I usually go to NYCC. More often than not, it is chilly if not windy cold. 

 

• If you want to buy the same pair of tights/leggins, follow the link provided, I chose style C, with foot; and color: Burgundy: http://www.ebay.com/itm/171990421052?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT 

How to make an airbender/air nomad costume: 

*Offering advise/suggestions - you must know have some experience or some knowledge of sewing and sewing pattern drafting*

TOP: Use your favorite long sleeve top, whichever fits you a bit loose, and trace your pattern. For cuffs, I decided that I wanted slits on the sleeves and sew piping around it to seal it then attached a rectangle along the brim of the sleeves as cuffs.  Or you can try using a button up shirt sewing pattern with long sleeves, they usually have instructions on how to sew a cuff with slits. Add eye and hook to secure/close the cuff for the final look.

Trousers: Before you trace your pattern on this one, make sure how you want your trousers to look. For me, I did not want a seam along my crotch area nor along my bottoms area - so I decided to make a front and back pieces for these pants, as opposed to the usual four pieces pattern for pants. Use your favorite pair of sweatpants or PJ pants pattern and trace a pattern. Make a front piece and a back piece, then carefully trace a curve along the crotch area for both front and back. Once you sew the pants, do not join the crotch area, just hem along. 

Around the leg-end of the trousers, that is where you will sew close as normal and if you want to use elastic to make that puffy effect you may, or you can use a ribbon or rope instead if you do not have elastic - just make sure to leave an open area to tie the strings to secure them.

Sash: decide how long and wide you want your sash; make a long rectangle and sew along - making a tube. Flip right side out and top stitch if you want.

Cape: use a cape pattern - just trace your own pattern shorter - once you have sewn the pieces to make your cape, if you wanted to add details like I did - the two sleeve things along the sides of the cape. All I did was to sew a tubing and fed elastic inside to secure the cape in place (as how it is show in the cartoon) and attach it along the cape on the sides that met my arms.

And to secure the cape, I sew a hook and eye, as shown below:

And finally for the shoes, I purchased the on eBay (of course!) and spray painted the shoes with shoe brown spray paint. The shoes I went with a pair of flat ballerina shoes, the link below directs you to where I bought the shoes: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131641455634?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Phew! This is all so far, its been tough, since I am somewhat slow with sewing now that I am not as active as before. But all what is left is to get the right wig and it will be complete. Oh, yes, I am planning to cosplay Jinora from Legend of Korra. 

Hope this gave you some idea how to construct and put together your own air nomad costume! Anyway, have fun! Do drop me a comment if you have any questions and/or show me your work in progress~ I would love to see how yours turn out!

SALE: Handmade Cosplay - Shinsengumi Haori

UPDATE (2/25/16): SOLD

Here's a cosplay related announcement! I have finally started to clean out my cosplay items in my room. To start off the year with some cosplay clean out: I will be selling my Shinsengumi haori. It is handmade. In addition, I will be sharing some details about the process of the costume making, because, who knows, maybe someone can find this helpful and decides to make this! 

The fabric: it was originally a white cotton blend fabric; then it was dyed blue using Rit Dye Royal Blue. Make sure to follow instructions and add desired amount to achieve desired results. Please note, since its self dyed, do expect some imperfections. You might find slight spots of the dye - but they are not that visible as they do not show in the right side of the fabric/garment. 

The details: the triangle designs on the sleeves were painted on using fabric paint purchased from Michaels. Make sure you are using a stencil to paint the triangles on the sleeves - if you want them to be perfect, I mean Ahem! lol Please expect that because fabric paint was used, texture of the triangles is slightly rougher than the fabric. Another detail, back slit (refer to reference picture below) - make sure to not sew the back all across.

The assembling: the garment sewing pattern was derived by using an actual sewing pattern from McCall's M2940

• You may find this sewing pattern at your craft/sewing/hobby store, I usually would buy sewing patterns from eBay:
• http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/181348338348?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82 

Care: being that it is a handmade garment, if possible, spot clean it or if it is necessary, carefully hand-wash it with cold water and line dry.

The story: this haori/jacket was made with a group of friends whom I got the pleasure to cosplay together for our then favourite anime show, Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan. I cosplayed Saito Hajime. The production of the haori/kimono jackets was a week long project, where we met at a friend's place and work nonstop. Once we created all the haoris for the group, we then each got our Shinsengumi uniforms assigned to us and we hand sew our character's name and our name on. Please be advised that you will see 'Saito' somewhere in the garment (that is if you decided to purchase it from me). 

The history: it was worn twice for convention going,once at Anime Boston and once at NYAF/NY Comiccon. No damages were sustained nor any stains from wearing (only "stains" you may notice - which are, really, spots of slightly uneven dyeing job).

If you are interested, you can head over to the SALE page where you can find the link of the item or anything else I have posted for sale on my eBay store.

Until next time, live freely and lightly - be nerdy!