2018: How It Went (Halloween)

Halloween Pierrot 2.0

Hi! Firstly, I'd like to apologize. What kind of a costume/Halloween fanatic DOESN'T MAKE A NEW COSTUME EVERY YEAR??? Where have I been? Why didn't I post in March announcing this year's costume? Well, to tell you the truth, this past year has been pretty hectic for me. Primarily, I started college this fall, which at the beginning of the year made me think that I wouldn't really get a chance to dress up. But it turns out that my college has trick-or-treating on campus, and I really couldn't pass up the chance to get dressed up on Halloween! I mean, it's impossible for me not to.

A closeup of the makeup.

So. I decided to revisit my Halloween Pierrot, this time trying a more Pierrot-like face instead of a skeleton one, as I felt that the skull face had a sort of death metal vibe that I wasn't really going for.

I started this time with the same face painting kit I used last year, except this time I used regular old makeup for the eyes, to give it that smoky, subtle look that I could more easily articulate (the face-painting crayons that came with the Dia de los Muertos kit were very thick and it was hard to draw thin lines with them.)

I also pared down the accessories of the costume quite a bit this year. I ditched the boots for high tops, the wig for my own hair (which right now is about the length of the wig, anyway) and, sadly, the hat, because I forgot to bring pins to pin it to my head (it doesn't stay on very well otherwise.) It just so happens that I own a dark grey flat cap, though, and I feel that it didn't detract from the costume at all—just gave a different feeling to it. I'd say a dark-colored or red beret or flat cap works fine for this costume if you don't want to spend the time making the hat.

Anyway! To the review!

Recognition: 5/10

I mean, honestly, only one person actually guessed, but they guessed right! So that was fun, haha! But before Halloween, whenever anyone else asked me what I was going to be, and I told them "Pierrot," they didn't know what I meant and I had to amend that response with "a sad clown." So, 50/50?

Strength: 10/10

Without the hat to fall off, this costume had no problems construction-wise.

Comfort: 9/10

This was the first Halloween in a while where I wasn't freezing. The bagginess of the shirt and pants allowed me to wear lined jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt under the costume, making it very toasty! The only annoying this about this costume, I think, are the gloves, because I had to keep taking them off to take pictures and look up the trick-or-treating route with my phone. (Also the pants have no pockets, so I had to put my phone in my trick-or-treating basket.) Aside from those minor details, though, super comfy!

I promise that next Halloween I'll have a new costume, now that I know I'll have the time/opportunity to wear it! Stay tuned for updates, and

Happy Halloween!

2017: How It Went (Halloween)

Happy Halloween Pierrot!

Hi!

So, as I mentioned before, I didn't have a trick-or-treat-ing Halloween this year due to a course I'm taking, but I did get to wear my costume, so I still have pictures of the finished Pierrot!

The finishing touch of this costume is the makeup, which I winged last night without any practice, so it could be a lot more precise. Here is a closeup of the makeup:

The makeup.

I used a Dia de los Muertos makeup kit, which included white base color and three makeup crayons in red, green, and black (I only used the black, though I went over that later with a crayon eyeliner because it wasn't defined enough). 

The sponge brush that was included in the kit worked best if I patted instead of brushed it on, as that  blended the makeup better. I figured this out the hard way (when I brushed it on, the makeup was VERY blotchy; every time I applied more, the motion of brushing would rub the surrounding makeup off).

I tried to do the nose the way I had envisioned (click here to see my original design), but it didn't look very good, so I just left it blank.

I sort of like the costume without the full skeleton face, though, so maybe next time I'll try a more subtle Pierrot face instead, maybe with dots under the eyes instead of spikes.

Anyway, 'till next Halloween, and Happy November!

2016: How It Went (Halloween)

Real Live Music!

Hello!
This year was pretty fun. I decided I would only give out candy— the first time I haven't trick-or-treated on Halloween ever, and it was surprisingly fun.
I play the harp, so I sat in the yard and played music whenever the trick-or-treaters came by. That was extremely fun.
Anyway, on with the review!

Halloween Night.

Recognition: 5/10

Well, they got the basic idea. I didn't get many guesses— there weren't many trick or treaters to guess— but the closest was probably "An Elf from Minecraft." Which, you know, kids these days (yes, I do say that ironically.) The other guess was "a Nymph" which is a little further off, so I'll go with the former as the closest. A lot of people (at least 3) wondered if I was real, and were really creeped out for some reason. Not my intention, but it was funny. :D

Strength: 10/10

Great. Everything was perfect, because it was sewn by someone else!

Comfort: 4/10

The outfit itself is very comfortable, aside from the wig pinching after a while (they tend to do that.) The real problem was with the fact that it was October, and I had assembled the costume in August, due to a trip to the UK my family and I were taking for the bulk of October. Anyway, my point is, it was cold. VERY cold. Mostly my hands were frozen, but that was a problem, because it made it hard to play the harp. So, not the best costume for cold weather. Maybe go with an elf-garb that has fur on it or something.

I'm not including candy this year, because A) it has nothing to do with the costume, and B) we bought our own candy this year because nobody was trick-or-treating in our house.

There were more people in costume this year from what I could tell, so that's good. It always makes me a little annoyed when they don't dress up.  Anyway, it was a good year.

Happy Halloween!
(Also 5th of November. Remember, remember the 5th of November... ahem.)

2015: How it Went (Halloween)

Ciel and Undertaker on Halloween!

Hello!
So, this isn't really a Halloween blog any more, but I figured I'd keep going with the Halloween reviews, because Halloween's great, so why not?


Recognition: 4/10

During the trick-or-treating, nobody knew who I was supposed to be, and I got one guess that was a joke. So, I was feeling like it was a not-very-good-year-for-recognition. Then, I went home and passed out candy, and five people recognized me, one of which was a big fan. Cool!

Strength: 9/10

Very good, just two things, the boot ribbon started to come undone, and the ribbon on the cane kept coming undone. Ribbons! Ahhhhh!

Comfort: 7/10

I was much warmer this year than I've been the previous years, so that was nice. But, the boots were very uncomfortable, and the pants kept riding down, while the shirt kept riding up, so I constantly had to adjust everything.

Candy Rating: 7/10
Well, I  gave away most of it, but what I kept I liked! (hint: almost everything I kept has chocolate in it)

I liked this Halloween. I've never given out candy before, and I found it was very fun. There was just one thing that annoyed me, and that was that there were more people who weren't wearing costumes than people who were, and that just baffles me. What's the point of Halloween if you don't dress up?!

Anyway...
Happy Halloween!

2015 How It Went: AnimeNext

Madame Red (my mom), Ciel (me), and The Undertaker (my brother) :D

Hello! I had a lot of fun at AnimeNext, it was by far the best in the "social" aspect of conventions. Well, since there's not much to say, let's get to the review!

Recognition: 10/10

I am REALLY happy about this. We were getting stopped about every two minutes to have our picture taken, and we spotted many other Black Butler cosplayers as well. It was super fun taking pictures with them all, and it was also fun looking for Sebastians to complete our Madame Red, Undertaker, and Ciel. I hope next year I can choose a cosplay that will also lead to such interesting interactions.

Strength: 7/10

Aside from a few buttons coming loose (my bad sewing job), the ribbon on one of my boots coming undone (I'll fix it for Halloween), and the pants sort of ripping at the crotch after a while (the result of stiff fabric and not building in room for crouching), nothing broke at all, and in general it held up to the stress of walking around for a long time.

Comfort: 5/10

The costume itself is pretty comfortable, the problem really lied in the heat, which was devastating. I had to change halfway through the first day, and though I made it through the second, it was still pretty torturous. I guess that's what happens when you wear velvet in 90 degree weather. Aside from that, the shoes were a bit uncomfortable after a while, but that's something that can't really be fixed.

Con Rating: 8/10

Enjoyment of the con is 9/10, but I must deduct a point for the poor programming. For one, they never keep their website updated, which is a major problem for people who don't have Twitter. Also, the paper schedule was rendered somewhat meaningless after a while due to scheduling conflicts, so if you didn't have the app (which we couldn't get due to iTunes problems,) you couldn't be updated on the goings on. This lead to us going to a panel that was very falsely advertised for nothing.

Even though it had a few problems, though, I really, really enjoyed myself, even if it was just to hang around with other Black Butler people (which, by the way, is very rewarding.)

Till the next time!


(P.S. If you took pictures with us at the con, comment here or on my DeviantArt page and I'll follow you! :D)

2014: How It Went (Halloween)

Me compared with Maka!

Hey!
So my experience this year was a bit impaired, seeing as I caught a cold yesterday, so my review might be a bit biased. I also have a headache, so keep that in mind. :)

Recognition: 3/10
Okay, so I admit I was hoping for more recognition, but since this is better than last year, I'm fine with it. Three other people in our party of trick-or-treaters were from Soul Eater, so they obviously recognized me. One other person besides that did, who was dressed in an Attack On Titan cosplay, so that was fun.

Strength: 10/10
Yup, nothing came undone, nothing broke, nothing ripped, nothing popped off. It held up extremely well.

Comfort: 8/10

The skirt kept riding up, but if it weren't for that, it would have been fine. Also my legs and hands got a bit cold.

Candy Rating: 4/10
The usual treats! ;)

So, I know that was a little short but that's because I basically covered all that in the How it Went Special: Otakon post.

Happy Halloween!

2014: How It Went (Otakon)

I have to point out the excellent Excalibur cosplay in the background!
And, yeah, I do look kind of scary in this picture.

Hi! So I wore this cosplay (I will from now on refer to it as a cosplay–) to Otakon, which was very fun! I'll also be posting a post about it's performance on Halloween, so don't think I'm forgetting what this blog's about!

Recognition: 7/10

So yay! A bunch of people recognized me, including a person dressed as Soul who said "makamakamakamakamaka" as I passed by, and at least three people took a picture of me! But, it's to be expected that I would be recognized in this crowd, I mean, it is Otakon, after all.

Strength: 10/10

Nothing broke at all! I was worried that the buttons might come off, but they held very well, and all-in-all, this is a great costume for a con because of its durability.

Just another cool picture of Maka!

Comfort: 8/10

Pretty comfortable, except that the skirt kept riding up (I was wearing leggings, so it wasn't really a problem), the gloves were kind of annoying to take on and off to eat and such, and near the end of the day the wig cap was digging into my skull, but pretty comfortable, nonetheless.

Con Rating: 9/10

I'm replacing the candy rating section for obvious reasons. So this con is really fun! I had a lot of fun every day and at the photoshoot and hopefully will be going next year.  Even the lines were fun, because they gave you some rest in between all the walking. The only complaint I have is that the first day we had to wait two hours to get in the building because of the line (next time we'll get the badges the day before!)

So it was really fun, and I'll try to go next year. I also forget to mention that I went to the unofficial Soul Eater photoshoot, as seen in the picture above. It was really great, even if I didn't talk much to the other people, I still really enjoyed being around other Soul eater fans!

Anyway, I'll post more near Halloween!

2013: How It Went (Halloween)

Comparison to the manga version of Near.

Hi! Hope you all had a great Halloween!
So, time for the review of last night! :D I'll only do the Near costume, because I don't have all the details about my brother's Deathstroke costume (he wasn't trick-or-treating, he just stood around, looking cool.)

Near loves his toys!

Recognition: 2/10

This was as expected. The only person who knew who I was was one of my friend's friend's friends (I know, complicated, right?), who had happened to watch Death Note till the end.
I did get a lot of "who are you?", to which I usually answered "an anime character", and people knew what that was.
I did get a really great guess, though: Andy Warhol! I laughed a lot about that :D


Strength: 9/10

Closeup of the L puppet.

So, this costume held up very well, seeing as it was raining, the only problem I had was that the puppets started tuning back into clay... so... yeah, but I think if I had used Fimo, it would have worked.

Comfort: 9/10

This costume might have been the most comfortable I've had yet. The only uncomfortable thing about it was that my hands got very cold, and almost numb. I can't really think of a solution to that, though, so, all's good!

Here he is!

Candy Rating: 3/10
As I've said before, I don't really go trick-or-treating because of the candy, but I did discover that I liked Smarties more this year, so I guess that's a strong point. Also, lots of chocolate, and I love chocolate!!

So, yeah. This year was a really great year. And I'm already thinking about who I'm going to be next year, so expect a post in late 2014 about that! Yay!

Oh, yeah, and that is a picture of Deathstroke.

I hope I inspired you to make your costume!

Happy Halloween!

How It Went: 2012 (Halloween)

 

Yay! Okay, so the first thing I'm going to say is whether anyone recognized me, and the answer is: no. But that's what I expected. Someone did take a guess though, they guessed "Joan of Arc" which could may or may not be interpreted as a good guess.

My costume held up very well, (not as badly as last year, I was Batgirl from TheBatman™ and my thigh-high boots completely fell apart at the last minute!), except that my hood kept falling down, but it was very windy. Also the stomach armor kept coming out from the belt, but other than that, it held up pretty well.

As for the candy, well, I don't really like candy, but I got some Hershey's™ chocolate that was pretty yummy, so I think that's good. Yum...chocolate....

Anyway, that's the basic review of my Halloween. All-in-all, I loved it. I hope my ideas gave you some for your costume. If not, I'm sorry. Maybe next time.

I will post a new blog post when I have decided what I am going to be for next Halloween.
Until then, Happy Halloween!