Cyber Goth Geisha Progress Report: Crimson Vision Gothic Geisha

When you are tired, you make mistakes; it is a reality. I was almost done with my corset last night; I just had to assemble the exterior part with the lining when I realized that half of the pieces on the exterior were sewn the wrong way. It was 12:30 am. So, I un-sewed the trim and pieces that needed fixing and then, since I was falling asleep at the sewing table, I went to bed. Today I worked on it a little, but it wasn’t finished in time to wear at Nancy-Raven’s party. So I went with plan B and wore red accessories.

Gwenyver as Crimson Vision Gothic Geisha

It looks good! I had many positive comments on the wig’s colour too; both Nancy-Raven and my Sweetheart agree I would look good with my hair dyed fluorescent red. Not that I would dare, but maybe I’ll find more occasions to wear that wig in the future.

Instead of my red tights, I remembered I owned knee high black and red striped socks, and I recently bought the half gloves to match. I wore a headband with a big sating flower and my lovely new sexy heals.

Now I will try to finish my corset before I crash in bed so I can wear it at least once this Halloween!

Cyber Goth Geisha Progress Report: Short Black Furisode

The Furisode is done!

Short Black Furisode

Please excuse the beige twill tape; I could not find my black one for the picture.

I am actually much more satisfied with it than I was with the Juban; I was also more careful. I really love the tone on tone stripe in the fabric too: it gives the whole look more texture. I found it in the discount bin of course, but I find it works well. The collar is a little flimsy, but I am hoping a good pressing will fix that (I just hope I don’t burn it!).

I also started to sew the corset’s lining. I assembled all my pieces only to find that it did not close in the back and there was a huge ugly lump at the center front, chest level. That is when I realized that I was missing a piece, which I later found at the bottom of my “to do” bin, but it was time to go to bed.

I hope I have time to finish it tomorrow night, but if I don’t, I’ve decided to wear a red Nagoya obi with my red tights, red wig and red makeup. This way, I will not have worked in vain, but I won’t stress to finish and make myself sick.

Cyber Goth Geisha Progress Report: Juban

Okay, so tonight I finally started my own costume. I have 3 days to make it as I want to wear it at Nancy-Raven’s party this Saturday. Of course, I’m already thinking of solutions in case I can’t finish in time, because this whole no sleep thing I used to be able to pull off is way more exhausting than I remember, but I’m still going to try.

Tonight, I managed cut the pieces that were missing, like the Juban and fusing, and sew the Juban. It is actually a mix between a Hadajuban, because of the sleeves, and a Nagajuban, because of the collar. Observe:

Juban

There are many imperfections, especially with all the puckering around the collar, but I have decided to let it go; I don’t have time to fix it, and it will all be hidden anyways, so why bother.

I had actually planned to make the two: a Hadajuban of poplin and a Nagajuban of woolen twill. Due to lack of time, I decided to only make the thicker twill one, only to realise I did not have enough fabric for the sleeves (it was a leftover which my aunt gave me). Hence the mix of genres, but I think it will work well. Besides, this is a fantasy costume; I don’t have to be accurate!

Next step: the Black Furisode.

Baby Mouseling

This year, I decided to dress my daughter up as a mouse. You see, about a decade ago, I bought a pattern as I often do, because it was just too cute. I simply fell in love with the Mouse on the envelope of Simplicity 9821. I always promised myself that when I got kids, I would make that costume. Last year, my Sweetheart begged me to make her an owl costume, and I expect that by next year, she will want to have a say in her Halloween costume; so really, this was my last chance to make her the Mouse.

Boy was it a lot of work! I have never made a mascot costume before, nor a Furry, but I imagine it is a similar technique. Sewing thicknesses of faux fur was tough enough, but that pattern kept asking me to hand sews things, like the stomach and pads on the hands and feet. Me? Hand sew? Well, I did it to fix the ears and cheeks to the head, but that is it. The rest went through the machine.

Also, as I started with only a week and a half to go before Halloween, I was already exhausted (and still am) from the other costume I have been making for other people. For two days, I sat at my machine, looked at the pattern and couldn’t make sense of it. Plus, since I decided to bag line everything for comfort and heat, I couldn’t always follow the instructions to the letter.
But I managed, I made it, and this morning my daughter saw it and now she keeps wanting to wear it and play with it, which makes me feel very appreciated.

But I know you want pictures:

Baby Mouseling costume - Front

Baby Mouseling costume - Back

I love the colour combination of the fur and light pink velvet; it makes me think of “Angelina Ballerina – The next steps” which we watch every Sunday (hence me calling this a Mouseling costume: for Angelina Mouseling). That is also why I put a great big pink bow on the head.

The pattern actually said to use pleather for the tail, but I like the result I got using the velvet. And for those of you wondering what the puffs on the side of the head are, they are supposed to be cheeks, and you would know that if I added pipe cleaner whiskers, but I wont for security reasons.

Daughter trying on the Baby Mouseling head

She is so cute! I can’t wait to see her wear it. I still have to fix the ears to get them to stand up, but otherwise, I am done with this one. On to me!

(Edit: I managed to get the ears to stand up by inserting a tie wrap inside the circle of the ear. It has the perfect shape and it is springy enough. Tie wraps are my new favourite costuming trick of the trade!)

Cyber Goth Geisha Progress Report: Accessories

I haven’t started sewing yet: I just finished a costume order and I am now attacking my daughter’s costume.

In the mean time, I figured I would show you the accessories. First, here is the Forever 21 headband I had mentioned:

Vintage Rose Headband, Forever 21

I think it is going to look awesome with the rest of the look.

Then, there are the Dreads Pony Falls I had custom made for this costume 2 ½ years ago:

Black, Blond, Blue and Turquoise Dread Pony Falls, custom made by LS Seven

I wonder what they will look like on my head. Can you believe I have never tried them on?

Next, I am happy to report that I found socks and half gloves in the black and white stripes, just as I wanted:

Black & White Striped Half Gloves, from Ardene

I think I can thank Alice in Wonderland (2010) for those gloves. If Colleen Atwood hadn't added them to Alice's costume, I'm not sure I would have found a fair so easily at a jewellery and accessories' store.

Black & White Striped Knee Socks, from Ardene

If anyone is interested, I got both at Ardene, in the 5 for 10$ section. (I got three more pairs of half gloves in colours that match some of my legwarmers!)

Finally, the shoes:

4" Heel Black Patent Leather Mary Janes

I found them on sale, at a Halloween store. Well, I got them on sale because the cashier gave me the 50% rebate some of the other shoes had, but the sales girl had told me they were not, so I don't know who was right, but I still paid half the price. The guy at the register also made a comment about me looking very sexy in these heels. I guess this could also explain the rebate. Hmmm...

Anyways, they will also be perfect for an Abby Sciuto look, which I guess is popular, considering the number of comments that post got and still gets (Thanks guys – I love comments).

Back to sewing fur! I am so thankful we recently got a Dyson – my sewing room has carpeted floor!

Cyber Goth Geisha

It was one of my New Year Costuming Resolutions: to finish costumes which were cut and left hanging (well, they're piles in a box, really). Well, this Halloween, I am doing just that. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that my Alliance Impériale friends had decided to dress-up in Japanese inspired costumes. I figured it was the perfect excuse to finish my Cyber Goth Geisha costume, cut for Otakuthon 2008 and abandoned due to lack of time. (Would you believe it? I was a little too last minute. Me!)

Let me tell you a little more about the inspiration for this costume. First, I have loved Traci’s Cyber Geisha look:

Cyber Geisha by Traci of Crimson Vision

It is simple, but sexy and eye popping (could be the cleavage, which she wears very well, but I would personally never dare try it this way).

Then, there is Maral’s Emerald Gothic Lolita:

Emerald Gothic Lolita by Maral Agnerian a.k.a. Sarcasm-hime

Black and white matched with one bright colour is combination I love. I especially liked the corset she used. Also, I was surprised how much I loved the multicoloured dreads. Dawn a.k.a. Kaijugal has a similar set:

Pumpkin Lolita by Dawn McKechnie "Kaijugal"

So I mixed what I liked about these styles and came up with this:

Cyber Goth Geisha Conceptual Art by Gwenyver

It consists of a short black Furisode, worn over a white Juban. A turquoise liquid lamé corset takes the place of the obi. I will wear this outfit paired with blue tights, black and white striped half gloves and knee high socks, black patent leather platform Mary Janes, a black headband with bow, flower and feathers (which I got at Forever 21), and my custom made Dread Pony Falls in Black, Blond, Blue and Turquoise. As for makeup, I am aiming for a Geisha look, including full white face and neck prongs, but I will replace the usual reds and pinks by blues and turquoise. I will also paint my nails blue.

I do hope I can finish in time! (And that it is warm enough for me to wear it – it can snow on Halloween in Québec).

More Kimono!

I had a Japanese relapse. It started when my friends from Alliance Impériale started talking of going as a Japanese themed group to the Halloween Festivities in La Prairie. It got worse when I got newsletters from Yamatoku mentioning a sale...

So I have to say it: Busted! I have bought myself two new pieces (from Yamatoku of course!).

First, my first Uchikake:

Vermilion Embroidered Silk Uchikake

Isn't it exquisite? I was looking at it and my Sweetheart saw it from over my shoulder. Then I showed him how nice it would look with the Kakeshita he gave me for Yule 2006 (which is really tough to match to an Uchikake, unless you want White or Pink - I've been looking for four years!):

Teal Hanayome Kakeshita & Vermilion Embroidered Silk Uchikake

... and he just said "Go ahead, buy it!". So you can see he was no help with my current relapse. But I have to say, it was only 39.99$ USD (okay, plus about 65$ USD of shipping, but the shipping price doesn't change, it is based on weight; Uchikake from Yamatoku usually start at 250$).

And since we can combine shipping and save (or so the website reminds us), I splurged for this magnificent obi:

Silk Maru Obi

My first Maru Obi*! And for 14.99$ USD! I would really like to find a Tomesode that would go well with it; I think a black Tomesode would be the perfect back drop for it, but it would also look nice with my Kakeshita.

*Maru obi is the most formal obi. It is made from cloth about 68 cm wide, is folded around a double lining and sewn together. Maru obi were at their most popular during the Taishō and Meiji periods. Their bulk and weight makes maru obi difficult to handle and nowadays they are worn mostly by Geisha, Maiko and others such. Another use for maru obi is as a part of a bride's outfit (hence me matching it to my Kakeshita). A maru obi is about 30 centimetres to 35 centimetres wide and 360 centimetres to 450 centimetres long, fully patterned and often embroidered with metal-coated yarn and foil work. (Source: Wikipedia - Obi)

So there, this is my latest Japanese shopping spree. But it isn't for Halloween; it is for my collection (and one day, my Engagement Party Outfit, when I get to that stage). Ill get back to you on the Japanese Themed Halloween costume.

Note: To see the rest of my Kimono Collection, please got to Kimono! posted on Tuesday August 18, 2009.