Pink and purple and absolutely fabulous, sweetie.
I just BARELY finished in time for the Phoenix Wright photoshoot at Ohayocon (since I was the one who organized the shoot, it would've been embarrassing if I hadn't had my stuff together...heh) but it went over amazingly well, so it was worth the lack of sleep, hot glue burns and pinpricks.
I even got a few gender queries (and probably more that people weren't brave enough to actually come up and ask), which was gratifying since I didn't think I did as good a job at binding as I had in previous tests.
The cards were definitely the most obnoxious part, both on the top and on the boots. I ended up finding some vinyl sticker paper to use for the boots, which did eventually start buckling and peeling after walking around in them all day, but which surely lasted longer than paper stickers or some kind of paint would have, and on top of that, is much easier to do fresh for another wearing - just peel the old ones off and make new ones. The top was completely finished before painting on the white card bases (not the greatest plan, but I definitely didn't want to try to match that shoulder seam), and the symbols added in Prismacolor and Sharpie. The Jack of Spades and Queen of Hearts on the front were freehanded in Sharpie (at the convention, which is where I learned the term "take 'n' make") and turned out looking far better than I'd expected, especially from afar, so there you go.
Things Ali likes: all the individual parts pull together so well, despite my worries about non-matching pinks and such. I also love seeing people's faces when I pull the hat off, and there's this crazy beehive style underneath. I think even the Phoenix Wright fans don't expect it, they just figure I keep the hat on to hide the fact that the hairstyle isn't even close to accurate. (I took a shortcut and started with New Look's New-Z style, though.)
Things Ali doesn't like: the boots only come in full sizes, so I think they're probably about a half size too small, and squish my toes a little :( But I didn't get blisters or anything after an ENTIRE day basically on my feet 90% of the time, so I'm not too worried about them.
Favorite moments: I went out to Starbucks with my cosplay group's Angel Starr and Maya Fey cosplayers and plopped down at a table while they went to order. This man with his two sons came up and asked "what I was", and rather than explaining about the anime convention a block down, I told him I was a magician, so he had me do some magic tricks. I loftily informed him what was under his hat (his hair) and what was under the younger son's hair (his head), and then when he asked what the older son's age was, the kid tried to tell me that my prediction of 8 was incorrect because he was, in fact, 7 1/2 ^_^
I'm not sure what he thought of us in the end (street performers or something?) but he was delighted at us for bringing them some smiles.
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