Member Since 06-16-2004

Last Activity: Today - 07:00 AM

United States

Tampa, Florida

What got you into cosplay?
I've had the inkling for it since I was born, really. My mother is the original Washing Well Wench, Daphne Woo-Hoo, for any fellow Renni-dorks. Since I was young, I've had a costume cabinet instead of cardboard costume boxes. I learned how to thrift decent costumes early because of it, and I would have at least two new costumes for the renaissance festivals each year. I became a costume junkie at a very young age. Even before elementary school, I got into anime. In those years, I'd sometimes dress up like a character I'd make for different series and often wear it to school, even my Dragonball-like costumes, which sometimes scared people. =D I didn't know that people dressed up as anime characters on a large scale at that time. Early middle school, my grandmother made my first costume, Saint Tail, for a birthday party. Afterwards, I thrifted a Koto costume for a friend's birthday party, and afterwards an original Saint Tail design (Santa Tail) for a Christmas party. It was soon after that my friends discovered conventions, and we were soon hooked. Any reason to dress for something besides parties, Halloween, and ren-fests was a good excuse for me.
What was your first costume and why?
My very first costumes were all renaissance festival costumes, from gypsies to pirates to catgirls and foxgirls. I was also very big on Halloween each year, my mother helping me construct costumes very elaborate for my age. The two that stand out most in my mind were a centaur archer and a dragon rider, both heavily laden with fabric-covered cardboard. My first cosplay costume was Saint Tail. I suppose I could almost consider my Pokemon Trainer costume as a cosplay costume... but that was closet cosplaying to the max. My Saint Tail costume was made for my fifteenth birthday party, which was Asian Adventure themed (my mother threw the best parties ever, including a lot of LARPing before any of us realized we were, well, LARPing). I still use the top pieces and hat, which are now nearly four years old, but have long since retired my felt skirt in favor of a new taffeta skirt with a much longer hem. This was back when I was first getting into anime past Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Digimon, DragonBall Z, CardCaptor Sakura, Monster Rancher... and all those wonderful shows my generation started with. My very first manga series was Saint Tail, and I loved the costume designs at first look and would not leave my Gramma alone until she made it.
What is your favorite costume and why?
I used to think my favorite was Amano!Dream, because it is so elaborate and I spent so much time on it. And, in a way, I think I like photos of that costume the best. However, I get so bogged down in that costume that it just isn't fun to be in, so I can no longer claim it as a favorite costume. It photographs well, but really wears me down and it's the only costume I can't wear for more than six hours or so without getting really sick. So, I have decided now that my favorite has to be one that I feel comfortable been, feel cool in, and enjoy photos of. This does include several of my costumes, including Reno, Saint Tail, and Kabuto. But I think this has to go to my (as of typing this) Gambit. Though it's a killer on my eyes (thick sclera contacts aren't very comfortable), it's very easy to get into character to pose for photographs, and it's pretty comfortable so long as I have a fan of sorts or the time to get the jacket off. And he's one of the characters I just like so much that I just love having the chance to run around attempting to look like him. :3
Do you have a dream costume you'd like to make?
So, so many. Many costumes I do these days are to add to other groups, but there's a few groups I'd love to organize. Some of these include Interstella 5555 (I'm stuck between Stella and Shep), Fushigi Yugi (I want to try so many costumes from this series, it's not even funny), and Boogiepop Phantom (I've been wanting to try anime Boogiepop since way before I did the (much easier) live action film version). I'm also striving to put together a ReBoot group, because I've been itching to do Mouse (first outfit), Dot (Underseas Adventure (AndrAIa intro episode) reboot), and Hexadecimal (either first or second outfit). If I can get one of those costumes done, I'll be an insanely happy fangirl. My dream costume insomuch that I want to do it but it probably won't happen for a long time is Jarlaxle from The Dark Elf Trilogy - but that's a bald male drow with a short open vest, so I have a long way until that happens. -Or, maybe not so far. If all goes right, I might be attempting this cosplay for Megacon 2009.