Post the First: What are We Even Doing Here?

    Honestly, I've wanted to cosplay a red mage for an eternity, but circumstances never lined up. Not that it was particularly hard, especially back then. Red hat, sweatsuit, and bed sheet. White feather. Done. (Don't recommend re-enacting the hair bleaching bit though unless you know what you're doing. Saw sooo many dudes back in the day burn their scalp trying for a Red Mage (or over-shooting a Char Aznable blond).)

There he is. There's our special little guy.

    "Circumstances never lined up." That's a polite way of saying the attitude towards cosplay was much harsher back in the early '10s in a lot of stupid ways that are better discussed elsewhere. Point being in many regards things seem way more chill now. Or maybe I've just found chiller cons to go to, IDK.

    However, nowadays if you want to make your own outfit it can quickly get a bit more complicated than running over to Goodwill to find a red bed sheet and matching cowboy hat. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just...options have really exploded over the years, y'know?

    DISCLAIMER: There is genuinely nothing wrong with closet diving for a costume. There is also nothing wrong with a costume being your first sewing project. Nor is there anything wrong with buying a premade one. Literally the only thing that matters in this regard is that you are happy with the final product.
    
    Okay, with that out of the way--this is technically a reworking of an existing cosplay. (More on that in a minute.) I've never undertaken a project of this size and it's going to take an insane amount of planning and work--as well as motivation. Which is where this blog come in! Keeping track of my thoughts (and consternations), things that need doing, and actual factual progress--that sort of thing. Where applicable I will try to mention things like patterns and fabric used, where items were found, and general process explanations. This is not a step-by-step guide though.

    And who knows, maybe this will be interesting to someone else. Stranger things have happened.

    Aiming for updates on Fridays, but not every week. Sorry, there are often other things that need doing. But I want to have this ready by this year's Dragon Con, so there IS a deadline.

    Down to business. Earlier I mentioned this is technically a reworking of an existing cosplay. Story there being last year, two months before the con, Nih and I got to talking about cosplay (as one does) and it dredged up a lot of old feelings. One thing led to another, then a scramble, followed by a lot of closet diving and a quick fabric order.

 

"Your finest cheapest 2 3/8 yards of red twill, my good person!"

    All told, not bad considering the vest, jacket, and hat had to be made under such a tight deadline. (Kilt, leggings, and Chucks were already in my closet). Needed to wear a mask due to being immunocompromised and it fits in well with the costume anyway. It fit really well and honestly looks pretty good for what it is. Furthermore, despite the slap-dash, not-really-following-a-script approach, this fit pretty well and I liked how it looked! And for a cherry on top, a few people even recognized me. Mission accomplished! Warm fuzzies all around! 

    But, ah, this could be better, yes? This was done under such a tight deadline. So many options had to be ignored, yes? Oh nothing major, of course, just tweak one or two things. Not going to spiral out of control and-- 

I swear this started off as "let's just make some pants."

    Or just redesign the whole thing.

    It's also changed since this drawing as the shoulder cape doesn't look that great to me, but never-mind that right now. Honestly have never done an outfit this ambitious and frankly this could all end in hilarious failure. Let's find out. 

    That said, here's generally what needs to be done:

1. Redo the entire bottom half of the cosplay. 

    This means making slacks, finding boots, and buying/making that odd half-chap setup they have going on there. There's some funky decoration going on, but let's worry about that later.

2. Update the belt and accessories. 

    First off, flip the frog (the thing that attaches the sword to the belt). Being a southpaw, I only tried it on my right the first go around because the lefty version was more expensive/poorly reviewed. It was uncomfortable and awkward. So we're flipping the frog. 

    This might mean getting an ambidextrous prop blade. Again, worry about that later.

    Somehow more important than a sword though is a place to put snacks, water, wallet, etc. Carrying around a satchel is clumsy and gets in the way of of the costume. Going back to the hotel for a bite is a pain and commissary lines are often atrocious. Better to think of con-going as a prolonged hike with odd pauses. So the more supplies that can be loaded on the belt, the better (and, let's be honest, it's thematically appropriate anyway).

3. Tweak the jacket/vest.

    For a pattern (McCall's M7616), this was really straightforward and came together well. My biggest gripe are the epaulets, but everything else should just be tweaking superficial things like collars and coattails.

    This red is a hair too bright though.

    Definitely need to make an actual jabot instead of whatever steakhouse bib nonsense thing that's going on there.

4. Redo the hat.

OKAY. That's enough for now. There's more to this than that, obviously, but these are the biggies. Next steps are to find better fabric, start making patterns, and, ah, see what all is out there? Swear not all of these posts will be so long. Well, maybe not the next one. Looks like that's going to be talking about color and fabrics and that's going to take a hot minute.

Current background music: Sonido Cosmico by Hermanos Gutierrez
Time until deadline: 6 months, 6 weeks