Chibicon 2012 cosplay plans!

Hi everyone!

Chibicon is coming up at the beginning of next month and, after some thought, I have finally settled on my cosplay plans for the con. I don't know much about Chibicon, I've barely heard about it before but I heard an anime convention was coming to Oulu and yeah, that's enough to get my interest. xD

My original plans included bringing my Ichigo Kurosaki cosplay back but I read up on Chibicon's cosplay prop rules and it seems like they have some limits in place and well, my supreme super-sized zanpakutou would probably end up collecting dust all con day in the cloakroom and that would be kinda uncool. Very uncool. My Ichigo cosplay just isn't that impressive without the oversized butcher knife. Chibicon's rules don't like big props and that means Ichigo has to remain sulking in my closet.

So what am I cosplaying instead, then? Something else from Bleach, of course.

I'm gonna go with Byakuya's first appearance version. Anyone who has watched the anime or read the manga might remember that the first time he shows up in the series is when he arrives in the real world together with Renji in tow. What makes this version different from his standard attire is that he isn't wearing his captain's coat and instead appears in just his shinigami garbs. It's a peculiar thing, I'm not sure why the cloak was omitted but regardless this version exists canonically and that means I'm gonna cosplay it!

As much as I would like to do Byakuya's default outfit I just don't have the energy to make another captain's coat right now. I thought that this version would be a nice middle-of-the-road option where I get to do a character I really like in a version that's quick to put together and on top of that it's one that's rarely done. If ever?

I've already made those kenseikan hair pieces or, as I like to call them, "hair bananas" lol. I made them very budget-friendly by bending and stacking two layers of cardstock paper on top of each other and then using thin cardboard for the bottom and I shaped it with staples and secured it with duct tape for stability on the underside. It probably sounds incomprehensible and yeah, this was a bit of a trial and error project where I had to make do with what I had easily and cheaply accessible. During my first test run they were too big and thus troublesome to attach; I had to use strategically placed bobby pins to keep them somewhat in place. I later modified my kenseikan and now they sit a bit better and are easier to attach.. although I could still use a helping hand to fasten them, heh.

I've also made his scarf. It was very easy to do. We had this whole pretty white fabric roll at home and I wrapped several meters around my neck in front of the mirror to check the drape before commiting, lol.

I measured around 2,5 meters of that fabric (yes the whole width, huge scarf is huge) cut it out and sewed it. It feels like I'm having a whole curtain wrapped around my neck. xD I hope this thing doesn't get hot and I also hope I won't need to pin it in place lol. Damn you Byakuya and your über-precious-family-heirloom-crème-de-la-crème scarf...

That's all for now, bye!
Shiro Samurai out~