Alas, no. We’re all going to be in different cities and are busy with work, moving or weddings, so there’s no FCD shenanigans from us this year! :(

Our next event is Anime North 2013; Christine will be around all weekend (May 24th-26th) and Emmy and Jenn will be around on Saturday the 25th for our full Madoka group.

- Jenn

I’m a fan of the clutched-handle method you described, honestly. You only have to keep your hands in fists when posing, technically, and you carry them around the rest of the time, which is an inconvenience but a livable one. They were good enough for Hugh Jackman, and I’ve yet to see a better method pop out of the costuming community.

To me, the worse inconvenience would be having the blade attached to my hand in any way. Not only would you have to find a material that is lightweight but still rigid enough to not “flop” or bend, but you’d also have to find a way to attach it to the gaps between your knuckles easily (and attractively) but in a such a way where the blades would always extend parallel to your arm and never waver or flop to the side. Then, of course, there’s the utter inconvenience of having these great long shanks attached to your hands –– have fun eating, using the bathroom, [un]dressing yourself, handling items and interacting with people when you’ve got foot-long blades hindering you.

However, if you’re truly against the bits of wood or pipe, you could see about mounting the wired claws on to a piece of durable, flat plastic (perhaps transparent?) that extends all the way to your palm. If the fit is snug enough. I imagine that the “u” going from the tops of your knuckles around to the base of your palm could support the weight of the claws even with your fingers open. I don’t know if it’d work (or be comfortable) but it’s worth a look.

- Jenn

I spent a good 20 minutes sifting through our likes to find this thing I saved eons ago thinking “someday this will come in handy!” That day is today, apparently.

This lovely lady did a tutorial on open front dresses.

I would do something similar, though I would probably put a petticoat under the short skirt anyway. Having looked at your reference pictures (thank you so much for that, by the way!) it appears to work in two ways; coming around to the front (a la tutorial) and cutting directly back to show the goat legs.  I would probably have it come to the front just to look more full, as I can’t think of a way to make it stand out nicely and still cut it to fall back.

- Jenn

When I was younger and didn’t have contacts, I just wore my glasses for hall pictures and took them off for photoshoots (if you’re doing ‘em). If you’re the accuracy/competitive sort, hall pictures probably don’t matter  much, anyway, because it’s photoshoot pictures that you’ll use for show. For the hall, just leave ‘em on or take ‘em off, but I found it annoying/disorienting to constantly be putting them on and taking them off. And frankly, anyone who even thinks “omg ___ doesn’t wear glasses” can go sit in the corner, because your vision matters more than any accuracy.   

However, if you want, you could accessorize them for the hall. Mom is the fancy/cosmopolitain sort, so you could add a few stick-on rhinestones that match the costume. For Ariel, you could add a bit of plastic seaweed or little seashells with double-sided tape. Make it fun! Ariel’s bound to find a pair of glasses under the sea, maybe with a bit of sea life growing on it ;) Unless, of course, you’re talking about a different Ariel… then you can think of something else related.

- Jenn

Sayaka’s sword is plywood. I think it took me about 40”x6” to do both the sword and the guard; not a whole lot, at any rate. I think it’s 3/4” (or 19mm.)

I love the stuff. I used some of my dad’s leftover pieces for both Sayaka and Mami, but I’m sure a standard 4’x8’ sheet of plywood (at ~$40/sheet) could do enough swords to arm the Principality of Sealand.

- Jenn

A lot of pictures on eBay and Aliexpress are stolen/borrowed from other sellers. While I’ve yet to get a wig that doesn’t look like the image, I wouldn’t worry too much about which has more images. You don’t know who had them first.

Doublecheck: is there free shipping? Is it a lot of 1 wig or do you need to buy multiple? Does the seller have good reviews/feedback? If all that checks out, buy whichever you’d like.

Keep in mind that you usually need to style those wigs, too, especially when it comes to bangs, so that they sit properly on your face. I’ve seen lots of new cosplayers with wigs with too-long bangs because they were either too nervous to cut it or didn’t realize they needed to!

Cheers and have a great first cosplay experience.

- Jenn

I know, right? I love looking at these sites just to cringe.

However, I will have to eat my words soon. Christine insists that we challenge ourselves to each buy one and salvage it into something hot/wearable for Pride this year. I’m taking on this wreck.

If you need me, I’ll be drying my tears with printed lamé.

- Jenn