Sakura-Con 2012 Day 1

I know, I know.  Sakura-Con was in April. Its mid-July now.  To say I'm a little tardy would be an understatement, but better late than never, right?  But you don't want to read this drabble, you want photos! Please enjoy.

Justin as Loke from Fairy Tail

Aleisha as Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail (in outfit seen in Galuna Island episodes.)

Glen as Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail (are you seeing a pattern here?)

Before leaving for the convention.  Brenton is our photographer.

Hey! How do u think Moka keeps her pearly whites so beautiful? 

Breaking the Fairy Tail pattern (will join FT on day 2! )Myself as Moka Akashiya from Rosario+Vampire.  

I need more poses ^.^;;

The above photos are of my group.  None of us really stayed still long enough to get anymore photos, there was just so much to see!  First thing I did was to get custom vampire fangs made.  I've used them so much since the con it's not even funny.  I love them.  The vendor for them goes by Victor and he is based out of Seattle! I was super pleased with the process and result.  Here is a pic taken with my iPhone.  I was trying to show them off so I could send the photo to some family back home, so thats why I look a little goofy.

My Moka outfit is one I also wore at Sakura-Con 2010.  The wig is one I purchased from eBay before I knew about quality wig retailers, and it barely survived my first con, and was pretty much thrashed at the end of this convention.  I did manage to get it smoothed out after the con, though (more on that later.)

Also, the above outfits that Justin, Aleisha and Glen are wearing are ones that I entirely designed.  Justin's outfit (Loke) consists of items we already owned, with the exceptions of the blue sunglasses which I purchased at a Ross store.  For Aleisha's (Lucy) outfit, I made the hair ribbon, but found the tank top and skirt at a thrift store.  The leather belt and boots (from Rue 21) and Gate Keys (eBay) were purchased.  I found the whip at a pawn shop and we added the heart shape at the end by using cardboard and electric tape.  For Glen's Natsu outfit, I sewed and put the trim on the top and bottom, purchased a leather belt and sandles, and found the wig on eBay and spiked it with Got2Be hair glue.  The white pants were purchased, then cut off just below his knees and I added the black trim to them.  The whole process sounds pretty simple, but a lot of time and effort were put into finding the right pieces and then putting it all together.  That's why they wore the same cosplays for the whole convention, because I also had a big costume for myself to finish!

The rest of the Day 1 was spent in the exhibition hall/artist's alley, or admiring other cosplayers and wandering the convention center.  Unfortunately, I didn't attend any panels this year.  I thought I would've had a chance to on Day 2, because that was when most of them I wanted to attend were scheduled, but the opportunity never presented itself.

Next are some photos of some other great cosplays.  Things were moving so fast that the pictures didn't always turn out flattering for the cosplayer, so I picked out the ones that were most flattering in case they ever happen upon this blog post.

This was the day we also made our way to Pike Place Market.  Love that place, we go there every time we are in Seattle.  In fact, we went there for breakfast everyday when we were on our honeymoon last year.  Day 1 of Sakura-Con 2012 was awesome, and I think it gave Aleisha and Glen a good taste of con-culture-- it was their first experience.  But Day 2 would be a totally new experience for everyone! Post on it coming soon!