And now for something [else] completely different.

Good afternoon everyone~ how's the weekend been? Obligatory mention of Sunday relaxation. I'm trying to be semi-productive by straightening my hair, replaying Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, sewing a button back on, reading Noblesse, and going over GSO music in some sort of cohesion [Noblesse is winning]. Another week down. What am I counting down to? [Hmmm... I guess Otakon now, so very far away...] Well, that aside, as the title states, I had some fun on Friday.

This semester at least, I don't have class or work on Friday, so more often than not, I'll be staying home. This past Friday though, two of the student groups on campus I'm involved in were having fundraisers, so I came out to lend manpower and promotional support. In hindsight I think I somehow managed to mash both aesthetics of the groups [Japanese American Student Association (the ever popular JASA) and Satanic Mechanics Theater Company (no affiliation with Satan or car repair)] together without trying.

Yukata: Handmade

Hakama: Japan

Armwarmers: Hot Topic

Boots: Demonia

Of course, no day dressed in hakama is complete without a few pictures with Yasumisame. Ever faithful, simple and elegant, Yasumisame is my ferocity in modesty [...whut?].

I do know basic kendo strikes, but this is just posing for the camera, haha. ^_^

With one sleeve pulled up, I actually feel more like an archer.

The hakama and boots combination was apparently a somewhat popular style for ladies after the Meiji Restoration in Japan [around the 1860s]. That was the thought I had in my head when I was thinking about what I wanted to wear on Thursday [it is a rare occurrence indeed, for me to plan my outfits, especially a whole night beforehand]. It's hasn't gotten back to being cold enough to snow, but it was still chilly, and it rained [so I'm glad I threw on the arm warmers as an extra measure]. I suppose if I had to type this, it would be a neo-fuedal, cyberpunk samurai style. I will probably wear this again come Cherry Blossom season, if not sooner.

Do you have any clothes from a different era of time? If so, do you get to wear it that often? What would be your favorite crossover styles of old and new?

March is almost upon us now, look forward to some new music~

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Katsucon 12 Highlights [My... Special Coffin?]

Good morning, everyone, aaaaaah what in the world am I doing here so early? Well, if I have to be up, then let's make the most of it [this is disregarding the fact that a) half the time my usual goal is try and salvage semi-sleep when awake this early, and b) that I could be doing something else a little more urgent at this moment]. Also, since this is a derailment from the norms of the blog, I didn't want to put this off too much before it became overly irrelevant [like a birthday post did... eheh heh...]. Saa~ minna, if you will, a brief memoir of Katsucon 2012.

Like last time, I only went for one day. I'm okay with this, because the one day pass is cheaper, and realistically, I'd only go on Saturday and maybe Sunday anyway, since I'd usually have class on Friday. I also drove myself; I'm terrible with directions and wary of misinterpreting signs, but I made it alright [then I remembered I need directions going back, ahaha...]. Also like last time, I didn't dress up in a full cosplay; I wanted full mobility, and not be detracted as much with being photographed myself [I will do a full cosplay if I go the whole weekend though]. The majority of the day was spent standing in the registration line, photographing [yaaaay~ a Sengoku Basara group was there~], Streetpassing with other 3DSers, and shopping like a psycho otaku that I am. I had quite a haul for just one day [equivalent to roughly three days at Otakon]. 

MORE PINS~ MUAHAHAHAHA~! Also a new bag at last [though I still use the Hellsing one.]

But truly the best finds of the day were the face mask down in the front, and that big old red book in the upper right corner. Why you ask~?

And yet another thing on my person that jangles.

Well, first, the face mask. It wasn't terribly expensive for what it was [$10], has given me some inspiration for the one I still plan on making--in terms of design, accessories, and material--, and perhaps the best of all, it does not fog up my glasses when I breathe. This is a very important point for me, as one might guess, because if I'm wearing a mask for when I'm actually sick on top of wanting to look formidable, I tend to be even more miserable having to deal with not being able to see half the time.

It's probably because of the swimsuit-esque material.

This one will be going out with me a lot for weekends in Visual Kei. Since the safety pins are removable, no da, I might substitute them with a lighter brooch if I want to add some sort of neo-Aristocrat touch to it.

As for that big red book? That, my friends, is 'Coffin: The Official Artworks of Vampire Hunter D' by Yoshitaka Amano [gamer fans may know the name as the illustrator of Final Fantasy artworks]. 

Includes color pages not shown in the novels, and an exclusive short story.

I saw this book in a Barnes&Noble several years ago while window shopping on a double date or summat, and immediately desired it. I didn't even know what Vampire Hunter D was; the author of the novels, if it was a movie, whatever, nothing. I just wanted to have it. It was $60, which I didn't have on me at the time. So I lightly thumbed through some of the pages, probably gaping like a fish, then put it back on the shelf, and forgot about it after a while.

 

In that time, I've acquired the VHD movie and several volumes of Takaki Saiko's manga adaptations, and in general become a fan of Hideyuki Kikuchi's legacy work [my shadow has even told me I should cosplay as the titular character D]. So when I saw this artbook in a booth at Katsucon, those dormant desires from way back when flared up ten-fold in combination with my fandom. 

Needless to say, if I ever did cosplay D, it would be one of the most intensive ones ever.

I would've bought it no matter the price, but the conventions gods loved on me; the seller put it out for $30. He also mentioned something about it being out-of-print, so if that's true, it'll probably be worth hundreds somewhere down the line. Maybe. Who knows? Even if it's not, I'm happy to have it.

Do you have any special promotional works for books or movies you like? Have an autographed piece that you'll hold onto forever? Any series that you love enough to buy a collectible item for? Hahaha, that pretty much defines otaku.

My this week flew~! What on earth have I been doing? Class? Eh?

I thank you for your indulgence, everyone.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

White and Eyelets and Hair, say what?

Good evening, everyone, hope your end-of-weekend is proving to be as it should be; relaxed, so one can enter into the week refreshed [even moreso if you have tomorrow off~]. My weekend started on Friday, and what a splendid three days it was. Friday was a SpaWorld day, and hardly anybody seemed to be around~ so it was as if we had the whole place to ourselves~. Saturday, I went down to the Gaylord National Harbor for one-day Katsucon [more on that to come]. And today~? 

Well, today I did work, and went to GSO rehearsal. Since laundry day was pushed back from being out all day Saturday, I had less things that were climate appropriate and decent to wear. But~, if the post title is any clue, guess what I managed~?

I couldn't have planned it better~ the perfect pair of eyelets all around~

Lo, despite a few posts back saying I wanted to get an all white Aristocrat ensemble, with the recent completion of the Nudy Boy shirt, I now have a nice coordination for a casual all white Visual Kei. I am not displeased by this. It's fun to come up with new things from ideas of something slightly [or even not at all] related.

I went with the checkered suspenders this time, rather than the one black, one white.

I don't have any white foot wear [yet], and I ran out of the house in a rush after stringing up the sleeves [since I can't use the same ones for the legs if I want to wear this combination, ahaha], so... barefoot marquis.

I also tried to do something with my hair. Emphasis on the 'try' and the 'something.' I double pinned the top part down, before changing it to up [V-kei is all about gravity defying mess o-dyed parts, haha]. I liked it well enough to take some pictures. Maybe I'll replicate it tomorrow and see how practical it is for work and class.

I approve of taking pictures of myself in the bathroom mirror if it's this way; after all, if you just turn the camera around, you can look into the mirrored camera and see what it's focused on, and avoid the flash.

I single pinned it here, but I'll probably double pin it if I wear it for a whole day.

And there we have it~. I'm glad I can showcase more Visual Kei, as this is the other major half of the blog. I say that, and then already know the next post[s] will be heavily cosplay related [but that too, is a part of the blog, my Triforce of me~...!]. Please indulge me this, if you will.

Do you ever do one color outfits? Do you find you break up the one color with a contrasting/complimenting colored accessories? And what's that rule about wearing white again?

February is soon coming to a close~

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Nudy Boy Shirt Complete

Good afternoon, everyone~ I hope the week went well for all. We finally had another dusting of snow yesterday, and by dusting, I do mean maybe and inch, the promptly melted in the three hours I went back to sleep. I almost wondered if I hallucinated it. If you all are getting snow, do a ritual-dance-something-or-other and send it to the east coast, please. I'm feeling cheated out of winter, it's no fun just having blistering cold winds [even if they blow my long coats out].

In other news, you might remember way back when, I had plans to turn my Nudy Boy shirt [the first one with Engrish over it] into a replica of my black Visual Kei pants; using my new best instrument of modification, eyelets, I made a T-shirt and detached sleeves. Since I didn't use siding, this was a relatively simple project by comparison to the pants [and the white Aeon ones as well], taking just under 2 hours.

Here's the shirt before.

In a store that usually sells things like this for $60, I was pleased to get it for $20.

The most important thing for this project was to correctly measure out the space for eyelets when hemming the cut sleeves back. It all goes a little something like this:

T and sleeves with hemmed ends.

Eyelets in.

1. If you decide to use siding for your sleeves, then you won't have to measure out extra to fold back. If your shirt in question is thicker, like denim, then you won't need to do either. This is for no siding. Depending on the size of your eyelet, you will have to adjust the measurements of how much you hem the shirt back. For 1/4" eyelets like I had, I just folded back the sleeves about 2.5 cm. Add that to the end of where you want the eyelets to go, because you're folding that part back. Cut a little extra for seam allowance. Repeat the same for the now-detached sleeves.
   
   
2. Turn your shirt and sleeves inside out, pin, and sew all around.
   
   
3. If you want, you can turn your T and sleeves back out the right way, unless you're okay with measuring and cutting the holes for the eyelets from the inside out. I recommend doing it from the outside. Measure how far apart you'd like your eyelets [and remember, you have to add the same amount to each detached sleeve, so make sure of how many you have], and trace the inside of  DEEP END eyelet over each mark.
   
   
4. Cut out the hole through both layers. Watch your fingers!
   
   
5. Put the DEEP END of the eyelet through the outside, and the shallow end on the inside. Get a nice sturdy surface [a garage floor or spare 2x4 works great] and hammer away~!
   
   
6. Thread the T and sleeves together with your string/ribbon of choice.

Finished, all strung up~

Tada~. Magnificent results, if I do say so myself. And not one chip of nail or polish. I'd say that's pretty good. Aaaaand~ being primarily all white, it'll go great with the Aeon pants~. Now I have the urge to find a white rose hair piece...

Do you use eyelets for clothing projects? What's a handmade item you absolutely love? Got a DIY project in your head that's not working out on paper? I'd love to help. ^_^

Into next week~ [and let's get those snow-dances jiving, everyone.]
Eternally yours,
Il Ruinante Isaak

Playing with Polyvore: White Marquis

Good afternoon, everyone~. Here I am starting this in afternoon, but we'll see if I can't somehow manage to distract myself and end up doing this in the evening anyway... No~! NO! Come now me, snap out of it. *Pat pat.* This is procrastination at it's finest, my friends...

Recently, I've somehow become absorbed into a longtime dream of mine to make an all white Aristo, to contrast the usual all black that goes with the type. This isn't necessarily something I'm wanting to do to prove that all white Aristo exists, because I think it does, more of compiling the ensemble just to have it [like anything else I do, really]. Then I can go out no matter the weather, and I can choose which way to match or contrast to my Lolita counterpart companion [or Goth or Gyaru, etc.]. Reaching into a lazy late night and dabbling around with the nifty--but sometimes thwarting--tool Polyvore, I constructed a guideline white Aristo goal.

The cane is a Luscious Malfoy replica, haha.

And silly me, I didn't take any notes as to the brands or such. I suppose since I wasn't looking for replication, I didn't think about it, but you all might be interested~! Next time I will remember, and jot them all down.

As with a default Aristo, accessories in color [even white] aren't a no-no, so I highlighted the white with red and black [and ohhhhh yaaaaaaaaay PURPLE~!] where it would look classiest. If I ever make a chrome colored cane, I might use that for a white ensemble instead. I couldn't find any white jackets that I liked [with the methods I was using to search], so I just picked the one shown on the right, imagining it to be white. White jackets even in regular styles are hard to come by, me thinks... Shoes are also a toss-up, one half dozen of the other, but maybe this summer, I'll have a good pair [...right, in the summer, when it'll be hell to wear them]. Since I already have a few, I think instead of white belts, I'd also use chrome or stainless steel link belt in the place of a straight white belt.

Do you use online tools to help coordinate? Got any advice for using Polyvore [or can recommend other sites]? Or do you like the old fashioned way of laying all your clothes out/holding them up to you in a mirror?

Come to me, all white Aristo~! Same for all white Visual-Kei, too.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Palette Swap Manicure

Good evening everyone~ I feel on such a roll. I would say please look forward to this in the future, as it I did before, but chances are I'm just on a lucky streak. But it would be nice, ne~? The future is a mysterious thing, saa na~. That being said, onward to a little update.

Since we both have Fridays free, Toriberry and I decided to get together sometime between a doctor's appointment and covering a work shift to do our nails. Considering neither of us live on campus at the moment, we floundered a bit wondering where we should go that isn't utterly secluded, or outside [since winter is finally coming around, thanks groundhog], but wouldn't choke people in the vicinity with nail polish fumes. We ended up in a study room in the main library, and went to work. You'll notice the familiar manicure~

It's playing season again, so just the right hand, since there is a noticeable length difference.

Sparkle quota, met.

Again, I used the color changing Del-Sol as a top coat, so added sparkles and bonus ruby-silver in sunlight. [I should really just get some clear coat though.] The blue is really globbing up for some reason; are there methods for thinning nailpolish without it becoming a watery mess?

What are your all time favorite designs, or colors for your nails? Do you have seasonal changes? Are you an acrylic nail type?

Haaaah, brand new week already~? Okay.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Monthly Theme: Bling for your Fingers

Good evening, everyone~. It's only the middle of the week [but I'm still dreadfully tired, what's happening to me~?], and suddenly there is so much to do, even though it's now becoming the late hours of the night. But, if you'll pardon me, I'm going to cue up 'Storms of Storms' to get the juices going [music is my powerful elixir], and we'll be on our way for that time of the month~...! What? No, not that [whatever 'that' is to you], something better. That's right~ it's Victorian Kitty-san's Monthly Theme, this time, focusing on rings~.

Contrary to popular belief [of those near to me], I actually do enjoy wearing jewelry. I love my earrings, probably since I got them pierced late in the game by some standards, and necklaces have always been in surplus. I wore anklets and bracelets a lot when I was younger, but that tapered off because they impede typing and tight shoe wearing. Rings are actually fairly recent, in the grand scheme of things, but ohhhh how I love them indeed.

I usually wear two rings as a staple, a gift ring from a girlfriend from high school on the left hand, and the high school ring on the right hand. Since it's a special occasion~ I donned some more that I just recently acquired along with the clothing given from my godmother in Boston.

There were also some turquoise rings, but I let mother marquis have them.

To match, I wore my grommit halved pants [first time for 2012, yay~], and as many other eyelet things as possible, for the emulation of rings, in that they are round holes. I hope to have two shirts that are eyelet filled to add to a similar ensemble another day.

This is actually the most dressed down V-kei I've done in a while, too.

A couple girls on campus were selling off their hula-hoops outside of Stamp, so as an after thought, I added in one of mine. I am an excellent hula-hooper, so I stayed a while and helped advertise. Good work out, too! [my boots as they are now remind me of Sora's shoes...]

I'm hoping to acquire some ring armors, with a talon point, but not any other sort of weaponry, because then that's just self-sabotage and many accidents waiting to happen. Unfortunately, I can only usually find ring armors that cover the middle knuckle, or are full with a short knife on the top. They look awesome, and I might break down and buy the latter if I see it at Otakon this year just to have it, but a more everyday wearable one is ideal.

Lastly, as an aside, I took out some rings from my grandmother's collection. I didn't wear them, since they're a little different from my style [generational gap], but I cannot help but treasure them of course. My grandmother left me all of her jewelry in her will [which made mother marquis pout, although I let her borrow some], and just looking at it gives me that spiritually connected feeling. Her birthday is coming up, so here's a little bonus and pre-tribute.

Along with these, she has lots of pearls and brooches.

Thank you for the theme, Kitty-san~ it was my pleasure to join back in.

Here's the last leg to the weekend~

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak