Weekend Gamer

Good afternoon, everyone [already afternoon? ugh, where does all my time go?]. Hope you all had a pleasant weekend. I was verily too busy to post on Sunday [che sigh], as I tried to be semi-productive and catch up on work in the time I wasn't going out. Saturday, I had a tall-shoes outing with a friend from campus, and we went and saw Hunger Games [I haven't read the book, so I have a very base opinion just concerning the movie. And I feel like I sound jaded when I say it was alright; just okay]. Aside from the Demonia boots, nothing to report. Resident Evil-ed into the night [this was probably one of the worst ideas ever, but heeeeyyyy I swear the paranoid hysterics are gone].

On Sunday, the weather dipped again, so I knew there was a jacket in the works. But for walking around D.C. to go down and see The Art of Video Games exhibit at the American Art Museum in the Smithsonian, I was in the mind to be kept at arms length. I don't mind staring--I'm going to get that on the Metro this Saturday for the Cherry Blossom festival--but I don't want to be -bothered- by... undesirables. So I made myself 'fierce', with direct inspiration from the guys of SID.

Jacket: Second hand
Scarf: Undertaker cosplay
Pants: Handmade
Shirt: Katsucon
Platforms: Demonia

And the shades are over top of my glasses.

Trademark delinquent crouch. No really, this is a staple.

Wish I had remembered the cane, I would've felt safer.

I am quite pleased with this ensemble, and I was able to walk the three blocks to the museum in relative peace. The exhibit was pretty good, it was a nice sampling of the past and present in video games, including the evolution of story, mechanics, music, and of course, art. The Kogard Courtyard is quite beautiful, but as far as how a 120 piece orchestra plus chorus is going to fit, I do have lingering worry. But we'll make it work.

Not inspired by my hair. Totally.

The face swirls are courtesy of my calligraphy brush. This is probably not the best implement for writing on one's face, but I use it because of the control, non-smearing, easy remove ink. Replace instead with any liquid eyeliner, is what I recommend.

Since this one is sort of late, hopefully I can get to another one about more War Paint by Thursday... but don't hold your breath, I don't want you to suffocate.

Cherry blossoms are very much in season~, do you have any plans go to a viewing? Are you lucky enough to have some in your backyard? This is the hundred year anniversary of Japan giving us those very first trees, everyone~ do something special just for that.

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak.

Under De-Construction

Good evening, everyone. For the record, the title took two more minutes than usual [aka, those two minutes] to come up with, aaaah. I guess we all struggle with it. Our Golden Week is here~ and so soon, already gone... awww... I have to say, it's not as if I've been doing anything. It's actually quite terrible, I was sleeping. Sleep, sleep, sleep, SLEEP. And I think I'm caught up, but I still just want to sleep. Somewhere between the shut eye, I did something semi-productive.

Since the weather's warming up, it's hard to wear the full layers of Aristocrat and not become a hot mess [although I am temperature retarded, so I might be okay]. So I'm going to do my best to switch it up to Visual Kei, and emphasize the accessories and make-up. However, there's a important aspect to Visual Kei clothes that can make it easier for even beginners to build up a wardrobe. Aside from a norm of darker colors, deconstruction is your friend.

So, thinking to make a wide-necked shirt, sort of shoulderless, I did the thing anyone does now a days, and Googled how. I came across Salinabear on Youtube, who has a wide array of videos on how to tear up your T-shirt in a cool way. And I sure as hell have a lot of T-shirt's to tear up. I tried a look from this video, and cut down the back as in this video. Here's my results~!

My first subjects~ [why haven't I seen these shirts in forever?]

For a shirt more baggy than the ones in Salinabear's videos, I like how this came out.

Oh, and then I went out. [a pair of pants I haven't seen in forever.]

I was going to use the white shirts for the cut up the back, but I wrote stuff on the back, haha. So I dug around for another one that was a little smaller [the vast majority of the T-shirt's I have are also nightclothed sized from when I was a kid].

I ended up double weaving it, too. Don't be afraid to cut wide for this one.

I probably did something wrong as far as making the boat cut on the top, but eh, it's fine.

I'm not ready to cleave up my special graphic T's just yet, but perhaps I'll get some in the future, and with the extras I'll give it a whirl.

What's your opinion of pre-torn clothes? Do you think torn clothes are ever appropriate? If you have holey jeans/shirts/etc, how did you get them?

Oh Golden Week, here and gone. Please just a few more days~
Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaac

Warpaint Beauty is Warpaint [picture laden]

Good morning, everyone [...eh? EH?!]. It seems I've been dead all last week [weak, week, unintentional play on the fact I was sick, and also out taking care of neighbors' cats], but not only that... *Looks hither and yon.* Where... where has everyone got to? Eh? Well... be sure to take care, everyone, do your best. I hope things are going well. The GOLDEN Week approaches... [There are plans of grandeur in my head, but lets see what actually happens.]

Last week, or so, I got out of the house and down to Annapolis with the parent marquis for Pretzel Day [that took one too many tries to get correct]. The Hot Topic was across the way from the Auntie Anne's giving away free pretzels, so I perused with my om nom. I was definitely bent on getting a new color of nail polish. Don't get my wrong, I love all shades of purple, which explains why I have at least five different bottles of that color alone. But whether it was lime yellow or citrus orange, I was getting a contrast color.

As it were, there was a sale on Warpaint Beauty brand cosmetics. So I picked up some eyeshadow and lipstick as well [or at least, for as long as I stared at it reading the ingredient list, I came to the conclusion it was lipstick].

Red~! Red, red, red, red, and that is Triforce you see. In a nice compact cubular bottle, it goes on very thick, despite my expectations. This is just one coat. It also dries very quickly, which is great since I have a knack for doing my nails either right before going to the event I'm painting then for, or before I do laborious activity [like laundry]. I'm very pleased, and looking forward to new manicure combos.

Another thing I seem to do a lot is mistake the forms cosmetics come in. First, I thought the eyeshadow was eyeliner. Thus, I thought said eyeliner was liquid.

Being a roll-on, I did sort of literally roll it everywhere, and smudged off where I didn't want it.

I was wrong on both counts, and the eyeshadow is actually a powder that applies via roll-on. I am not perturbed by the turnout, since I do already have a fair share of pencil eyeliners [in purple, too]. It goes on light, so it takes several roll overs to get is as dark as I'd like, but it comes off with a light swab of my thumb or a cotton ball [which is great since I just let it go wherever really, tsk tsk tsk].

Lastly, but certainly not least, a off the wall desire that I didn't think I'd find so easily. Che blue lipstick.

Hey yo. Otonashiku.

Murrr grrrr... or whatever.

I wanted blue [or even purple or dark emerald] for this purpose alone; to have a black upper lip and a blue lower lip. I do this with red as well, whenever the urge hits me. If I get back to Hot Topic soon enough, I will probably get a darker blue variant as well. This is something most likely likened to anime in my subconscious. I don't know. But this is all I wanted it for. And if it wasn't for the fact that I'm bad about mashing my lips together, I'd wear this more regularly.

So maybe I'll do the manicure in blue or black, or both.

Make-up is more understated in Aristocrat, but it is a defining feature of what makes Visual Kei, well, Visual Kei. That and the elaborate costumes. The weather is definitely leaning into Spring, so I will probably spend more weekend outings in climate friendly Visual Kei as the year goes on. Whether this will result in more make-up posts will still depend on if I remember to do it before I go out, ahaha.

Sigh... I try. I really do love the bags under my eyes, as strange as that might sound.

Golden week... aka Spring Break... come to me...!

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

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

Secondhand Goodness Part 1

Good evening, everyone~ and for those of you like me who are returned to your respective universities, welcome to the spring semester. Good luck one and all~. Has it snowed where you are? More than a scant inch or so like it did here before icing over and melting away... please come back snow~ [or at least appropriate temperatures for the current time of the year]. Bah, it's fine one way or another, in the end.

At last~ I had another occasion to wear my other secondhand jacket in his mild cold weather, so we can have something to look at. Around Otakon last year, Nobu was in town from her trip to China, and dropped off a lovely pair of jackets for me to have, since they were too long for her. As a double bonus, she got these jackets for a steal at the thrift store near campus. Win win all around~! The first up is a number you've seen before, both for Victorian Kitty-san's lace-themed month, and just recently for the end of the year variance sampler.

It has a buckle in the back to make the waist more or less tight, and a pair of rather spacious chest pockets. It carries with it the feel of a Japanese delinquent [...it sounds more random than it seems, promise, haha]. If I knew how to do it, I would embroider something on the sleeve invoking the feeling even more ["Rising Sun of Love and War!" or the likes]. I'll just have to make sure it's accurate.

The second is a delicious leather number, if I do say so myself. I wore it a lot during all of August and September, and adjusted to the ways of slipping leather against car seats and such. All part of the sexy.

Oh, and I finally tamed my hair some.

I'm still not out of my crouch shots. These boots are surprisingly easy for it, though.

No pockets, but it makes up for that in another way. That awesome high collar, open chest, and clip-buckles towards the bottom make this an almost near replica of Final Fantasy VII's main antagonist, Sephiroth  [I make metaphors that he is the Darth Vadar equivalent for video games].  It is close enough to encourage me to make a full cosplay for him somewhere down the line [and I already have one of the more difficult aspects of it in this jacket down]. Don't hold your breath for it, but just wait... it'll come along. Outside of hyper fandom excitement, it is an excellent cool weather jacket as well, because the leather and lining is warm.

Naturally, I give Nobu extra hugs every time I see her when wearing them. Plus two more reasons to love windy days.

Have you ever gotten things secondhand that you wear more than some new things? Or, have a horrible case of the handed down off-colored sweaters from aunts or grandmas?

Here's to a lovely weekend [and this is part one for a reason, so look forward to part two~]

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

Into the New Year; A Variance

Good evening, everyone, and happy holidays to you all~! Whether you like to spend time at home with just you and a nice cup of hot cocoa, or travel hundreds of miles to gather with family and repeat your Thanksgiving feast all over again, I hope you all have a great end of the year! Get yourself a little something [or hey, maybe like me, one little-big something], and say to yourself, "I deserve it." because everyone can use a little self-love every now and then.

Before the year wrapped up, I wanted to do a little recap and reflection of my own as it were, and pretend to pass out sage wisdom about fashion lovers and lifestylists through the changing seasons of every year. Let's see where that goes, haha.

Undertaker continues to be my favorite current cosplay, despite the work.

I am reminded of a certain school...

Visual-Kei madness in all it's... madness. The coat will be featured soon~

Who the heck is this? Oh.

So what does this all add up to? Well, for those who might be confuzzled by my last little caption there, I suppose it comes down to this. Dressing in a select style allows for as much freedom as you have imagination. And that even if you are a lifestylist in your particular fashion, there are times when you're just going to have a "normal" day. I know for a fact I have lots of casual days, where I'm back in my graphic t-shirt and pants staple, sans anything remotely Visual Kei.

Well, that may be all well and good if you're the flexible type who doesn't mind having the occasional day out of the petticoat or without the dark make-up. This would seem meaningless though, to those of you die-hards out there who have been at your fashion lifestyle for years now. I applaud your skills and passion towards what you love~! But I can bet you you've had a day or two, maybe when you were sick, or knew that you weren't going to leave the house on a nice lazy weekend, where you may have question "How much?" if any you would dress up that day. But you still made yourself look amazing as always. This isn't a bad thing. What I'm getting at, is that a casual dressing day doesn't have to equal lounge-clothes or, che gasp, normal civilian wear. And how do you do that, even while staying true to your particular style? Simple~

Perhaps the easiest thing ever is to stop before you go all the way. Thought about those cupcake rings and necklaces to match the lone bow in your hair, Sweet Lolitas? Give them a day off, and wear just one petticoat, too. Like lots of necklaces like I do, all sorts of chrome and crucifixes and wallet chains galore, punk generation and Gothic friends~? Put one of each on, and leave it at that. Makes your morning routine a snap, too. You might not know what to do with those extra five minutes.

If you can stand the thought, add, subtract, or substitute some colors in your select style. I've stood by the all black Aristo myself, but I know all white Aristo, along with the regal colors of dark purples, blues, and reds, will look just as amazing [budget willing I finally can get around to adding some of that in]. Haven't got another color in sight? Make-up artists, show your stuff, and instead of a dark shadows or lipstick, try a bright, but radical color; dare you try red and gold phoenix-dragon eye shadow, with a ruby red lipstick? I'm out on a hunt still for blue lipstick myself.

Since we're on a roll here, if you're feeling as though, yes indeed, today I will be Gothic, Lolita, Gyaru, Visual Kei, etc., even though the weather isn't right for all those layers [or lack there of], another thing to try is to switch the garment itself. If you're a skirts all day everyday, why not try a pair of slacks, or gauchos [the pants that look like a skirt because of the flowyness] for those easy-breezy weekends? Are you a graphic t-shirt fan like me? Blouses can have awesome graphics, usually taking up the entire back, that are great when you might be out for just a night.

In the end, of course, everything you do is up to you. You know what you do and don't like, what works for you and what doesn't, so go out there and have fun with it. I'm satisfied with myself to be able to switch up between two fashions [and then some one the side, for cosplay], but know full well that because I am lazy in the morning, I can make due with my t-shirt ensemble. Here's to more trail and error, and amazing looks for the future.

Happy New Year's everyone, and all the best~!

Eternally yours,

Il Ruinante Isaak

p.s. Sebastian is sharing his well wishes with you all, too. ^_^

*Hack hack hack.*