Part of that WOOOOOOOORLD!

So, on Saturday, I went to a cosplay event, but after being there for a while, my friend and I decided to go out and about. My friend, Maia (who was my Elsa at FanX) was not in cosplay, but still was ok being out in public with this crazy girl. I had decided that I wanted to do Ariel for this event, but didn't want to hobble around in my fin all day and for some reason I didn't really feel like wearing her "Kiss the Girl" dress, so I decided to throw together her "sail" dress. You know the one, when she first becomes human, and Scuttle tells her that's what all humans wear. So I took a sheet and some brown ribbon and Bam! A new cosplay was born. :) (I also finally got around to styling the new wig I got for Ariel for Christmas...)

When I decided to go to the event, I thought I would be staying there all day. But since I ended up leaving pretty early, Maia and I decided to go to the Mall to eat lunch. We ended up doing a mini photoshoot, and I really like how these pictures turned out! (But, if I had known that I would be leaving the cosplay event early, I would have worn a different princess and gotten some really pretty pictures at nearby buildings. Oh, well!)

Oh, and before I show you the pictures, I was thinking of making a cosplay page for myself on facebook. Not to be confused with my princess party page, or my Disney group cosplay page. Just one for myself, where I can post pictures and updates and non-princess cosplays. Thoughts? I also am totally stumped on a name, so any suggestions for that? Let me know in the comments!

Ok, here are some pictures!

Cosplay Review: Coronation Anna

Hello!

So, I recently purchased a cosplay from aliexpress. I like to make/piece together my cosplays myself, but for a class assignment, we had to save up to buy something we wanted, and I took one look at Anna's skirt full of pleats and, like Meghan Trainor's new song, was like, "No." So I started looking around for a good looking dress that would be in my price range (remember, I'm cheap. So while other people are fine spending $500+ on princess dresses, I'm just like, "no" again.) I saw someone posted a link to the one they bought for $120 on Facebook, and I thought, well that's pretty reasonable, I'll look into it. Then I started looking at other places, and found that aliexpress had a bunch of options for less than $120. Even a lot under $100. So I started to do more research there.

To start off, AliExpress is kinda like Amazon or Ebay. There are a bunch of different sellers, and they are all in China. The thing with these Chinese companies is that they all use the EXACT SAME PICTURES to advertise their items, so there's really no telling exactly what you're going to get. Unless you read reviews. The more reviews, then usually the more people have bought it. But I specifically look for the reviews that post pictures with their reviews, because then you can see what that seller's item actually looks like. I narrowed it down to two options this way: one that was $100 and one that was $79.

Next read the item description. This is where the seller posts the sizing guide, care instructions, and other random information about the item. This will be in broken English, but don't worry, just read carefully. The sizing will be in Chinese sizing, which is WAY off of American sizing. So carefully take your measurements (in centimeters), and write them down so you don't forget. If you find a size that will fit you, great! Order that size. But if you're bigger than a US size 12, or just want it to fit you better, look to see if they will do custom measurements. On the two options I had, one of them offered custom measurements, and it happened to be the cheaper one! Yay! That is what sold me. So I placed my order, sent in my measurements in centimeters, and waited.

Around 4 weeks later (with free China Air shipping), my package came in the mail, and although I had somewhere to be just 30 minutes later, I couldn't help but rip it open and try it on! My first impression was that the package was very small, but I had bought my prom dress from China, and it was also sent in a very small box. I carefully opened up the package, and pulled out each item and inspected it, and fell in love. Of course I had to try it on then and there.

I will leave my review for each piece of the cosplay separately:
TOP: I was super impressed when I saw the top was made out of a nice velvety fabric. It is also embroidered instead of just having the design printed on. At first look, I thought the bodice looked short, but after trying it on, I learned it was the perfect length. That being said, it was also a little too wide for me. Although the top goes on with a side zipper, there are ribbon loops in the back to lace it up and take it in a bit. They also provide a ribbon to lace it up. It works just fine. I still had to make a few minor adjustments to get the top to lay nicely on me and keep the sleeves up on my shoulders, because they are meant to be worn off the shoulder, but I want them up for a little more modesty. I also personally wear a camisole under the top because it is rather low cut, but that's my personal preference.

SKIRT: The skirt is gorgeous! I think the colors are incredible accurate! It is also fully embroidered, and uses nice fabrics. It is just a tiny bit shorter than I thought it would be, but it doesn't bother me since it is more practical for walking (well, let's be honest, running and skipping and hopping around). It zips up, and has velcro at the top, which I may switch out for hooks and eyes. It comes out of the package rather wrinkled, and is kind of a pain to iron (not because of the quality of skirt, but because of the style. Pleats are not fun to iron). I found that ironing it, then putting it in the bathroom while I showered worked well enough. Also, I suggest getting a small petticoat to wear under it. Anna's skirt in the movie is not "poofy" (like, Cinderella, or Belle, or Ariel's pink dress) but the skirt is heavy and lays a little flat without one. I wear a small petticoat my mom made for me when I was in sixth grade for Halloween, and I think it gives the perfect amount of fullness.

NECKLACE: I knew that the dress was going to come with a necklace, but from pictures I was expecting a green jewel on a ribbon, which is not screen accurate at all. I was very pleasantly surprised to receive a screen accurate pendant on a velvet necklace. It is great.


Over all, even with the very minor things I had to change, I think that this dress is AMAZING. I have received nothing but compliments since I got it, and I cannot get over how great it is for how cheap it was. To buy fabric to make my own would have cost way more than what I paid for it, and I would not have embroidered the designs on it. Seriously, if you are considering getting an Anna coronation dress, GET THIS ONE. Just do it. Even if you have to pay someone a little bit for minor adjustments, it will be way worth it.

*This is definitely not a sponsored post, I just love it too much to not share with the world. :)

Huge Disney Cosplay Photoshoot

Hello! So, a few months ago, I was browsing through facebook, and a post came up on my newsfeed from a local cosplay page I'm part of. This particular post was from a girl who said that she and some friends wanted to get a group of Disney princesses together to do a huge photoshoot. She listed the princesses they already had, and asked if anyone would want to join. I, of course, jumped on that ship ASAP. I told her that I could be Anna. And they rest has been history.

Somehow we were able to find all of the 11 "official" Disney Princesses, and Elsa and Anna, to participate in the shoot. We scheduled a date that worked for all of us, and made a huge group chat so we could all talk about costume updates, picture ideas, and other princess-related randomness. 

A couple weeks ago (after some minor hiccups, and weather-related location changes) we had our photoshoot. Unfortunately, Tiana never showed up, but all the other princesses (plus a couple of random princes) came, and we were able to do our photoshoot, and walk around a mall for a while getting pictures with kids. It was such a fun day, and we have already started to make plans for another--even bigger--Disney photoshoot! Before I share pictures though, I want to share some tips on doing a large group cosplay photoshoot.

1. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! I cannot stress this enough. We thought we had everything planned out, and we still didn't get everything done that we wanted too. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, and we got some great pictures, but there was more we wanted to do and didn't get a chance. 
2. OVER ESTIMATE THE TIME IT WILL TAKE. This goes along with planning. Honestly, we just way underestimated the time the shoot would take. Make sure you don't plan on starting to shoot until at least half an hour after you're planned start time. Also, remember that with so many people, posing is going to take more time than just a single shoot.
3. PICK ONE LOCATION AND STAY THERE. It is so hard to coordinate getting 14 people from one place to another. Find a nice spot that fits in with your theme, and just stick there. Yes, you can move around a bit, like do inside and outside a location, or walk across the street, but don't think you can go to more than one area. We had planned on going to three different locations, and ended up going to one and a half (half of us went to a second location across the street while the other half took one of the girls to the train station because she had to go home.)
4. HAVE MORE THAN ONE PHOTOGRAPHER. We had one, and it worked out ok, but we would have been able to get way more pictures if we had another photographer or two. That way, if you do some individual shots or smaller group shots, the rest of the group doesn't just sit there watching.
5. HAVE IDEAS FOR POSES/SHOTS. Google and pinterest are your best friend for this. Find poses or awesome ideas for shots, and share them with the group and photographer. 
6. BRING PROPS. Merida had her bow, we had a lot of side-kick plushes, we had tea cups and books and fans. Find props specific to your character and/or group, and bring them! Some of my favorite shots from this had props!
7. USE YOUR LOCATION TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. Our main location was a big empty ballroom. I love the shots in there, but somewhere with more... things would have been better. But, one thing our ballroom had was a ticket booth (since it was an old train station), and we were able to use that to get some cool shots. Our other-ish location had a fountain and street lights, and a balcony, and steps, so we were able to more with that.
8. HAVE FUN. Yes, getting good pictures is important, but honestly, who cares what the photos look like if you were stressed and upset during the shoot. You'll see the pictures and be reminded of the bed time you have. If you just remember to have fun, then you'll be reminded of that great time when you see the pictures. :)

Now, here are the pictures, which are the most important part, right? ;)  Also, like our group cosplay page on Facebook! (click here)

First, you can see all these pictures with some music and a couple of "behind the scenes" videos in this video if you don't want to scroll through them. :)