THIS IS A WILD ONE

I had the idea for a while to cosplay the maid on the cover of the classic book How To Draw Manga: Getting Started, since she is very cute and also very iconic for anime fans of a certain age bracket. I decided to do so for my first con back from the pandemic shutdowns, since it would be a fun, silly costume.

I was not prepared for the response.

So many people my age with tons of nostalgia for this book! People who didn't get it at first saw that I had the book itself on the tray and practically screamed.

I wanted to make her as ridiculous as possible, and my partner practically leapt at the chance to style a wig with seven (7) ahoge, so I have some killer bangs on this thing. I'm wearing my silicone breastplate, Titphany, with her, but I'm not entirely happy with how that looks, so I'll probably redo the bra cups (they were just pinned in place for the first iteration...) for any subsequent wears or shoots. I also want to shorten the skirt and add more petticoats for a better silhouette.

Fun facts about this costume:

• The blue parts are the worst Joann "silky solid" I could find. This was for added 2001 authenticity.
• The giant pen is a plastic baseball bat from the dollar store with the handle chopped off, a wooden dowel glued in, and the whole thing spraypainted. The G pen nib is made from mirrored cardstock.
• The shoes are ancient Bodyline shoes from circa 2009.
• The book attaches to the tray with a band of elastic attached through the plastic tray that wraps around the inside of the front cover. I've had too many cosplays where people try to take things off my prop trays that I wanted it to be safe!
• The gloves are driving gloves from Daiso with lace added