I'm totally hopeless, I know.

Hi, my name is Kat, and I'm a relapsed cosplay addict. Pleased ta meetcha… oh crap, that's Harley Quinn. See what I mean?!

I realized yesterday that I am having Halloween withdrawals. Real bad.

First off, I loved costuming Stevie. Loved. Altering my own costume in many hidden/impossible ways was thrilling and challenging and had a 'damn I'm good' vibe to it, but the entire experience of sewing that Jedi thing was positively unexplainable; I haven't felt that good about my ability to create anything in a really long time. And it's really, really cool to be proud of yourself. As a lifelong perfectionist, it's something I don't experience a whole lot.

But I got the disease, now… again.

Two years ago, I bought a costume - priestess robes - for the first time since junior high. Bellatrix last year was what awoke the sleeping beast inside, but she was kind of a joke. I didn't have a sewing machine, and only made a mock-costume. This year I went a step further and made sure I had the best cheap costume money could buy. Oh, it was glorious. My kid said I didn't look like her mother. =)

And then I went out. And before I even got to the bar, I had people telling me I'd better work it if I was dressed like that. And that was the defining moment of my evening; the moment where everything clicked and my brain said, "OHHHH.. I remember now!"

I had a positive ball being Harley Quinn. I used to watch the cartoon, and I can do the voice, the accent, the mannerisms pretty well. For the couple of people who recognized my character, I really laid it on, and they were quite pleased. Not that it's hard… You just talk like a ditzy valley girl, keep looking around for your Puddin', Mistah J, and if anyone asks you about the Bat Man, you ask if they're working for him or trying to ruin your good time. Yep, that's me: shy Kat who usually can't think of a thing to say in a social situation is the same girl who sang crazy songs a cappella while playing the lead female role in Hamlet on a stage in front of a packed house, and memorized/performed a different skit each day for little kid's summer camp programs, not to mention the bazillion other things I've had bits in. I love drama and running around in a costume. I love costuming. And I miss acting. I have that wonderful ability to totally lose myself in becoming a character instead of just playing a role. It's bliss.

And it's been a LONG time. I missed it badly, and I didn't realize it before. I was absolutely right when I thought 30 would be a year of coming back into myself. It was.

Now I feel like I've come to the end of a journey - I spent the six weeks before Halloween researching, plotting, planning, ordering, shopping, and then sewing like a kid in a sweatshop. It wasn’t because Halloween needed to be a big deal, either, but purely out of love. I realized anew that I can sew well and I am still the same kid who used to make amazing doll clothes out of scrap fabric, except now I've finally learned how to sew stretchy seams, do fits like a tailor, and adjust the finer settings on my new sewing machine to work with any fabric and any stitch. But I've got a whole year before I get to think about Halloween again (sob! - although my family is probably breathing an ENORMOUS sigh of relief, hah)… and I'm having withdrawals. Now I wander around my house, staring at the sewing machine, wanting to stitch up something so badly that I've taken to making a Jedi costume for one of Jackie's Ken dolls out of the Halloween scrap pile.

So I've decided that in addition to Halloween 2009 (affectionately known in my brain as the elusive 'How Do I Top Last Year?') I'm going to start having some fun in my life next year, like going to the Georgia Ren Fest, DragonCon and maybe doing some photos for the Peachtree Cosplay Society if I'm feeling saucy. There are more Cons, but I'm not an anime fan/gamer and I wouldn't feel right cosplaying something I knew nothing about.

And I'm going to take advantage of the time I've got between now and then to properly design my own costumes, and really do everything right. I will potentially need six costumes, if I go to all four days of DragonCon. Hurrah for sewing machines and reasonable skill!

I've got some ideas, but I'm totally open to anyone's! I run into a unique problem, in that I've got this incredible giant mop of wig-worthy curly hair, but 99% of the chicks worth dressing up as are straight-haired and BLONDE! You all know what I look like; if you can think of any characters I might be able to do wigless - and preferably not half-dressed characters, if possible… is that even possible?? - I welcome your suggestions! (I'm not opposed to a wig as a last resort, but we really don't want to get into what it was like to try to cram all my hair under that small Harley Quinn hood.)

FYI: No, I am never doing Bellatrix again unless I can find a really perfect or extremely similar dress pattern. I love her, but that's nearly as complicated (and expensive) as a full medieval/Renaissance gown.

Next post will be a list of potential ideas and commissions I've been asked about. I must say, I'm more excited about those commissions than anything else!

My name's Kat, and I'm a renewed cosplay addict. And I'm damn pleased ta meetcha, Puddin'.