Tell us about your first cosplay experience: who, what, where, when, and how did it go?

The first costume I ever made was a Sailor Moon school uniform. I was a freshman in high school, and I wanted to make an anime costume to wear to school for Halloween. There weren't any rules about dressing up, but not many people did it. I thought it would be a lot of fun, but I didn't know the first thing about what to do. I borrowed a blue pleated skirt from a friend and wore it with a white blouse. My mother was very busy with work and didn't have time to help me with the sewn parts. I managed to pull all of it out of the closet except for the sailor collar, though. I asked a neighbor to hem it for me and painted some white stripes on it. It really was a horrible costume, but it was well received at school!

Were you naturally drawn to cosplay, or did it take some coaxing to get started?

I've always loved getting dressed up. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I always wanted to be that person at a costume party with an amazing outfit. I felt pretty lost at first, though, since I didn't know where to start, didn't know how to sew, but knew I wanted to make somthing cool with my own hands. I remember we all got dragged into it at about the same time so I had a lot of help from Makoto, Ringo, and even my mother-in-law in getting started. I owe a lot to those girls for teaching me the basics and giving me the space to figure out other things on my own. My mother-in-law isn't interested in costuming, but she is really supportive and loves to see the results so she's always been really helpful when I'm stuck with a technical problem.

Your collection is abundant in both anime and J-rock costumes. What are the differences, if any, that you notice in making the two styles?

J-rock costumes are a lot of fun, but depending on the costume, you can spend up to 2-3 hours getting dressed and getting the makeup just right. Some of my anime/game costumes take a long time to get into as well, but they usually have much easier makeup. J-rock outfits can be harder to research since you can't always get clear photos of the whole outfit, but since the costumes are based on real, physical clothing, it can be easier than drafting an anime costume pattern without any sort of visible seams. Lately, it seems like character designers have been paying more attention to realistic clothing seams, but there are still outfits out there that make absolutely no sense on the cutting board.

You're part of a cosplay group who not only creates costume ensembles but also puts on some events at various conventions. What's it like to go from being the participant to being the organizer?

It's so much more laid-back being a casual attendee. When hosting a panel or an event, or even in judging, you encounter many different people with many different personal views on the hobby. Making everything gel together while adhering to a strict schedule can be really frustrating, especially when you throw your own personal costuming into the mix. I enjoy being able to give back to the community through panels, so it is rewarding in its own right, but being able to kick back and do things at your own pace is definitely enjoyable.

When you get together in the group to prepare for a presentation, does each person mainly work on his or her own stuff, or do you work according to skill (one on props, one on wigs, another on cutting or piecing, etc.)?

We used to! Back when we were all going to school together, and I was still learning how to sew, I wasn't able to make my costumes without a lot of help. I would tackle more technical things like props and armor while Ringo would carry the burden of sewing. Makoto also helped with sewing, but she would help work on props too. The more we learned, the more flexible we got. By the time the girls graduated and moved back up to Colorado, we each knew enough to be able to independently make our own costumes. I still really miss our weekly cosplay nights, though. Sometimes it's hard to feel motivated without that sewing circle we used to have. I'm really thankful for the time we did have together, since we all know how each other works. Now, when we do group costumes, we trust each other not to make poor choices in fabric or color selection, and it's worked out well for us so far.

You seem to have worked with every sort of material and technique in building your outfits so what's your favorite and your least favorite?

The short answer? Fiberglass!
I sometimes still have problems with odd fabrics, but the one thing that has been both the most frustrating and most rewarding to work with has been fiberglass. There are better, lighter ways to make some of the things I've made with fiberglass. It's a stinky, smelly, labor-intensive media. The best results with it take the most time to make, and even poorer results still take many hours to finish. I've been able to make so many things that I wouldn't have known how to craft otherwise, though. And while some of my early projects, like the shoulder pads and hat for my Silky costume, are imperfect, heavy, and awkward, I really couldn't imagine making those costumes without them. I don't know if I'll ever be ready to invest in getting set up for vacu-form, and I still haven't tried the other plastic methods, so I'll probably still be playing with the fetid snot that is fiberglass epoxy for years to come.

As you amass these various skills, do they help or hinder your "Clark Kent" side of life?

It's really handy! Some of my local friends used to be surprised at the random things I'd know or techniques I'd suggest to fix things around the house. By now, though, they've gotten used to it since costuming is a big part of who I am. When we first started, I felt really strongly about having a cosplay name and trying to keep a division up just for internet safety, etc. It hasn't been an issue, though since I don't go out of my way to stir up cosplay drama. But in the end, this outlet for my creativity is a part of who I am. It's not something I feel like I need to hide, so I don't really feel like I have that dual life going on anymore. I think I've just stopped caring about what people think about my weird hobby.

How does your family view your hobby?

It wasn't really something I started doing until after I moved out of the house for college, so they aren't really all that involved in it. I'm pretty sure they both think I'm really weird. My mother-in-law is always really interested in what I'm up to, though, and loves to see pictures. I think that my extended family really gets a kick out of it, even if my parents are indifferent to it.

My husband is my biggest fan, though. I know that he thinks cosplay in general is a little silly and strange, but he's very supportive of the things that make me happy. So while he doesn't cosplay, he likes to see what I come up with, and he's always very interested in what I'm doing. I'm very thankful that I have such a wonderful person in my life that lets me pursue my hobbies like this, despite the fact that they aren't neccesarily ordinary!

The embellishments on many of your costumes are outstanding (Millenia, Go-go, Norn for example). What are some of your tricks for getting things to look "just so?"

I always try to get things as accurate as possible within my own limitations.
One of my biggest challenges is living up to my own mental image of how things ought to turn out. I am always on the lookout for interesting notions that I might use for costumes. Goodwill is a great source for discount/overstock costume jewelry. You can get some really nice pieces very cheaply and sometimes in bulk. Most of it I wouldn't trust to touch my skin, since it's almost always dirty and smells funny, but it's great for adding onto costumes. I am also very stubborn with fabric choice. On Norn, I couldn't find a bias tape or trim that I liked that matched with everything else, so I made about 15-20 yards of brown moleskin suede-type trim by hand. My ironing board is stained a very interesting color now!

Mainly, though, I try to give myself enough time to make all the little details the way I'd like them. For both Gogo and Millenia, I started anywhere from 4-6 months before the convention I wanted to have the costumes ready for. I tackled each piece of the gament slowly and worked steadily until I had things finished. I think it took two weeks to cut out, piece together, and sew the panel of fabric I used for making the lining of the Gogo cape. I knew exactly what I wanted to do in there, but it wasn't somthing I'd be able to throw together at the last minute.

If you had only one day to make a costume for a con, what would you choose and why? (Not to be confused with procrastinating on a planned outfit then making it last minute. This is a sudden assignment.)

That's a tough one. I would choose somthing with very little detail, little sewing required, and very few peices I'd have to make from scratch. That's almost like the antithesis of what I've been doing lately. Hahaha. I'm also really picky about only doing costumes from things I've seen/played and stuff I really like so it's really hard for me to choose costumes as it is! I think maybe Akane from Ranma? It's old school with a very simple design. I have a short black wig, and I could probably either sew her blue dress or borrow/buy a gi. I'm really just grasping at straws here because I'm completely stumped.

When life is raining cats and dogs (and not cute anime ones either), how do you weather the storm?

I try to keep myself busy when I get stressed out. When I get really upset about somthing, I'll usually start cleaning. When I'm just under a lot of stress, I play videogames. I used to play World of Warcraft, but being on a PVP server was sometimes making things worse! I mostly stick to PS2 RPGs, though. I love Nippon Ichi! If I'm under stress because of a con deadline, I sew. I get a ton of work done that way, but the quality isn't always what I'd like it to be. I put myself in that position all the time and then beat myself up over the quality of my work so it's not a healthy place to be. I'm always happier with my costumes when I have them finished at least a week before the convention.

How do you see cosplay growing or changing in the next 5 years, and would you welcome that or try to steer away from it?

I've noticed that over the last five or so years, the general quality of the costumes you see at conventions is going up. You don't have to travel as far to see some really amazing costumes. I expect that as more and more people become interested in it, the costumes will keep getting better and better. I really look forward to this because there is a lot we can learn from each other. It's nice to be able to see people's hard work paying off on a nationwide scale. I would also love to see some changes in masquerade judging to make things more uniform between conventions, though. I don't compete anymore, but judging is different for almost every convention.

Here's your space for additional comments and/or the dispelling of rumors.

Let's see...
There aren't really any interesting ones about myself, personally, that I know of. There is a myth surrounding my Bloodberry costume perpetuated by quite a few people for kicks, though. For that costume, the girls helped me coat my chest with orange liquid latex. When I was in the dealer's room later, I overheard someone saying behind me, "Hey! It's that chick they were saying had balloons under her shirt!" Really, I didn't have balloons, but it was latex!

See more of Integral's costumes.

Integral, you've pushed the limits of ability and materials in your costumes, and the result is a wide-ranging collection running from obscure fun to dazzling elegance. In some ways, we can see that you've "grown up" in the hobby and are still having a fantastic time creating wearable art. Who knows? Maybe one day, you'll be regarded as a Grande Dame of cosplay with its attendant accolades and reverence an-  Aw, we'd never get that stuffy! After all, it's cosplay, not cospomp. Thanks for sharing with us.

Mrs.Tomoe