Diana Cosplay: Part 2 (Making a Bustier)

Hello Everyone,

Here is a little part of my Diana clothing cosplay progress. I decided to do a part on how to make my bustier since many people asked about my Shyvana bustier cosplay. I will be doing a full body suit underneath the armor. It is a bit comlicated I tried my best in doing a sort of beginner tutorial for those who know nothing about pattern making or sewing. Its not professional but it should be enough t get you through making a good buster =).  Here are screenshots of the steps, the video is at the end:

Create the pattern. If you have no pattern to follow, go buy a pattern close as possible to what you want. and then modify it:

The some of the piece are on fold so that it opens up without a seam:

Here is the part where I start creating the pattern for the Bustier. I took a screenshot of the model from LoLKing. You can see what the design looks like, So I tried to copy it onto the pattern:

You need to drape fabric on a molded cup to get the right shape:

After you have the right shape from the fabric you can transfer it to paper. Don’t forget to add seam allowance!

Next I highly recommend a sample! Even my sample isn’t perfect after 4 years of sewing -_-. There are always small adjustments. So anything weird on the sample just fix on paper for the final.

Make sure to do the whole sample to make sure everything fits. It would suck to waste fabric and all the time and effort for it not to fit properly! So here is the final front sample. It’s pretty ugly with the colours XD. I was just using fabric lying around. I’m hoping the rest of this sample works out.

Check the video for more explanation.

If you have an questions about making patterns or sewing just ask below. It’s really hard to explain everything and show everything. Sewing and pattern making takes practise so don’t get discouraged. The key is trial and error and samples!

DIY: Leather Stud Collar Necklace

Hello everyone,

Today I just made a cute leather stud collar necklace.Its pretty easy to make and its really in fashion at the moment.

I just cut out leather collar pieces:
Hooked the leather cutouts with jewellery hoops onto a chain:It’s pretty cute, so you can leave it as is. As I like to over do things, I decided to add studs XD:

That’s it! It wish I had dome studs, cause I think that would have turned out cuter, but the square ones turned out nice too. Here is a close up of the studs:

You could probably try a lot of different ways to make them! You can use rhinestones, beadings, trimmings, etc. Hope that gave you guys some ideas! Let me know what you guys think.

-CocoRocha

 

Yumetenbo Review Part 2

Hey everyone!

This is part 2 of my Yumetenbo review, where I will review the quality and design (true to picture-ness) of their clothes and shoes. For part 1 of my review, which was about their online storefront and customer service, click here!

So as I mentioned in part 1, I had a slight delay in the delivery of my package because of address issues. My package finally arrived on the 16th, after spending 5 business days in Canada Post’s address correction facility =__=. Be sure to be specific about how your address should be written when you order from Yumetenbo!

The design of the clothes were exactly like what the pictures on their website showed. The only one where it wasn’t exactly the same was the camel coloured knee high boots that I bought were slightly more orangey than what was pictured. But different screen settings can change colours, so I’m not sure if this can be considered their fault.

Here are pictures of me wearing all the items that I bought. For reference to their stock picture, please see part 1 =)

Sweater in camel, black scallop shorts, camel knee high boots.

Beige cardigan (I made a mistake in my part 1 review, I thought I ordered pink =_=), camel pleated skirt, dark brown knee high boots.

Red faux fur collar coat, ivory pumps.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with the quality of these items.

The shoes were all very good quality, have good grip on the bottom to prevent slipping, and have soft insoles and are comfy to wear. Don’t expect them to last you years though, they will probably only be good for one season, especially the boots. But then again, even the more expensive boots I’ve bought only lasted me 1-2 winters anyways. Canadian winters are too harsh =(. The beige pumps are slightly small on my size 7 feet. I ordered a medium as with my other boots and other shoes that I’ve bought while in Japan. Next time I think I will order pumps in large.

As for the clothes, they are all pretty much how I expected them to be. I ordered everything in size medium. For reference, I’m 5’8″ and dress size 2. The coat isn’t too thick, so it’s only good for the fall, but it’s loose enough that you can wear a sweater under it. The skirt’s material was softer than what it seemed like in the picture. This means I probably need to iron the pleats once in a while. The shorts are a bit small around the waist, but they’re super stretchy so they still fit. The cardigan was pretty loose, I would’ve preferred a smaller size but the smallest they had was medium. The fit of the sweater was prefect I found.

I would give Yumetenbo’s products 9/10. The -1 from the difference in colour of the camel boots and the material of the skirt. I wouldn’t say their products are high quality, but for what you pay they’re not bad.

DIY: Fur-Spike Cuff

Hey Guys,

Just  made a cute fur-spike cuff for work tomorrow! I thought I might show you guys how I made it, so you can make your own! I had some scrap fur from another project so I decided to use it as a cuff. You could also use leather instead!

I cut it so that it just overlaps when its around my wrist. Here are the spikes I used for my cuff. My closure is just one spike. Its a screw spike so I can put it on and off easily.

Here you can see what the cuff looks like without the additional spikes. It’s pretty cute as a cuff by itself. I decided to go crazy with the spikes and added them in! I marked the placement in the above photo in a light marker. Maybe I should have put less spikes in XD.

Here is the final result! It was super easy and quick. Maybe I would have put less in. I can actually take it out if I change my mind, and the fur will cover the holes. Let me know what you think! Is it too much XD?

Hope that was interesting and opened some ideas for you guys! Enjoy!

Yumetenbo Review Part 1

Yumetenbo (夢展望) is a Japanese online clothing store that sells some super cute stuff at reasonable prices. They also have an English storefront on Rakuten for those who can’t read Japanese, however, I find that the new items aren’t updated as often on the English site as it is on the Japanese site.

I’ve ordered clothing from Chinese sites before but a lot of the times, the stock photo of the item shown on the site is different from the actual item you receive because they take the stock photos from the actual brands and then they imitate the clothing. So even though Chinese sites are cheaper, you end up with a very poor quality item that’s not even what you thought you bought =S. I’ve read some pretty good reviews for Yumetenbo so I decided to give it a try.

This is part 1 of my review, which will only be on the store and its service. I haven’t received my items yet (I was supposed to get them today but there was an error with the mailing address =__=), but hopefully I’ll get them by next week for the second part of my review XD.

The site itself is pretty organized, you can browse by category, such as tops, one pieces, boots, etc, or you can browse by style: glamorous (sexy style), princess (cute style), kirei (adult style). I love how their items come in so many colours, even if you were to find similar styled clothes in North America, you probably wouldn’t find such a big colour selection.

Yumetenbo has new items everyday, however, their items also sell out pretty fast, so if you like something, try to nab it fast! They sell everything from clothes, to shoes, to bags, and even underwear and roomwear.

I ordered these 9 items from them on Sept 10:

2 way knee high boots in dark brown.

 

Another 2 way knee high boots in camel.

 

3 way bow pumps in beige.

 

Ankle belt pumps in black.

 

Faux fur collar coat in red.

 

Pleated skirt in camel.

 

Scallop shorts in black (REALLY wanted burgundy but sold out T_T)

 

Simple knit cardigan in pink.

 

Sweater in camel.

The total for these 9 items came to 21, 320 円, which is approximately $259 USD. I found this price to be pretty reasonable for the items that I bought. The killer came from shipping costs though. Yumetenbo only offers EMS shipping and they charge by the value of your purchase instead of weight. So I guess in a way, if you purchase shoes, or jackets, or other heavier items, it works out in your favour haha. The shipping cost for me came to 7,875  円, or approximately $100 USD.

Many of the items that I ordered were in pre-order status (and even then a lot of the more popular colours are sold out T__T). Yumetenbo doesn’t ship out items until all purchased items are available to be sent together. So immediately, I was notified that my items won’t be sent out until October 4th. I like how they provide a detailed invoice, with the expected arrival dates of pre-order items and they inform you right away when to expect your items to be shipped out. Be aware though, even if you use the English Rakuten site to order, all email correspondence will be in Japanese. But it’s nothing that Google Translate can’t help with =).

There was soooo much more that I wanted to buy but I had to control myself since it’s my first purchase from them, I want to see the quality of their items first and how the sizing fits me.

I ran into a problem when the arrival date of the ankle belt pumps got delayed to late November. They informed me that my items won’t be shipped until November 24th. I didn’t want to wait that long though because it gets really cold in Toronto by then and some of the items I purchased will be out of season. So I emailed them asking if it’s possible to ship those shoes with a future order that I place with them. I was told that their system can’t handle such a request and that the only way for my items to be shipped Oct 4th is if I cancel my order for those shoes. However, I would not receive a refund for them =__=. I was pretty angry at that, it’s bad enough that I can’t get the extra that I paid for shipping back but I at least expected a refund on a cancelled item, or a store credit of some sort. That was very disappointing.

Overall though, their customer service was fast and polite (keep in mind that there’s a 13 hour time difference so there will be lag time between responses). I replied in English but they always wrote back in Japanese. Again, Google Translate is your friend haha.

So far, I would give them a 6.5/10 for their online store front and customer service. The major reason for a low score is due to the fact that they were not willing to ship my item separately or refund when cancelled.

Oh one last thing, I mentioned that I have a mailing address problem with my package right now. I should have done more research with regards to ordering form them because other reviews have said to put exactly how you want your mailing address to be shown on the package in the special notes section when you place your order. I didn’t do that and I guess they format addresses a different way =__=.

Heel-less Shoes for Cheap

Hello readers!

I recently bought heel-less shoes from eBay. I seller I bought from is shoefever_outlet.  Theses are the specific shoes I ordered, I got the Suede Black ones. As most of you know Ninja Bunnies and I are going to be Espeon and Umbreon for halloween. Since I will be a black animal I think these shoes are perfect for the occasion! The shoes kind of resemble animal back paws no?

It was a great experience ordering the shoes from this seller. They were really quick I got my shoes within 5 days and It was sent to the nearest post office because I wasn’t home when it arrived.  For the price I honestly cannot complain at all! I knew paying $57 for it (including tax and shipping) could mean the quality is really bad. I was pleasantly surprised that it looked more expensive then I paid! There was a tiny bit of glue showing at the sides, but overall I’m very happy with these shoes.

As for walking in them, It is so much easier than you think. People were in awe when they saw me walking in them, but they are equivalent to platform heels with a really high heel. My feet did get sore and my toes hurt near the end as well, but I get this with regular shoes. I wore them for 6 hours, probably 40% of the time I was standing.

If you have a love for these types of shoes I urge you to buy them and try! I’m so happy I kicked myself into buying them. I’ve already wanted something like them, but most of them were too expensive and I was worried it would be too hard to walk in. Since I was able to get them for $57 I decided to give it a try! Its not a lot of money for a pair of shoes like these!

Until next time!

My Arm Candy of the Day

Hey guys! As you all already know, I’ve been really into accessories lately. Below, is what I usually wear for my daily arm candy. It has a very casual look and I feel like it’s suitable with any outfit I wear.

• Orange, coral beaded bracelet is from China
• White, rope-braid bracelet is a gift from my friend when on vacation in Punta Canta
• Leather Pandora bracelet with Buddha and turtle charm
• Ring from Aldo

For those who are wondering what nail polish I used, I used the Maybelline Express Finish in the Peachy Petal, which is a pink, coral colour. This nail polish is actually Cute Sauce’s, but she let me use it. I fell in love with the colour at first sight. This nail polish will need at least 2 coats to get that solid, amplified look. It also dries fairly quickly. My only downside to this is at times, it did not apply evenly on my nail. Overall, I would definitely use this nail polish again because the colour is on point!

Neko Mimi Hair Tutorial

Neko mimi hair (or cat ear hair) has been a popular trend in Japan this summer among gyaru. It’s often the hairstyle for models in magazines.

From Vivi magazine

From Popteen magazine

It’s a super easy hair style that can be worn by anyone, whether you have short or long, straight or curly hair =). It’s also easily customizable to suit your own style, you can make the ears large (like Lena Fuji in the first picture above from Vivi) or small.

First, grab a vertical section of hair above your ears, the size or the “cat ears” will be determined by how much hair you grab. Then slightly tease the back of the section and twist the hair towards the center of your head (shown by arrow).

Next, use a bobby pin and pin from the back of the twist up towards your forehead. Use a second bobby pin to form a cross with the first bobby pin to secure your hair (shown by arrows).

Lastly, repeat the above steps on the other side of your head and you have your cute neko mimi hair!

Remember to use hair spray so they don’t droop throughout the day like in my last outfit of the day post!

SEPHORA: Matte Top Coat Nail Polish Review

Hello Everyone!

Here is my experience with SEPHORA’s matte top coat nail polish:

The black I used was SEPHORA’s “What’s a Tire Jack?” and the top coat I used was SEPHORA’s ”Matte Top Coat”. I also ended up using “Glass Shine” by Kiss. I will say early in this review that I was disappointed with the results. It wasn’t necessarily the nail polish didn’t do what it was suppose to, but I didn’t get the results I wanted. This style has been floating around here and there and I loved it! I really wanted to get the look, so I tried it. Here are my results and suggestions:

First I applied the SEPHORA’s “What’s a Tire Jack?”:

I wanted to try something different so I tried to do random slants on my nails. Then I blocked off slanted parts with scotch tape and applied two coats of SEPHORA’s ”Matte Top Coat”:

As you can see it doesn’t look very nice! You can’t even tell that I did a design for the index and pinky finger. I tried to take a bettter shot with light so it is more noticable:

Even with the light the black nail polish doesn’t seem to contrast enough to make it noticeable or even nice. I tried the steps over again with the standard style I’ve been seeing. This time I used “Glass Shine” by Kiss so that it contrasted the matte nail polish more :

With the “Glass Shine” coat by Kiss I got more of what I wanted. To be honest it is only noticeable because of the light. In person this design is hardly noticeable and no one notices it unless I point it out to them. Overall I was disappointed with my results. It could be because I have short nails so this style doesn’t look good on me. I do not recommend using The black SEPHORA’s “What’s a Tire Jack?”  with SEPHORA’s ”Matte Top Coat”. You need more contrast in the two. Ether get a shinier black or a more noticeable matte nail polish. You could also try to find a shinier top coat for the tips. If I were to do this again, I would try a different matte nail polish brand.

I could have also done something wrong in process. What are your experiences with matte nail polish? Did you find it unnoticeable and disappointing too? What products did you use?

While I got this nail polish I also got new stretchers:

There is this new store in Square One called New Steel, a jewellery shop. I checked their site but it looks like its still under construction. I don’t find many stretch earrings in Mississauga, so it was nice to have a store with earrings I haven’t seen before. It was $12 for each earring, but I got it for $16 since the sizes were inconsistent! They have a decent selection of earrings for a decent price compared to other places.

Don’t forget to like our GGG Facebook Page and I will see you next time!

May 17th: Outfit of the Night

This was my outfit for the night at Boss_Emily’s birthday.

Navy Blue Sheer top from Forever 21

Pastel Green jeans from Zara

Salvatore Ferragamo belt

Aldo heels