Sonia's Journal

1. I've arrived safely in Bangkok and have eaten a huuuuuuge dinner at a 5 star hotel. Oysters, Parma ham, smoked salmon, racks of lamb, sorbets galore.

2. Before leaving London, I accidentally ended up walking into duty free and buying the latest Spring 2010 Chanel 2.55 "Uni" Messenger handbag in ivory/black flock velvet and antiqued silver metal. This bag is so new, it's not yet on the internet. I can't even show you pictures of it, the only ones I can find are of the plainer beige with gold metal version shown on the catwalk in October. But my model is beautiful. It is gorgeous. I honestly don't dare tell you how much it cost. I will say that it has almost maxed out my credit card, but I saved about £300 by buying at Heathrow. And I don't regret it one bit.

And that, my friends, is my LAST luxury impulse buy of the year, with the biggest bang of all!!!

Okay, I know I still haven't written up the Grand International Cosplay Ball yet. And that I haven't done an introspective long pondering post in a while. But I'm tired and I'm about to go to Thailand for a while, so I will write proper entries then XD

In the meantime... I JUST BOUGHT THESE BABIES:


They will have to be delivered whilst I'm away... this makes me cry that I cannot wear them whilst I am in Thailand. But I can at least wear these whilst I'm there cos I bought them last month XD:

(note the diamante heels)

Win. Tired. Hurting. STILL.

Obviously = SUCCESS.

More later XD

Oh, lookie this (photo by bento_dan)

Aha, found out about this thru my twitter friends. Here be a youtube clip from the regional news coverage of the event. OMG, comics aren't just for kids, SHOCK HORROR. Let's play Spot Who You Know XD

Hmm...

After trying to sing with my chest binder on and finding it a chore (as emmav and I will be performing at the Ball), and also thinking about the work I need to do this week and the amount of sewing left, and I'd need to cut Matt's hair, and considering that me and Matt will be doing our Rosencreuz Orden uniforms for Minami and definitely for May Expo 2010...

I'VE DECIDED THAT MATT & I WILL BE GOING AS GENTLEMAN/WOMAN PIRATES!!!

Sorry Trinity Blood fans... I hope that you don't mind...

(I bought this dress a few months ago and I haven't had an excuse to wear it as a whole yet, so there)

LOL, I'm actually pretty tired today. Had a bunch of friends over all day yesterday (fayeyong , wyldflowa , emmav , yun_min , fuuringo ) and we totally indulged in girly frilly clothes, posing, cakes, jewellery, perfumes and corsetry. Never got round to watching DVDs, too busy playing with stuff! I think we were trying on clothes for what, 4 hours solid?

So when I tweet I've been sorting my sock collection for 2 HOURS and still haven't finished! I do actually mean it...

Epic expo was epic. It was SOOOO wonderful to meet up with all my lovelies again - all the cute cosplay crowd (cosplay fever guys, kazz, granny, Ilpala, Mark, Uni, Kit, Fez, Ellie, Sephi, Monkey, GunstarVixen, Ailsa, Odangochan, Karen, Tab, Leena, WhiteLeviathan, Snap, Team Giblets, and guh, many more!!!), the lovely lolitas (Kyra, Wing, Ada, Alex, Pantheria, Marbles, Cecelia, Tania, and argh, again, many many more), the crazy comickers (Tony, Dan , Andie, Yishan, chamonkee, Daniel, IndieManga, Paul, Kate, John, Kuma, Gashu, and you guessed it, tons more!), the super sweatdrop forumers and other anime scenesters (dwinky, noodles, manga_girl, volker, yun_min, hel & scott, rik, robinimmortal, cowgirlem - OMG THANK YOU FOR FANART, marisa - OMG THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENT and maaaaany more) and everyone else in this insane industry (Andrew & Beez team, Wil, Leo, Andrew & Tokyopop, Mike McFarland you are LEGEND, Andy Foot, P-chan, and mooooooore).

Apologies to anyone who was anticipating great things from me and my Trinity Blood homies in the masquerade, we had to pull out last week when all of our cosplays suffered setbacks. Such a shame as Mike McFarland and Troy Baker were there (and you guys are awesome), but it is better if we perfect our costumes and our dance routine. So look out for it next May Expo, suitably in springtime (ohohohoho).

Saturday I wore the anime version of Isaak Fernand von Kampfer from Trinity Blood (as I just couldn't get all the embroidery done on time, the lead up to Expo was just too insane). Sunday I was in sweet/classical lolita, with a pink Innocent World jumperskirt. I thought I would make up for dressing as an evil male crypto-nazi lookalike by being ridiculously pink and frilly the next day.

Official photos from our mini shoot on Saturday to come (much windyness by the docks meant very epic photos of Ion, Abel and Isaak... and yes, much BL/yaoi/wrong photos too), but in the meantime I shall leave you all with this, as Joanna put it, SPECTACULARLY INNAPROPRIATE photo.



Credits: taken by Fehed with Joanna's camera phone.
Disclaimer: such antics are only encouraged on special occasions XD please view with a sense of humour

Just wanted to congratulate and shout out to Rob Dunlop and Pete Lumby for their amazing launch party in Camden for their new book, Cosplay Fever.



http://www.cosplayfever.com/

It was very fun, glamourous and busy!! Some wonderful cosplays on display as well, a great atmosphere and the most awesome venue (Hi Sushi Salsa is LOVE).

My husband and I were able to make it in time for the evening celebrations and we enjoyed meeting up with and chatting with familiar faces ^^ the DJ was legendary, the live music was awesome and the food and drink and service was top notch. We couldn't stop flicking through all the pages in the book as well, so glossy and well presented! My favourite photos were definitely the more candid ones (I LOLed at the Sephiroth holding a pint and fag). Sadly, we couldn't stay for too long as we had to make our way back to Cambridge before it got too late, but it was loads of fun ^^

Rob & Pete were resplendent in their blacks and BRIGHT orange ties - well done to you sirs, for a magnificent launch. I was very honoured to write the foreword (and you made me look good :3) and I truly look forward to seeing more volumes from you in future!!

For comic aficionados, you may recognise Rob & Pete's names as the creators of Tozzer!

This may seem a bit odd, but it makes total sense once thought through.



I've been getting into high-end nightwear/loungewear big time. Such as this little gem from Net-a-porter (SUCH A DANGEROUS WEBSITE FOR ME, particularly if they stocked Chanel, although Karl Lagerfield's section is to die for...). I love this wrap/cardigan so much. So comfortable, yet so architectural and effortlessly stylish. I've been wearing it A LOT recently.

You see, about 95% of my wardrobe is flamboyant, corsetted, formal, jewel-encrusted, vintage, bespoke, boutique, brand, couture, tailored to within an inch of my life. So when I come in after a day out (and it's almost always giving a talk/lecture/signing/meeting/schmoozing/party/event so that I'm only ever mildly overdressed) I'm straight out of those and they get dry-cleaned or handwashed or aired immediately.

As such, when I'm at home or working from home, I'm often at a loss with what to wear. I have one shelf dedicated to loungewear/nightwear and I will be the first to say that it was crap. A lot of it was very very old, many pieces 8+ years, many were gifts which weren't in line with my personal tastes. So the old adage of "Freelancers work from home in their underwear" is mostly true (Yes, I am looking at YOU. I KNOW you do this, you). But for me, NOT ANY MORE!!

My recent earnings have been spent on super soft modals and jerseys, velour and silk pyjamas, cashmere and lace 3-piece camisoles, pants and wraps, all in dark or jewel tones. So that even when I'm relaxing at home or popping quickly to the shops, I will still look fantastic!

I was digging around in my archives and I came across this! A black/white photo from a theatre programme when I was in a production of the Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht, 12 years ago.

Okay, they have landed. Here are my favourites, the rest you're gonna have to check my flickr album.







The whole set is here, the different photographers are credited:
www.flickr.com/photos/sonia_leong/sets/72157621950834747/

If you'd like to +fav them on deviantArt, you're welcome to! ♥
fyredrakemagick.deviantart.com/gallery/#Photos-cosplay

If you want more details about the costumes and the angst/joy in making them, view my cosplay island account: www.cosplayisland.co.uk/costume/list/sonia_leong

NOW THEN - BEFORE I LEAVE...
Just a notice to say that I will not be around from tonight till Monday night. My brother-in-law is getting married (finally!) in Angouleme. Au revoir, mes amis - I'm off to France.

Oh my, I really enjoyed myself at this con ^^

Even though I volunteered to work behind the table a lot, I still had lots of opportunities to dash off, have food and take porny photos ♥

Things that stood out in my mind -

Friday
- the sat nav being a bitch and dropping off my windscreen lots so I had several near crashes (O_O)
- being pleasantly surpised upon setting up the SD table just how pretty all our books look (♥u♥)
- chilling with Pud & Ems at Cafe Xanana, my favourite cafe back when I was studying at Warwick (^.^)
- discovering that no matter what, Bar Fusion mangled every beer they offered (T_T)
- loving the '80s themed party that Ellie, Gypsy, Mark, Chevi et al were glittered/neoned up for! (^o^)
- meeting up with Kit, Fez, Sephy, Nina, Scarlett and chatting with them
- not getting lost driving to my hotel at midnight
- shaving EVERYTHING that night (^.^;;)

Saturday
- waiting in the hotel lobby for my taxi whilst part dressed as Shura (with a mini dress just about covering me) and OAPS staring as they got onto their coach (XD)
- LOLing at reactions when I flung off my dress in the dealers' room and added my bandages/swords. If I couldn't strip down to that thong in front of the dealers I've known for years, then I wouldn't have been able to deal with walking around like that anyway. Tom/Kneebone, Hideki, Andrew, Bryan, Paul, Hugh, Gurinder, you can pick your jaws up off the floor now.
- Seeing Hel & Scott in their awesome cosplays. And my jaw did drop at seeing Scott looking sooooo cute ♥
- tripping on my chaps and falling over in the dealers' room!! Thank f*ck for custom made thongs, if that baby shifted even a little bit, no amount of shaving could have saved my dignity XD
- going out for a mini shoot with Kaka (and others I will mention later) whilst she was still in her SC4 Taki. Mmm, boob rubbing
- giving a "professional artists' panel" whilst dressed in practically nothing XD
- seeing lots of familiar faces like Kairi-moon, KTCoope, CowgirlEm, Cin at the panel!
- grabbing some foods at Bar Fusion with Ems & Pud (the Thai red beef curry was quite nice ^^) Spotted Wing and lots of other lolitas, probably post-catwalk ^^
- doing an awesome Soul Calibur pimping photoshoot with Yas, Odangochan, GunstarVixen, Ilpala/James, Ailsa-chan, Sephirayne and others!! There was a good bunch of us, I'll post up photos ASAP when I find them!
- bex, your frock coat was sooooooo cute and fabulous!!
- getting the most awesome portrait from the Kuma guys!! ♥
- doing a really pR0n style shoot with Fez (i♥u, those ones will be shown to very select people only, haha!)
- watched a truly awesome masquerade with KTCoope and spuffed much with whenever we saw anything we liked. Particular ones I loved were the Kuroshitsuji circus pair (Fez, Kit ♥), Lelouche & CC (Ellie, Gypsy ♥), a ridiculously cute Seiten Taisen (Scarlett!), Spoilerific Midna and Zelda (Nina, Keekal ♥), Sorceress Edea, Yuuko + Mokona, Steampunk group, KhaosKomix guys!!
- chilling in the halls and looking at silly/smexy photos with my lovelies. It was so surreal though, they were staying in Hall 4, Jack Martin residences... which was where I stayed for my first year at uni, so it felt very very weird!!
- changing and heading out to Bar Fusion to chill and drink ourselves silly (met Ev as well, lovely girl!). OMG Nina, your choir boy Grell was sizzling in them hotpants (*¬*)
- after several whisky doubles (thanks P-chan ♥) and Dominos pizza brought by Snap as Sebastian (LOL, ALL pizza delivery boys should dress as butlers, it would make them so much more hot), we finally got chucked out of the bar, whereupon I dragged as many people as I could into the disco!!
- shimmied like a hooker with Keekal, Jacob/Leviathan, Shenny (I think! it was dark and my memory is a bit blurry), Sephy (in the best t-shirt ever), Nina, Karen (I LOVE YOUR FLUFFY BOOBS), Aleister (my man, my man) and several others but I was very blurry! Paul attempted to get some shots of me dancing, but I'm hard to catch XD Chococat, absolutely awesome set darling ♥
- As the last song played (LOL, PORTAL) had to go out for a post-dance cigarillo with Aleister and Snap. Oh yes, it was well deserved.

Sunday
- god awful hangover, straight onto the opiates. Strapping on my binder, slipping on the shirt, cufflinks, cravat and waistcoat, I felt like a real man, headache and all XD
- drove the right way, thought it was the wrong way, went back and then realised I was correct and got to the university 15 mins later than expected (Thanks Glenmorangie doubles, f*ck you too)
- spotted Piers on the way in. Other people I saw gradually during dealer hours - Neil, JVC, Subi, Mary, Hunter, Anjiten, Willie, Wikivic, Tenshianna, Kate, Azure, Ushio, denji, Pantheria, Neon Martian guys, Genki Gear, Team Giblets and probably many many more   ^^
- Keekal dragged me off to the make-up panel where we learnt and discussed many useful things! Sadly, Jacob/Leviathan didn't have that much time to get made up XD
- had a most leisurely and enjoyable lunch in Bar Fusion with my fabulous cosplay lovelies. AWESOME Peacemaker group you guys!! Food photos for the win. And OMG Gypsy, when you said blue spandex, you were really really not joking (O.O)
- couldn't resist re-enacting the scene from Trinity Blood vol.2 Silent Noise light novel, where Abel meets Isaak in civvies for the first time at a cafe. Thank you Sephy for providing your awesome Abel and Fez for being so accommodating and taking awesome photos!!
- final stint at the table was very chilled indeed (maybe I had too many cigarillos during the shoot I felt very relaxed, hehe)
- after packing up everything, said a final goodbye to everyone and drove home before it got too dark ^^
- once I got home, it was straight onto the port triples and well deserved takeaway! Tandoori mixed grill for the win ♥

Photos to come a little later once they start coming in and being edited, but here are two tasters for you:





Photo credits to bento_dan  and fez ♥ (fez-kuro.deviantart.com/)

To see some selected photos on deviantArt (should you wish to +fav them ♥), go here:
http://fyredrakemagick.deviantart.com/gallery/#Photos-fashion

To see the whole photoshoot on Flickr, go here and view the photos near the end:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonia_leong/sets/72157608535099408/

All photos taken by Pat Lyttle ^^

So I've been re-organising my wardrobe (Looong overdue as I've just been too ridiculously busy over the past few months, but I really need to switch over properly to my summer clothes) since 6pm yesterday, and it still looks like another 2-3 hours to go. But I'm getting there...



What is hilarious though is trying on an outfit and saying to Matthew as he plays FFXI on his laptop on our bed:

"This outfit totally does not work, right?"
"...Right...?"
"You know why, don't you?"
"... Because.... it.... looks ... cheap?"
"Exactly!! The skirt is 2 inches too short to be acceptable and worst of all, the WHITES DON'T MATCH!!!"
"... Of course."
"The BTSSB gothic cutsew on top has a primarily OFF-WHITE panel and white lace, whereas the off-brand skirt below has pure white lace trim!! Urgh, the frustration!!!"
"..."

( EBAY AUCTION/BUY-IT-NOW: Mary Magdalene bolero, Innocent World jumperskirt, one-piece dresses and skirt )

Just quickly dropping in to say HI!! I am alive, but feeling absolutely rubbish as I caught a cold this weekend.

Over the past week, I've been giving workshops to various schools! So just a shout out from me to Leon School & Sports College (Milton Keynes), St. Matthew's Primary (Luton) and Lea Manor High School (Luton)! I had a blast, you guys were great! ^^

This weekend I was up in Saddleworth, supporting my husband as he was competing in the Whit Friday Brass Band competitions. So if you've seen the movie Brassed Off with Ewan McGregor, you'll probably know what I'm talking about. It was fun, but man was it wet and miserable XD I will do a proper write up of it later this week.

And so, before I dash back to work, I leave you with this cosplay, as my beautiful wig arrived ♥



Integra Hellsing (anime version)

Toodles, darlings! *cough-hack-bleurgh*

I've been doing a bit of ebaying to try and get in there early with my casual cosplays. I call them casual, because they are not hard to do. YAY!! In these cases, I was lucky enough to have most of the items in question already, with only a few pricy things (i.e. the gorgeous blonde wig).

Here be some test/WIP/unfinished shots... click on them to be taken to my Cosplay Island listings to find out more info on them and zoom in on pics.

First up, Isaak Fernand von Kampfer, Trinity Blood (artbook version, civilian clothes at the opera house)


Secondly, Integra Hellsing, Hellsing (anime version)


I dunno when to wear Integra. Suggestions? AyaCon is Isaak above and Shura from Soul Calibur IV (dear GOD). October Expo is Isaak in military dress for the whole weekend (as that is gonna be such a bitch, it will get proper exposure, godamnit. Unless there is enough demand from Soul Calibur group for me to bring Shura along as well...). Maybe Cosplay Ball? Was thinking of Isaak, but because of proximity to public, perhaps Integra + Walter may be less inflammatory? Minami 2010? Oh whatever. XD

Wai, thank you so much to everyone who said hello and who bought/flicked through/got high off my works!! ♥ I had a really great time at the show. It was lovely to meet up with lots of familiar faces again and to wander around the stalls and pick up some cute things!! Saturday was horrendously busy and Sunday I was blind most of the time, haha - so sincere apologies if I didn't manage to make it around to your stall or if I forgot to buy your work / ran out of cash by the end of the show - I WANT YOUR STUFF, HONESTLY!!! I even forgot to buy some of Sweatdrop's releases, and I was behind our own frickin' table!! Next time, Gadget! Yes, I will make a point of buying everything I need from the very beginning at AyaCon.

Much thanks go to the Expo organisers for putting on a great show and to Emma for the work behind the scenes.

So, did you see me? Let me know! This is how I looked like on both days:

Saturday: Abel Nightroad, Trinity Blood (I shall retire him for a few years, now)



Sunday: Kamiya Kaoru, Rurouni Kenshin (OMG, 2001 cosplay rising from ashes)


And now for a quick round up (as I seriously need to get some work done)

Saturday - heaving!! Saw lots of SD forum members, yay! And lots of other independent creators, yay! And lots of cosplayers I knew, yay!! And lovely lovely lolitas from loligothUK/teapartyclub, yay! And a chance to chat with other industry folk yays!! (Seriously, I can't name names, because once I get started, it's just gonna be GIANT. If you fall into any of the above categories, know that I ♥ you and that I truly care about/appreciate you). I mostly worked behind the table though, but had a lot of fun doing so. So yes, thanks for chatting to me, you lovely person you. Yes, YOU. Had a nice dinner as well (filthy conversations aside).

(But we were getting SOOOO annoyed with the random idiots that wanted to use our Artist Alley supplies and paper and pens etc. to WRITE stupid signs. Hello, the provisions are for people who want to enter the competition, not your personal sign-making stand? *thwack* I really enjoyed hearing how dock was resolute in one case of idiots, when he found out what they wanted the stuff for, he just took it back from them and said NO. Cue some name-calling, but any more than that and they wouldn't have stood a chance against him, haha.)

Sunday - much more relaxed! I even got a chance to chill and have some lunch with my gorgeous, gorgeous cosplayer friends. Chocolate oddities from Bruges for the win. But again - apologies if I blanked you or didn't recognise you, couldn't wear my glasses with my cosplay! And curses for running out of cash right at the end and having to pack up quick!! And OMG, visit from parents and siblings!! ♥ See you next weekend!!

MINAMICON 15, Southampton UK, 27-29 March 2009

Here is my mini report on the events of two weeks ago :3

FRIDAY:
( JOURNEY! MEETING FRIENDS AGAIN! WORK! )

SATURDAY:
( SO MANY FRIENDS! MASQUERADE! )

SUNDAY:
( GROUP COSPLAY SHOOT! FUNS! )

So! Was it TL:DR? All in all, a very fun, sociable convention with great cosplay experiences! AWESOMENESS.

Now, I didn't scatter photos all around like in my usual event write-ups as I was too busy being in cosplay to take many photos myself. So instead, I have one folder of photos on my FlickR account which are the photos taken during the two cosplay photoshoots. So - if you're into cosplay, Trinity Blood, curious to see how I've upgraded my outfit from the Oct Expo version to the ridiculously leet artbook version, want to see Matt being AMAZINGLY in character, or just like seeing me crossdressing, click the photo below to be taken to my flickr set!:

I was interviewed by Animetion.co.uk both as an artist and as a cosplayer! If you want to delve inside my mind for a little bit to find out about my art or my strange ideals on cosplay and fashion, feel free to have a nosey:

Artist Interview: Sonia Leong

Cosplay Interview: Sonia Leong

(random note, the last image in the cosplay interview is from a photoshoot I did with keds for a corsetry company XD)