The second day of the anime convention, and today's main theme is a Gorgeous Western-style dress appearance.
The workload of this outfit is truly not small. Just that oversized bow headpiece is extremely heavy; once worn, the neck must be kept straight, and slightly lowering the head makes it lean forward. The wig's bangs were trimmed in advance and set with hairspray, because with the large crowd and high temperature in the venue, I was terrified the bangs would collapse. As for makeup, the base makeup specifically used a long-wear liquid foundation, set with loose powder. The eye makeup part used dark eyeshadow as a base, plus false eyelashes, which greatly enlarged the eye contours, and paired with red contact lenses, the overall vibe came together.
Once inside the venue, I truly understood what a sea of people means. Although today is the second day, everyone's enthusiasm hasn't reduced at all. My outfit has a huge skirt hem, so I had to be extra careful walking in the aisles, fearing I might trip or step on someone's feet. I also had to constantly hold that fabric strip prop, and striking poses during photos was a technical skill. To capture great photos, I looked for light from various angles; the natural light leaking through the glass curtain wall at the top of the venue produced the best results, though most of the time I still had to rely on a fill light. Because there are many colored lights inside the venue, the white balance is particularly prone to messing up, so post-processing color grading took some effort.
Today's Convention cosplayer photo collecting session was particularly interesting. I ran into that guy in picture one wearing a hat full of plush dolls; his hat was so eye-catching, it felt like he had a zoo on his head, and taking photos together was exceptionally joyful. Then there's the giraffe mascot in picture two; its expressionless face matched with the red short sleeves inexplicably created a strong contrast cuteness, and standing next to it made me feel like I became cuter too. That giant plush doll in picture three really made people unable to walk away; its texture was super soft, and stepping close to take a photo gave me a special sense of satisfaction.
To be honest, wearing this kind of Gorgeous Western-style dress to stroll around an anime convention is hard physical labor. Because the skirt hem is long, I couldn't take big strides, and coupled with platform shoes, the soles of my feet were numb by the end of the day. Moreover, to maintain the styling, even sitting down to rest had to be done with extreme care, fearing I would wrinkle the skirt or knock the headpiece crooked. However, every time someone ran over to ask if they could take a photo, or said it looked nice, I felt today's hard work wasn't in vain.
There were so many fellow fans inside the venue, helping each other take photos and exchanging shooting angles. Some photography experts even brought reflectors; this kind of atmosphere is truly wonderful. I bought some favorite merchandise, checked out the cosplayers at other booths, and felt like my eyes couldn't take it all in.
I'm completely exhausted and collapsed back home, so I won't retouch photos today and will just post a few straight-out-of-camera shots to check in. Time to take off makeup and take a shower; if I go tomorrow, I will definitely wear a pair of comfortable flat shoes, even if it matches this outfit! The gorgeousness of this styling is indeed maxed out, but the wearing comfort is truly a negative number. If anyone wants to cosplay the same Gorgeous Western-style dress style, remember to bring a pair of backup shoes—this is a lesson written in blood and tears. Alright, today's anime convention experience is recorded here, and tomorrow I'll continue launching the walking mode. My face feels so dry after removing makeup, time to put on a sheet mask.