What's in your Closet? [Bizarre Closets]

I have been a cosplayer for quite some time (Ten years this year... I refuse to believe I am that old.) People who have not been initiated into the geek universe, especially that which dives headfirst into japanese animation and never surfaces, whether through stalker-type guys in glasses or women in sexy, come-hither variations of Pikachu -- yes, that may be you -- may ask, what is cosplay?   I will not deign to answer that, as it will probably take too long. I will, however, explain what it entails, which are basically costumes.

Costumes, I would like to think, entail creativity; Creativity equals Art --and I know I just earned the raised eyebrows of people out there, but work with me on this -- and Art requires materials, which, when you get crazy, you can acquire lots and lots of.

Naturally, cosplayers don't just work with the standard art stuff.  We do have oil pastels, crayons, watercolor, cardboard, and construction paper, but they're stored next to the non-conventional supplies like rubber sheets, foam boards, spraypaint, beads, sequins, and yards and yards and yards of cloth, among other things. 10 years and you can acquire a lot of... well, junk. I rummaged through my closet stash to show you the colorful, crazy, and strange things that can take up what would have been shoe or bag space, but which is probably a normal sight in closets of people like me.

 Toy guns, lightsabers, and army helmets aren't just for little boys. To be safe, I'm still not bringing those with me during election season. You know how "people" get. *eyeroll*

I have waaaay too many beads. (I can't help it! They were so pretty!) I manage to keep everything organized in little plastic bottles and recycled gashapon egg containers.

There was a time when my friends and I used to live and breathe the hobby that everytime we'd pass by and see something in a store, we'd think about the best costume it would go with. We'd end up not buying it, and regretting it five months later. It's actually become a running joke among our friends.  "Nakikita mo yan? Tandaan mo yan. Isang araw, kakailanganin natin yan at hindi natin yan mahahanap. (Do you see that? Remember that. One day we're gonna need it and we won't be able to find it.)"  I've had this said to me numerous times about things like a rare kind of ornament, a roll of sparkly cloth, a seasonal vest, and a huge piece of rhinestone.

Gloves are one of the harder-to-find accessories, especially back in the early cosplay days, circa 2000-2003. The more popular ones are white, wrist-length and made of cotton. Sometimes you can chance upon long, elbow-length gloves, and if you're lucky, it's wedding season and there are white silk gloves available. 

Since gloves are hard to make, and practically useless in our country when you think about it, variety is hard to come by.  So when I saw these black silk and lace gloves in a store during a trip to Tokyo, I didn't even think twice about buying them, forget the fact that I have no costume to put them with yet. Best to be prepared.

 This is a ponytail. Seriously. It's one of the more useful "wigs" I have, since it's almost my hair color and I can use it without anyone the wiser.

I am not going to show you the rest of the wigs I've collected; I haven't decided on proper storage for all of them yet, so their states are somewhat shameful.

One impulse buy. I have yet to wear this in public, although last Halloween my sister and I found out it was great if you wanted a rockstar vibe. Put on skinnys, stilleto heeled-boots, tubetop, dark-eye makeup and wig. Carry around a mic or an electric guitar and instant Halloween costume!  My initial plan for this was along the lines of 18th century. I haven't figured that part out yet, though.

From L - R: Korean robes, Chinese cheongsam and Japanese yukatas... which go well with an oriental short sword, below. (I'd name what that sword is, but I'm afraid I might get it wrong. So there.) For if you just wanna do random.

There. I've now spewed the contents of my closet on the internet! Fortunately, there are no skeletons, but wait one Halloween and one might make its way in there.