(Please click on the pictures to see larger versions.)
I've been making costumes for about a year and a half now, so I thought it was time to go to my first anime convention. Sakura Con in Seattle seemed like a great choice as I live in Eugene, Oregon and Seattle is still within driving distance. Then, I had to come up with a plan. I wanted to do something Sailor Moon related, but what to do that hadn't been done? Sailor JAM-Boree (a group I truly admire) was doing Sera-myu this year, so that was out. Dancing? Nope, not for me. Singing? Well, I haven't sung on a regular basis in years and I didn't know if there would be access to mics or not so that was out as well. And then which costumes? Classic, Super, Star, some sort of hybrid?
I pondered a while and finally thought about Sailor Moon S the Movie
where all the girls power up and end up wearing all white. Now there
was something I had never seen done, all white Sailor Senshi! 
It
would be fun, actually transforming on stage! I played around for a
while and decided that I had found my idea. By this time I also
realized that there would be no way I could find a group of 10 that
would be willing to make their own costumes with my pattern, so I
realized I would have to become the "costume mistress" for the
group. I also decided to make the costumes available to the group
members at the cost of materials. Sakura Con rules allow competition
in purchased costumes, so this was not necessary for this convention,
but it felt like the right thing to do.
Over the course of the next few months, a closer examination of the
cosplay rules showed that we were only allowed 10 members and there
were 11 in our scene. Who to cut? I thought about it and decided to
replace Chibi Moon with a UFO doll! It's funny how sometimes the
limitations can lead to an even more creative and better way of doing
something. I haunted eBay for a Chibi Moon doll, but decided that
there was no way a 7" doll would be seen from beyond the first row, so
a giant doll prop was commissioned from
Setsuna Kou's Specialty Shoppe. The doll we got was HUGE and could
easily be seen from the back row of the Dome! 
(We would love to have
more pictures of the doll, but she was given to a little girl named
Victoria who fell in love with her after the Cosplay.)
Back in December, I started posting messages on a few message boards and mailing lists to look for my group members. Next thing I know it's the Friday evening, April 27, 2001, the first night of the con, and I'm in my suite with 8 of the most amazing young women I've met in a long time ranging in age from 14-22 as well as assorted friends and parents and my boyfriend Taper, who was playing Tuxedo Mask. We watched the subbed version of the S Movie, tried on our costumes and did a few run-throughs.
We met up again Saturday afternoon several hours before the official cosplay rehearsal was to begin, and we put on our wigs, costumes and makeup for real this time as well as trying to get a few more run-throughs in. And then came one of the best parts! Walking from my suite to the cosplay rehearsal! Of course there had been many Sailor Senshi running around, but to see a gang of 8 matching costumes plus a 6'6 Tuxedo mask and a icy blue Snow Queen was a sight that attracted a lot of attention. Since we only had 5 minutes to make it to the Dome, we did not stop for pictures along the way.
Our run-through was a bit awkward. We found out that the stage had even less room than the suite we had been practicing in, so we had to toss out most of our blocking. (Here is our original plan.) We huddled around and did some planning while the rest of the rehearsal continued. Then came the unexpected part. We didn't have time for a break after the rehearsal, so we ended up lining up for the performance. Outside. In Seattle in April! It was freezing cold (OK, not literally, but it was cold) and there was a strong wind and a threat of rain at any moment. We wanted to run lines and managed to a few times, but mostly we shivered. Tuxedo Mask came to the rescue by running back to the suite and pulling the blankets and bedspreads off our beds and bringing them back to us. We bundled up together and just as we managed to get warmer, the rain started and rain on satin is a bad thing. Rain on my Sailor Jupiter bangs was even worse. We ended up being lead to a long hotel hallway to wait for our turns. We were told to be silent since there were paying guests rooms just inches away, but there was some irony about that because they had us lined up in the infamous "300 block" of rooms, the place in the hotel you had to be if you wanted to host a loud room party! I'm sure this all would have been a big gripe for just about everyone, but since Sakura Con is moving to a new wonderful location next year, there really isn't anything to say about it. It's already fixed!
They took us back into the wind and rain to get to the Dome as it got closer to our turn. We did our best to quietly fix our hair and to make sure our bows and collars were on straight, our wigs hadn't slipped back and that the Velcro on our chokers wasn't facing the front. We did the best we could do. After the group before us finished, I placed the 7 whihe satin front bows on the stage where we could get at them during our transformation scene. I forgot all about some of the rules of the stage, and there was a little "fan service" comment made about me bending over to place the bows on the floor! *blush*
Our skit started. Snow Queen was on stage with the outer senshi who
introduced themselves and fired their attacks.
The Snow Queen then
nonchalantly tossed one Styrofoam ball at the outers, knocking them to
the ground and the crowd roared with laughter! They were the BEST
audience. They were there to have fun and to enjoy the show and from
that moment on we knew they'd get our skit. The inners ran in, and we
attacked...
...and again the Snow Queen knocked us to the ground with a toss
of a snowball (more crowd laughs!). Super Sailor Moon ran in at that
moment and the Snow Queen asked, "And you are?" and the Senshi cried
out in unison, "Sailor Moon!" (more laughs!).
Sailor Moon attacked,
but the Snow Queen also knocked her over with a snowball. At that
point, guess what? Sailor Moon decided to use the Silver Crystal.
Sailor Venus reminded Sailor Moon, "If you use the Silver Crystal
you'll die" and the rest of the Senshi chimed in, "Again!"
...and again,
that wonderful crowd laughed and cheered. Mercury then remembered about
using "Legendary Silver Crystal Power" and if you've seen the movie,
you'll know this is where Tuxedo Mask comes on. As I mentioned earlier,
we could only have 10 on stage, so he ran in with a huge Chibi Moon doll
and spoke to it, "Sailor Chibi Moon, protect everyone and Sailor
Moon." He also said, "Right" in a high voice pretending to be the
doll, but there was no way the audience heard it because of their
reaction to a 6'6 guy with a 2 foot plus doll!
While Tuxedo Mask was
distracting the audience, the Snow Queen was holding a larger snowball
getting ready to attack and Sailor Moon had a large light up Crystal.
The Senshi were also busy. We were pulling off our wrap around pleated
skirts in our usual colors, turning our detachable collars over to the
white satin side and switching to plain white bows. Once we were done,
we got in a line, held hands and chanted, "Silver...Crystal...Power!"
There was kind of a pause and it was hard to tell which side was
winning, till Tuxedo Mask shrugged his shoulders and tossed the giant
doll at the Snow Queen destroying her! The Senshi did our little
victory celebrations (Yatta!)
...and that was our skit.
We were then taken to a little theater to watch the rest of the
cosplay on TV, then back to the Dome to announce the winners. We were
given the last award. Since it was the first cosplay experience for
all of us, we were in the Novice class, so the costume award was "Best
Amateur Costume". 
It was so wonderful to be recognized my first
time out and I'm so thrilled. I can't wait till next year! ! We also
got another award from 'The Sakura Conduit' newsletter! They gave us
their "Best Skit Title" award for 'Knights in White Satin'!
We really would love more pictures of our skit and pictures taken of
us on stage after the event. We know the flashbulbs certainly were
going off quite a bit! There was a series of pictures with many of us
"flashing" our little white underskirts that seemed to be quite the
draw. 
Photo courtesy of japester.
We'd be happy to post your pictures here
with credit to you. We know there were many taken. Please send links
or pictures to: costumes@sailornaboo.com.
I'm also
looking for pictures as me as Sakura
and me as Piyoko.
I am hoping that since Sakura Con is getting so large, they will consider switching to the costume classes that World Con uses (Novice, Journeyman and Master) with standard awards such as "Workmanship" and "Best of Class" as well as judges choice awards. It is also my hope that all Anime conventions will switch to these categories with a standard way of classifying them.
Uranus(Terri aka Sailor Misc) was a "tough
cookie" that could take on the world.
Neptune seemed miscast at first since she is so
tiny, but once she put on her costume and wig, she was the senshi that
"fights with elegance". Josi poses like a model and was amazingly
suited to her teal wig. (Hands off, though, fanboys; she's only 14!)
Pluto (Kitty) was kind of quiet and in the
background watching over everything, very much like Sailor Pluto. She
also did a great job of styling that green wig in just the right bun
in the back, and she made her own Time Staff.
Venus (Greer) was every bit as beautiful as Sailor
Venus. Minako can be a little ditsy sometimes, so this might be a
good place to mention that there is nothing ditzy about Greer! She
also did a great job helping out with the sewing (Greer made most of
the reversible collars) and she also styled that beautiful Sailor Moon
wig.
Jupiter (me) was very like Jupiter in many ways.
I looked very much like her with the addition of a pony tail extension
and I since I was very much like her growing up (the tallest in the
class), I've always felt like she was a kindred spirit.
Mercury (Pam) was super intelligent but more
than just a brain. She also does a great Mercury pose.
Mars (Mary aka Sailor Tweek) is fiery and just a
little bit mysterious. She also did a great job with the the Snow Queen's blue makeup!
Moon (Lina) was such a prefect Sailor Moon. As far
as we could tell, she wasn't a klutz or a crybaby, but she was full of
energy and excitement and a friend to all.
Our Snow Queen (Lynzie) really wasn't like a
villain, but she made a great one! She also was a trouper, wearing
that heavy fiberglass and resin Snow Queen hat for so long. It was
quite heavy and uncomfortable and we are sure it would have shattered
if it had fallen.