"And I'll
Form The Head..." This is the result of two years' work by award-winning
costumer Nickey Froberg, who skipped the previous weekend's NekoCon to
finish this head of Ein, the Welsh corgi from Cowboy Bebop. The last time
this site saw the costume it was a basic layout of snout and mouth, uncovered
with foam or fur. Big mascot-style costumes depend on foam for their shape,
and the trick to finishing the costumes is finding the foam. Some costumers
use online foam stores, but the foam that shapes the Ein head came from
furniture outlet stores. "Somewhere, someone who takes out the garbage
has a trash container of foam that they can't give away," Froberg said.
"I walked away from one furniture outlet store with what I consider a two
year supply of foam. I'd be abe to make five sofas with that foam, but
it cost me only 20 bucks."
From foam
to fur: Froberg had an idea of how she she wanted the head to look, but
she didn't have the correct fur. Enter the cosplay hero: Larry Wise, another
Virginia costumer who was making a kitsune costume with nine fox tails.
"He ordered in bulk, and what he thought he was ordering in feet he was
ordering in yards. He had two gigantic rolls - it looked like carpeting
- and he said you can have it, I don't want it. I don't know how much he
spent for it, and he just gave it to me." Armed with the fur and foam,
Froberg was able to finish Ein's head, but the body remains unfinished.
She hopes it won't take another two years to complete the Ein outfit. When
it is finished she'll have something that can be used several times over
the years, like her previous Pen-Pen, Genma-Panda and Totoro-chu outfits.
The big
foam mascot outfits have two shortcomings. All of that foam and fur serves
as great insulation and makes the outfits hot to wear. Also, a costumer's
field of vision is limited by those bulky costumes. "People don't realize
it until they put the costume on and realize they can't see," explained
Froberg. "My field of vision for Genma was right in front. For Pen-Pen
i could see to the sides but not in front. For Totoro, all I could see
was the ceiling, and I thought `This isn't what I had in mind." Froberg
recommends that costumers "road test" any outfit, regardless of construction,
to make sure it's comfortable. Another factor, overlooked in the enthusiasm
of creation, is leaving a provision to easily get out of the costume for
bathroom breaks. What's next for Froberg when Ein is finished? One goal
is to create a Yubaba from Spirited Away, with a foam head to the same
oversized proportions as appeared on screen.
"And I'll
Form The Head..." This is the result of two years' work by award-winning
costumer Nickey Froberg, who skipped the previous weekend's NekoCon to
finish this head of Ein, the Welsh corgi from Cowboy Bebop. The last time
this site saw the costume it was a basic layout of snout and mouth, uncovered
with foam or fur. Big mascot-style costumes depend on foam for their shape,
and the trick to finishing the costumes is finding the foam. Some costumers
use online foam stores, but the foam that shapes the Ein head came from
furniture outlet stores. "Somewhere, someone who takes out the garbage
has a trash container of foam that they can't give away," Froberg said.
"I walked away from one furniture outlet store with what I consider a two
year supply of foam. I'd be abe to make five sofas with that foam, but
it cost me only 20 bucks."
From foam
to fur: Froberg had an idea of how she she wanted the head to look, but
she didn't have the correct fur. Enter the cosplay hero: Larry Wise, another
Virginia costumer who was making a kitsune costume with nine fox tails.
"He ordered in bulk, and what he thought he was ordering in feet he was
ordering in yards. He had two gigantic rolls - it looked like carpeting
- and he said you can have it, I don't want it. I don't know how much he
spent for it, and he just gave it to me." Armed with the fur and foam,
Froberg was able to finish Ein's head, but the body remains unfinished.
She hopes it won't take another two years to complete the Ein outfit. When
it is finished she'll have something that can be used several times over
the years, like her previous Pen-Pen, Genma-Panda and Totoro-chu outfits.
The big
foam mascot outfits have two shortcomings. All of that foam and fur serves
as great insulation and makes the outfits hot to wear. Also, a costumer's
field of vision is limited by those bulky costumes. "People don't realize
it until they put the costume on and realize they can't see," explained
Froberg. "My field of vision for Genma was right in front. For Pen-Pen
i could see to the sides but not in front. For Totoro, all I could see
was the ceiling, and I thought `This isn't what I had in mind." Froberg
recommends that costumers "road test" any outfit, regardless of construction,
to make sure it's comfortable. Another factor, overlooked in the enthusiasm
of creation, is leaving a provision to easily get out of the costume for
bathroom breaks. What's next for Froberg when Ein is finished? One goal
is to create a Yubaba from Spirited Away, with a foam head to the same
oversized proportions as appeared on screen.
