What I must make clear is that this blog post is not going to be a how-to, but more so just a documentation of my process of creating this cosplay.

First off, I have to be clear that I am by no means a seamstress. I am good at making very basic stitches, but pulling together a costume to fit me from scratch is something that I am not capable of. So instead, I do some HEAVY thrift shopping. Goodwill is my #1 go-to.

For this Dragonite cosplay, the hardest part was deciding what shade of orange I would be pursuing in my search. Of course, bright orange would be the easiest to come across in a thrift shop, but it wasn’t going to match the original Dragonite design. So in the end, I decided to search for a light orange top. In my searches, I got lucky to find such an orange top, as well as many options for teal, and completely lucked out when I found a cheap yellow bridesmaid dress. The folds on the dress reminded me of his stomach, and I ended up deciding that it would work.

For the rest, I also managed to find another top with the same shade of orange and used the extra fabric to create arm sleeves, a tail, and my little antennas.

My roommate was clever enough to suggest the bendy hair curlers that you wear overnight to help create the antennas! I managed to find a pack of those at the Dollar Tree, and added it to a cheap headband that I found.

For the wings, I used wire from some fairy wings I also found at the Dollar Tree, and reshaped it to match Dragonite’s. I then used the extra orange fabric that I had to cut out enough material to fit over the shape of the wings.

After sewing the wings inside out, I flipped it back and was able to squeeze the wires through the small opening to hold the shape of the wings in the fabric. I just kept the straps from the fairy wings attached, so that I could still put it on.

Lastly, the tail. All I ended up doing for that one was just shaped it with a couple of card stock pieces, and then slightly cut up a foam pool noodle to help hold the shape. It was probably honestly the laziest part of the costume, but it worked out well.

And… Tada! A Dragonite Cosplay! I managed to get some good themed photos while at Anime Expo with other cosplayers. Some small, and some a little violent. I’m very proud of how this one came out, and I’m glad a few people could recognize my favorite Pokémon!

Cosplay Recap

Since I knew my time would be limited that weekend, I knew that I had to make the most of my Cosplay experience. Some ideas that came to mind for me this year were to be Gogo from Big Hero 6, Dragonite (my favorite Pokémon since elementary school), and to reuse my Azumanga Daioh cosplay that I made for Kumoricon.

Day 0 ended up being Gogo. I chose that because I wasn’t going to be dressing up as her most recognizable outfit of the movie. It was subtle enough to wear out and about without drawing too much attention. I was happy for what it was in the end.

Day 1 was the longest day, so I knew I would use that time to do my Dragonite cosplay! It was also a good day to do it because the Pokémon Cosplay meetup was happening that day as well. I’m so happy with the way it looked and turned out!

Day 2 I decided to go with my Azumanga Daioh one. I was worried at first, because I knew the anime was several years old and didn’t think anyone would recognize it. To my surprise a few people did recognize it! I also have to give them props because the outfit was only from 1 episode in the entire series.

Celeb Sightings

My friends and I did not end up doing any additional meet and greets at the convention mainly because you had to pay extra for most of them. That’s one that we can appreciate about a small convention like Kumoricon, where we did get to meet a lot of recognizable voice actors that was included in our badge fees.

Two people that I ended up spotting were actually YouTubers Domics and ProJared! Domics was just sitting by some food trucks, and my friend and I just happened to spot him and decided to approach and ask. I then saw ProJared waiting near an entrance with his cosplaying wife. I managed to grab a selfie with him before entering the exhibit hall.

Overall Impressions

• New Anime Overload
  It did not take me long to realize that I was not familiar with a lot of the new animes out there. Tons of people were dressed up in My Hero Academia cosplay and Re:Zero, and I had no context for most of them. Basically the main way you were going to gain attention is if you cosplayed as the latest and greatest.

• Overwhelming!
  In comparison to Kumoricon, where the crowds were generally manageable, Anime Expo was a whole other level! At one point my friends and I were so thankful that we made it into the hall in a timely manner because apparently people waited for hours to get in at some point.

• Artist Alley was HUGE!
  I think you’re starting to get the overall gist of Anime Expo now, but when I tell you I had to split my time in the artist alley up between two days, I mean it. On the first day I walked in and was immediately so overwhelmed that I didn’t even interact with any of the booths. I just walked though them and took peeks at what I would maybe want. I ended up spending so much money there and in the exhibit hall though. Just so many amazing artists to choose from!

Overall I did have a good time there with my friends. Also glad that since we were in LA that we got to try a lot of the amazing food that is out there including Ramen & Mochi in little Tokyo, and then Korean BBQ. I would make the trip again to Anime Expo if time allowed it, and if I had someone to go with again for sure!