As I mentioned on the Umi Ryuzaki - School Uniform page, I thought it was a *really* great idea if we did each stage of the evolving armor in order, since the base costume of their uniform stays the same up until the end, and the armor just gets a new bit to it added every year. It would be so much simpler!

Yeah, no.

Oh, sure, it was easy for me--except that I *still* don't know how to take care of super long wigs, and the *second* Umi wig that I had bought was frizzy and tangled beyond belief. The seller I originally bought from doesn't seem to be on eBay anymore, and none of the other wigs I found online were the right shade. Luckily, Usa spent the night at my house before we drove down to Otakon together, and she was able to get it in a semblence of shape--and if I had had the time to let her straight-iron the bangs, the wig would probably have looked even better. I hope so, because replacing it no longer seems to be an option.

Avian Firefly and Aki Reinii did all of the armor and weapons, with Reinii focusing mainly on the resin work, and Avi tackling the armor construction. I'm not entirely sure what our armor was made out of, possibly fabric-covered foam. The result was stiff enough so that it would hold its shape, but not restrict movement. The boots I bought from Electric Boutique were *way* too high; apparently I should have bought "over the knee" boots, as "thigh high" boots came to just under the curve of my butt. Avi was able to cut them down and attach the gems the night before our shoot. I absolutely *adored* the sword Reinii made me (I kept calling him my little dragon friend), but in the process of making our weapons she happened upon a process to make them even better, so she convinced Lady Terentia and I to trade in so that we could trade up. What the heck; even with all of the problems we faced with these costumes, I'm willing to bet we do the next stage of their armor anyway. Magic Knights never quit. ;-)