It had been a while since I had cosplayed Utena, so in the winter of 2012, when Louis asked me for ideas of what I might like for Christmas, I tried to think of which costumes were on my wishlist, and then narrowed it down to outfits that I thought would fall within the range of average Christmas spending. I made a lineup of my usual seamstresses, but I also threw in some cosplay "stores" that are online, both in case my usual commissioners were busy, but also so that he would have a spectrum of prices. He ended up buying me an Utena Rosebride costume online, but...

...through no fault of his own, the costume ended up being virtually unwearable. It didn't come with the epaulettes, the brooch, the cord that connects them, or the little triangles on the collar. This much, however, I had accounted for, and I had planned on asking Patti and Steph to make them for me. It did come with the crown, but it was a weird little plush fabric crown on a headband. Still not a dealbreaker. When I went to try on the costume, however, I noticed that the fabric of the blouse and the fabric of the skirt were completely different! (The top was a woven matte, and the bottom was a shiny satin.) Why would you even do that? And even though Louis had taken my measurements, the skirt was at *least* a foot too small! I find it hard to believe we messed up quite *that* much!