Nowadays I like to make little blog posts and share snapshots on my Tumblr
behindinfinity.tumblr.com If you like, you could follow me there too. 
I've still got a lot of messages and emails to answer. (Especially yours, Rez!) Sorry to keep you all waiting! I really just find it difficult to write letters when I can't give my full attention. Loooots to do nowadays. I'm very thankful, but I do wish I also had more time to write journal entries.
I've got a little something to share right now, though!
MicCostumes Review: Alto Saotome Mihoshi Academy uniform
You know, I had never before tried just buying a costume and wearing it the way it was bought. I'm rather picky with fabrics so I prefer to shop for them by myself, and I feel my body proportion is a little strange so I might not fit well into average sizes.I was contacted by
MicCostumes.com one day and they asked if I'd like to to do a review of one of their costumes. I thought it could be an interesting experience so I agreed. They let me pick out which costume I'd like to review, and after browsing around their site for a while, I decided on Alto Saotome's Mihoshi Academy school uniform (from Macross Frontier). I had been planning to cosplay Alto for a long time, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to finally get to do it! The design and fit of the uniform is also pretty simple, so I figured sizing wouldn't be an issue with this.
I'm very much like my Mihoshi Academy uniform.
The set consists of the shirt, necktie and pants. (Wig and other accessories not included.) I feel their color choices for the fabrics were excellent. They're very close to what I would have picked, had I decided to get this costume done from scratch.(The colors on the above photo came out a bit more vivid than they actually are, but the following photos will show the color of the costume better.)
Mihoshi Academy patch is neat and clean.
Shoulder detail, and nice crisp collar.
Here's that little tab detail along the font of the shirt. The button is made of gold-toned metal. I like that they opted for this instead of something plastic.
The necktie. It's a little bit too long on me but that's easy to fix. At least that means that taller people won't have to worry about it being too short. I actually quite like that they used gold leatherette for the cross detailing rather than yellow cloth. I think I would have done the same.
Alto reference again
Here's how the front hem of the shirt looks. I really like how it falls just the way it's supposed to based on the way Alto is drawn. It parts a little bit at the part where the buttons end, and and the hem curves correctly (instead of the usual straight hems like this
images.shopping.indiatimes.com…).
Another portrait.
I don't have a full-body photo yet (I want to do that at a better location) but the pants fit me very well and fall the way they look on the reference image.
Here's the image of this costume from the MicCostumes online store.
Store listing for Mihoshi Academy uniform
www.miccostumes.com/Macross_Fr…I think the pricing ($53.78) is pretty reasonable. I feel I might have spent about that much if I had the same costume done from scratch.
What you see on the MicCostumes website is pretty much what you get.
Well, with my costume I thought the actual product looked better than the way it did on the website. The quality of their wide range of costumes varies (hit or miss, really) but based on this experience I think that you just need a discerning eye and really really look at the fabrics used, proportions, detailing, etc., to figure out which costumes might be to your liking. I'm very happy with mine. Of course the feeling is still more rewarding when you are more involved with the creation of your costume, and I'm not giving that up.
But having the option to buy simpler costumes like this is pretty cool too. Like for this instance — I can now do a long wished-for Macross Frontier tandem cosplay with my friend Charmie who cosplays Sheryl Nome (we don't have a Ranka so I'm all hers hahah), but I managed to save time and resources which allows me to focus better on my more complicated cosplay plans. I would also great for casual parties or Halloween. I think it'd help too if you have people bugging to borrow costumes from you. You can direct them to the website instead so they can get their own 
Special thanks:
Alice & Rabbit's Shop for my contact lenses(I used the A&R Cosplay Lenses in Golden Hazel)
Kat for taking my photos
Ian for lending me the Alto wigYou guys are so good to me!
Hoping to do a nicer Macross Frontier shoot sometime!
Thanks for reading! Here's to hoping that my next update will be in the near future!
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