I woke up this morning to a message from tumblr saying that I got 18 new followers in one day.  Seriously guys, wow!  And um… hi?  I hope my blog doesn’t disappoint you (it probably will) and that I’m not too much of a spaz (I will be).  

Also, here’s another sword progress picture.  We’ve sprayed it with silver spray paint and it’s coming along nicely.  The leaves will be green and the hilt will have fabric around it so it looks like a hilt.  I’m also going to paint the blade for more details, ect.  All and all, armored Tiana is coming along nicely  ^^

Uh… wow, yeah.  So it looks like I got a bunch of new followers, so I should start posting cosplay progress pictures huh?  This is a new idea for my Princess Tiana cosplay: Armored Princess Tiana!  The two sketches were done by my partner snowtigra, and now she’s working on making the sword and the armor.  This is all going to be done with craft foam, hot glue, and paint.  I get to help with the painting part, which should be fun  :)  

Oh, and in case you want more frequent updates, this is my cosplay page ^^

All right, I have a cosplay page now  :)  I thought about it and decided it would be a good idea, since I’m cosplaying more often now and I want to give my partner some exposure (she makes aaaaaall of my costumes, so if you’re looking for a plus sized friendly costume maker, she’s a good person to go to).  

Anyhow, it’s definitely a race, gender, sexuality, size friendly page.  And uh, yeah, you can see my costumes and stuff  ^^;;;

Facebook Page:  Brichibi Cosplays

This is the tale of two girls cosplaying two best friends who never seem to cosplay said friends at the same time  >.<  The gorgeous Lottie cosplayer is dusty-shelf, who I met at Animinneapolis, who spazzed over my Tiana cosplay and who got sad because she didn’t bring her Lottie.  Then, the very next weekend, she was Lottie at CONvergence and I came on Sunday to pick up my art as Tiana, but she wasn’t Lottie on Sunday!  

Will we ever meet in costume?  Will we ever be able to take glorious pictures together?  The saga continues at a Minneapolis con near you.

(but seriously her Lottie is perfect o.k. like we need to take pics together this is a thing I need more than I thought I did why are things so hard?)

*incoherent noises*

So Princess Tiana went amazingly well at Animinneapolis (like better than expected, like thank you so much everyone for making me want to wear the hell out of this dress, because I don’t have the best confidence in the world in regards to cosplay sometimes so really, thank you.  Same thanks and love to the people of Anime Central back in May).  For some reason the only picture I have is from Anime Iowa, I really need to get into the habit of taking pictures of my cosplay ^^;;;

Anyhow, we were thinking of other versions of Tiana to do and whatnot while we were at our table during Animinneapolis.  We already have a plan for Disney Princess armor, but then babe mentioned that there’s a Jim Shore version of her dress.  For those who don’t know, Jim Shore does these ridiculously beautiful statues of the princesses with all sorts of fancy designs, like the Belle dress I have.  So she showed me a picture.

Oh.  My.  God!

The picture she was thinking of was much simplier, but I guess this is a newer one he’s done.  I’m screaming.  I really, really want this dress  *__*  Look at how pretty it is!  I’m on a mission to convince my partner to make it, because she does such a wonderful job on all of my costumes (her name is snowtigra go show her some love she’s my magical needle and thread lady).  

fatpeopleofcolor:

Image Description: “A photo of an African American woman dressed in the green leaf dress that appears in Princess and the Frog,” is that what you mean?

brichibi:

cosplayingwhileblack:

Character: Princess Tiana

Series: Princess and the Frog

Cosplayer: brichibi

Costume done by: snowtigra

SUBMISSION

Submitter’s comments:

Notes: As soon as I saw the movie I knew what I had to do. I had to wear that green dress. And so, I did :) I want to thank everyone for showing so much appreciation to the costumes I’ve been posting here. Since I am plus sized, I get a bit worried about sharing pictures and what people will say, but I’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback, so thank you to all of you (and to this lovely tumblr page, too!)

Fun fact 1: This is one of the few costumes where I don’t need a wig, wow! Well that’s a lie, I needed an extra hair piece the first time because I had JUST gotten my hair cut, then we saw the movie, and I looked at my hair like, “DAMNIT!”

Fun fact 2: In real life I don’t really wear dresses, like at all, yet somehow when it comes to cosplay I always end up picking the characters with the biggest dresses ever. ”Oh hey I really like Tiana and her green dress, of LEAVES, that should be fun, right?!” My partner loves making them though, and I love wearing them, we just both think its funny that, normally, I’m in comfy pants everyday but I never seem to pick characters with pants.

More cosplay of me :) Tiana is one of my favorite ones to wear.

Of course!
Description: After seeing Princess and the Frog for the first time and seeing a black princess (who’s awesome, by the way) I knew that I wanted to cosplay her. Then it got to the end of the movie with that green dress. I knew what I had to do after that… and so did my partner, for that matter. So she made the dress for me. It’s one of my favorite dresses to wear to the conventions I go to.
The entire thing is handmade by my partner (except the frog, thank you Disney Store), from the green leaves, to the multiple skirts (I think there’s about three), even the headband ^^ I’m terrible at sewing, so she does everything. I was a bit apprehensive about wearing it, since I am plus sized, but I’ve gotten some really positive reviews :) I hope all of you enjoy it!

Reblogging because it has over 1000 notes now and I’m kinda in shock.

cosplayingwhileblack:

X

Character: Princess Tiana

Series: The Princess & The Frog

Wow!  This Tiana cosplayer is super gorgeous!  

cosplayingwhileblack:

Character: Princess Tiana

Series:  The Princess and the Frog

Cosplayer:  brichibi

Costume by:  snowtigra

SUBMISSION

Notes from the submitter:  I really just want to say a big thank you to pages like this one (Cosplaying While Black) and others like Fat is Attractive, Plus Size Cosplay Appreciation, Fuck Yeah Fat Positive, Fat Girls Do Things, and other tumblr groups that work to submit minorities and/or plus sized cosplayers/people in a positive light.  I really don’t think the people behind these pages realize how good it feels to have our pictures posted in groups that are made to appreciate our differences and how powerful it makes us feel to see our pictures posted and all the lovely comments we get.

I was extremely apprehensive about posting my cosplay.  I always think, “There’s so many gorgeous, skinny cosplayers out there who deserve the attention, not a big girl like me.”  But then I discovered Cosplaying While Black and I thought, “… I’ll give it a shot.”  My Tiana cosplay has gotten so much love, I honestly can’t believe how many people like this costume.  It’s made me more confident about my cosplay and makes me want to do it more.  I’ve never planned so many costumes before, but now I am, because now I feel like I can go out there and do it.  

And sure, I get compliments from like, friends, or my partner, or people at cons, but the internet is… different.  It’s not that I’ve gotten negative feedback, I was just terrified that I would because I hear so many horror stories, or would see a plus sized cosplayer posted somewhere and see the negative comments.  I’d think, “Nu uh, no way, I’m not posting anything.”  I’ve also seen friends get crap for the cosplays they do, I’ll never forget a friend who I thought did a GREAT cosplay but the first comment was, “This character isn’t black.”  (granted, Tiana is black, but she’s not the only cosplay I do and even so, Tiana is skinny)

Then I discovered groups like this one and several others that are like, “Sweetie, you’re gorgeous, you rock that costume and keep rockin’ it.”  And that means so much, not just to me I think, but to everyone who gets the courage to post their picture online.  

So thanks for being here, and thanks for making this plus sized black girl more confident in herself. 

A new picture and a message to my followers or anyone who has been giving me such awesome feedback about my cosplay  :)

cosplayingwhileblack:

Character: Princess Tiana by brichibi 

Series: The Princess and The Frog

Costume done by:  My partner, snowtigra

SUBMISSION

Submitter’s comments:

Notes:

I am so completely floored by the amount of love this cosplay is getting.  Thank you so much, everyone.  As I said before, I get ridiculously self-conscious about posting pictures of my cosplay because of my size, but everyone has been absolutely wonderful about the pictures I post.  So thank you, everyone  :)

(though my partner is always like, shut up you cutie you look great ^^;;;)

The first picture is at Anime Iowa, which has a lovely fountain area surrounded by flowers, so I thought that would make for a good picture.  The second picture is at Anime Iowa again, where a lovely Belle cosplayer and a lovely Ariel cosplayer asked for a picture with me  :) 

More cosplay pictures  ^^

cosplayingwhileblack:

Character:  Princess Tiana

Series: Princess and the Frog

Cosplayer:  brichibi 

Costume done by:  snowtigra

SUBMISSION

Submitter’s comments:

Notes: As soon as I saw the movie I knew what I had to do.  I had to wear that green dress.  And so, I did  :)  I want to thank everyone for showing so much appreciation to the costumes I’ve been posting here.  Since I am plus sized, I get a bit worried about sharing pictures and what people will say, but I’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback, so thank you to all of you (and to this lovely tumblr page, too!)

Fun fact 1:  This is one of the few costumes where I don’t need a wig, wow!  Well that’s a lie, I needed an extra hair piece the first time because I had JUST gotten my hair cut, then we saw the movie, and I looked at my hair like, “DAMNIT!” 

Fun fact 2:  In real life I don’t really wear dresses, like at all, yet somehow when it comes to cosplay I always end up picking the characters with the biggest dresses ever.  ”Oh hey I really like Tiana and her green dress, of LEAVES, that should be fun, right?!”  My partner loves making them though, and I love wearing them, we just both think its funny that, normally, I’m in comfy pants everyday but I never seem to pick characters with pants.  

More cosplay of me  :)  Tiana is one of my favorite ones to wear.