Cosplay Spotlight Candy Keane

Shes the blonde bombshell taking the cosplay world by storm! Candy Keane is the proud owner of Three Muses Clothing which specializes in original costumes and lingerie. This stunner from Florida is a successful business woman, cosplayer, professional model and holds a degree in journalism. I met Candy at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con and have had the pleasure of working with her ever since. Candy took some time for an interview for the Confessions of a Cosplay Girl Blog. Read on to learn more about this stunner who truly is a jack of all trades.

Victoria: When did you start your business, Three Muses Inspired Clothing?

Candy: I had been doing costuming on the side for a long time, but decided to make it official and get my business license in May 2005. I originally called the company “Three Muses” after me, my mom and my grandmother, but when I went to register the business name I found there were already several companies with the same name. I tacked on “inspired clothing” to set the name apart. I didn’t use “costumes” because I didn’t want to be pigeonholed to one thing. Costumes to me are inspired clothing.

Victoria: What was the first costume you ever made?

Candy: I made costumes with my mom since I was very little, but the first one I made all on my own was Aeon Flux from MTV’s Liquid Television in 1995. Wearing that out was an amazing experience. We hit every costume contest over Halloween weekend and I won 6 in a row. That was my first hint that maybe I could do something bigger with this costuming thing.

Victoria: Youve created costumes for some famous clients and even a Hollywood film. Can you tell my readers where your work has appeared?

Candy: My work has appeared in lots of random places from magazines to TV shows. The most well-known costume that pops up the most is the “sci-fi slave girl” aka Slave Leia. People will recognize that one from the movie Fanboys, where it’s worn by Kristen Bell at the end of the movie.

Victoria: You told me a story about entering a costume contest as Slave Leia that literally brought 300 people to their feet. Tell my readers the exciting tale!

Candy: That was about 10 years ago in San Diego when I made my first Slave Leia costume. I had never seen anyone wear one ever. Now they travel in packs! I don’t think the crowd had ever seen one either. I entered the costume contest and kept my robe wrapped around me the whole time until I stepped on stage. When I got to middle, I dropped the robe and spun around. The crowd went crazy, and right there in the middle of the contest the DJ announced “I think we know who won this contest!”


Victoria: What is your favorite costume that you have created?

Candy: All my versions of Wonder Woman. She’s my favorite character to do, but I don’t like wearing the same outfit all the time. I keep making different versions of her outfits.

Victoria: You also have a successful career as a model and have been featured in magazines like FHM. How long have you been modeling and where has that lead you?

Candy: I started modeling at 20, which is pretty late to get started in modeling if you want to do fashion work. I had the height but at 5’9” and barely 110 lbs, I was still told I was too “curvy” for fashion and the agencies sent me on swimwear and commercial jobs. I also spent a lot of time as a promo and trade show model. I traveled a lot while modeling, from one coast to another. I even spent a month in Cancun as a Bacardi spokesmodel.

It was fun for a while but I got tired of the constant traveling and was very bored of all the swimwear work. I got into modeling because of the unique hair, make-up, clothes…the crazy editorial fashion shoots. There was nothing very interesting about shooting swimwear. Catalog shoots would be the same hair and make-up and quickly changing in and out of 50 bikinis. So I started bringing things I had made and shooting that on the side. Then I started setting up my own costume shoots. I kept the regular modeling going so I had money to start my costume business. Once the business got going well, I stopped shooting bikinis and started shooting the fun stuff I wanted to do. And the fact that I was shooting it for my own business made it even better.


Victoria: You also have a degree in journalism, correct?

Candy: I have a degree in Magazine Journalism from the University of Florida. It’s amazing how much I use everything I learned. I couldn’t have picked a better major because so much today is communication based, but I should have minored in business. Instead I chose Cultural Anthropology. I had wanted to be an archaeologist ever since seeing Indiana Jones as a kid. Then I spent a semester cataloging pottery shards and found out it was not all about hacking your way through the jungle searching for lost cities of gold. I still love archaeology so I kept it as a minor.


Victoria: You recently created a stunningly sexy version of Harley Quinn. What was the creative process like?

Candy: Thank you! We were going to the Arkham Nights after-party and I wanted to do Harley, but not one that had already been done. I did the Arkham Asylum version previously at DragonCon. I figured there would be a lot of those there. The creative process basically was to go through boxes of costume stuff, pull out everything black and red and then assemble it as a costume. I added a few finishing touches to pull it all together and viola! I also made a matching hammer, which makes a fun prop.

Victoria: What is your favorite convention to attend?

Candy: DragonCon! Nothing else like it. The way it is set-up and the people that attend… it’s the perfect storm of costuming.

Victoria: Can you give us a sneak peak on what youre working on next?

Candy: There are several projects in the works, as usual. I’m re-doing my Rystall costume for CV6 and we’re planning a big cybergoth themed Alice in Wonderland group for DragonCon. It’s a bit of a tradition since my first D*C. We’ve done a wonderland group every year, but change it up a little each time. It’s fun to get a lot of people involved and do a whole group of related characters. So far I have a cool pair of goggles and boots. It’s the middle part I need to work on!

I’m also really excited about our new YouTube channel where we’ve been doing a weekly round-up of stuff going on with Three Muses called MuseWeek http://www.youtube.com/user/ThreeMusesClothing

Boutique website: www.threemusesclothing.com 

My costumes: http://www.candykeane.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/threemusesinspiredclothing

Twitter: www.twitter.com/3musesclothing

Read More..

Cosplay Spotlight Ruby Jennifer

Its a match made in costuming heaven! At this years DragonCon show, the cosplay community was in a buzz over Batmans marriage proposal to Batgirl (she said yes)! Veteran cosplayer Ruby Rinekso popped the question to fellow cosplayer and girlfriend,  Jennifer Haviland.  Ruby not only had the support of his fellow cosplayers for the surprise proposal but also had the assistance of Superman himself, Dean Cain.  I contacted the power couple for an in depth interview regarding costuming, falling in love and the moment Ruby asked Jennifer to be his wife.

Victoria: How long how you been cosplaying?

Ruby: I pretty much started cosplaying before I ever knew of the term "cosplaying". Growing up, Halloween was always my favorite holiday and I was upset in the reality that it only came once a year. Like many other kids, I used to run around the house in some superhero costume and raise hell. Upon Adolescence, I realized that behavior became a bit inappropriate or "uncool"...so I ended up suppressing that behavior to fit in better with any teen aged social circle. But for years I would always have the coolest Halloween costume party. Years later, after I started to play music, I even formed a KISS tribute band partically because I love the costumes. www.kissnation.com

Even upon after meeting Jennifer, we both realized that we both loved Halloween, but really didnt have an outlet for our love of costumes until we started going to conventions in 2005. At this point we had been marching around in the annual NYC parade for years. And I dove into it, head first. Thats when I first discovered the term "cosplaying".

Jennifer: Well for me, any opportunity to dress up in anything different from daily "street clothes" was a welcome one. My mother enrolled me in requisite dance classes as a child. This was particularly fun for me because not only did I get to study dance, which I loved but I suddenly got to wear these amazing costumes for the recital. Some of these costumes even worked their way to Halloween rotation. Ive always loved going to parties and getting dressed up and I may have been perceived as a fashion victim in my teen years by wearing things that werent so mainstream. But I was fiercely confident and had fun with it anyway. It was around this time that I started getting into vintage fashion, which influences me to this day, and started peppering my wardrobe with items that were electric and perhaps a little costumey.

As Ruby mentioned, we brought the cosplay bug out in each other. When the Halloween season rolled around, we were never satisfied buying mass produced costumes and pieced our own outfits together. Ive been sewing since High School so costume building became a great outlet for that skill. The one convention that really sealed it for us was, and maybe it was the second convention we attended together, was Star Wars Celebration III in 2005.

Victoria: Do you make your own costumes?

Ruby: It all depends on the costume. Most of my costumes are partly scratch built/ commissioned / or sewn by Jennifer. Nothing is ever bought and worn off the rack. I keep having to tell people that my name is in no way associated with RUBIES costumes ;-)

Jennifer: I try to make as many of my costumes as I can. I would say that Ive made 90% of my costumes. Ive been sewing since my Junior year in High School and I continually build on my skills and try to learn new techniques so that I can try to make whatever I might like. Occasionally I will commission parts that I would be unable to create due to my limitation in skills or access to equipment or materials.

Victoria: If you had to select one, which one is your favorite costume to wear?

Ruby: Well our usual "go-to" costumes are our 1966 Batman and Batgirl costumes. Those are the ones we always anchor to. I also have additional favorites that I favor from year-to-year, such as Black Manta, and Solomon Grundy etc...

Jennifer: 60s TV Batgirl. There is no contest. I dreamed about having that costume ever since I was a little girl!

Victoria: How did the two of you meet?

Jennifer: The short story is that we met through a mutual friend that used to be a bandmate of Rubys...... Thats dull, so heres the fun, longer story. One of my friends, who was a coworker of mine at the time, used to frequent a weekly Punk Rock/Heavy Metal karaoke night with a live band at a club in on NYCs Lower East Side. He asked if Id like to check it out because it was a lot of fun and a good show. So late one Monday night (This karaoke night was only held on Mondays) I showed up at the club and midway through the show, this guy named Ruby with shaggy black hair got on stage to sing a KISS song with the band. It was clear that this was not his first time on stage as he was doing a really good job of working the crowd and keeping the energy going. It was impressive considering that most of the singers were nervous wrecks or hopelessly intoxicated. As his finale to punctuate the final chord of the song, he took a seemingly giant leap into air. As they say in the Olympics, he didnt stick the landing and ended up falling backwards into the bass drum. I had a good chuckle and enjoyed the rest of the show. Some time elapsed and in conversation my friend told me he was going to be joining a KISS Tribute band and that this guy that I had seen wipeout on stage was in this band as well. It is a small world after all. Some time later we were introduced to each other and continued to run into each other at the same social functions. Eventually Ruby asked me for my phone number and we started dating. That was 11 years ago.

Ruby: Let me just add to this.... the funny thing is that I was frequenting this club because I was trying to get a lead singer for my band,.... I had no idea that once I found him, he would introduce me to my future fiance.

Victoria: Ruby,  at this years Dragoncon you proposed to Jennifer in front of a large crowd and Superman himself, Dean Cain, was there to help you pop the question. How did you pull that off?

Ruby: Okay, this is quite a bit of a story.... I knew (secretly) exactly one year prior in Dragon*Con 2011, that I wanted to propose at Dragon*Con 2012 and I wanted to do it BIG. (after 11 years of dating, it HAD to be big lol) Months later, in mid-summer 2012, I contacted Allan Lee Hansard of The Superhero Costuming Forum (http://thesuperherocostumingforum.com) to ask if I can do this proposal during the annual D.C. Comics photo shoot at Dragon*Con. I originally was a bit sheepish in asking him, thinking that I might be stepping on toes or getting in his way by doing this. Lucky for me (and thank you again, Allan) he was more than happy in helping me make this moment happen for me.

...... Cut to Saturday September 1 2012, proposal day.... and Enter DEAN CAIN.

The "Dean-Cain-thing" didnt happen until the day of the proposal, about 3 hours prior. I had my plan set and ready to have it in motion. Only a select few of my friends knew of this planned. They included Bryan Morton, Bryan and Jennifer Nguyen, and Thad Laskowski. As fate would have it, Dean Cain was signing in the autograph room. Dean has known us from prior conventions and has always been great to us and even referring to us/remembering our names.

It was around that time that we had joked about getting DEAN to participate in the proposal in some way and it was Bryan Morton who took that somewhat seriously. In fact, the conversation was something like this....

Bryan Morton: "Dude,...Ill go ask Dean...... Bryan Nguyen, Thad and I will go to his table to ask!"

Ruby: "ARE YOU NUTS?!?!? lol Dont bother him man, I dont wanna be THAT kind of guy that bothers the celebs....."

Bryan Nguyen: "Dont worry man, he likes us. He wont get mad!"

Ruby: "Guys,..I cant STRESS about this now man.... I gotta get to the DC comics photo shoot. Im nervous as it is to begin with, and now you wanna throw SUPERMAN in the mix???"

Bryan Morton: "Itll be fine. If he cant, then he cant... but whats the harm in trying?"

Ruby: Okay guys, I doubt this is gonna happen. Just text me and let me know whats up.....

And we went our separate ways. They left to visit DEAN, and I went with JENNIFER to the get ready for DC Comics shoot. What exactly happened within the next hour or so, I will never know, but I suddenly get a text from Bryan Morton stating....

"Dude... Its a GO. DEAN wants to do it"

WHAAAAAATTTTT???? Is this for real???

Upon texting back and forth to Bryan, he told me the logistics of this, that he and the guys had to wait until DEAN was finished and ready and escort him. They were also going to inform ALLAN LEE HANSARD of the Superhero Costuming Forum on the details and Deans involvement. There was also one small detail that had to happen.... I had to surrender the RING to them.

Read More..

Selasa, 03 Mei 2016

Couture Maleficent Gallery

Its been a year since the Disney movie Maleficent was released starring my favorite woman in the world, Angelina Jolie. The live action fairy tale told the "true" story of the famous evil fairy from the classic animated film, Sleeping Beauty. Upon the movies release, I created a Couture version of my favorite villain. Using Kandee Johnsons makeup tutorial, it took me an hour to properly apply the makeup. I made the horns, staff and gloves. The wig is a lace front from a local wig shop. The jewelry is from the official Maleficent merchandise line. The contacts are from Pinky Paradise. The dress is from Macys. 

Photography credit: Photos and Designs by Piera

Bodhi Tree Photography 

Visit me on my Official Facebook Page

Read More..

Senin, 11 April 2016

Freedom Japanese Market Candy Product Review

Lets be honest; we all love candy! Recently, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to try some sweets from The Land of The Rising Sun; Japan! Freedom Japanese Market is an online store where you can order Japanese products that are delivered right to your front door. Several options are available ranging from sweet to sour candy, DIY candy, gum, mints and even food and spices. Freedom Japanese Market offers a snack box subscription where one pound of an assortment of candy and snacks are delivered to your home for $25 a month. Shipping is free worldwide. There are no renewal or handling fees. You can even send a box as a gift! Subscriptions are handled through paypal. You can cancel your subscription anytime without a penalty fee. Lets take a look at the yummy treats I received from Japan!



My snack box included a very helpful list with photos and a description of all of the snacks and candy in the box (which was very helpful because the writing on the candy is in Japanese). The friendly letter also included an origami heart made by Sanae for Valentines Day. Below is a list of the candy I received along with a description and my thoughts on taste testing the products:

1. Dark Chocolate Kit-Kats: The classic Kit-Kats you love, coated in delicious layer of dark chocolate. My thoughts: I am actually not a very big fan of dark chocolate however, I found that the wafer combined with dark chocolate was very delicious. The wafer made the dark chocolate less over powering.

2. Kanpai Ramune: This mini mug is filled with ramune candies. My thoughts: This candy was very yummy and had a taste that very much reminded me of lemon iced tea.

3. Rilakkuma Petzles: Honey butter flavored pretzel sticks in very cute bear package. My thoughts: This was one of my favorites snacks in the box! The honey pretzels were sweet without being sugary.

4. Karamucho: Hot chili flavored potato chips; a favorite in many Japanese homes! My thoughts: These are the type of potato chips that you cant stop eating! The chili flavor was very satisfying without being salty like American potato chips. They were not oily or greasy. This was another personal favorite of mine.

5. Umaibo: This months flavors are pizza (green, white, and red) and onion salad (gold package). My thoughts: This was another snack that wasnt over powered with salt so you can really taste the flavor. It is best described as a very large cheese puff in terms of texture and shape.

6. Pokemon Karipori: A delicious tart, slightly fizzy candy with a grape or melon flavored candy coating. My thoughts: This candy is like pop rocks but in the form of sticks. This is something kids would definitely love!

7. Kaki no Mi: These savory rice crackers are a great little snack, and are really hard to put down. This product contains nuts. My thoughts: These thick crackers are very hearty and have a taste of sesame to them.

8. PukuPuku Tai: Similar to traditional Japanese Taiyaki, but with fluffy chocolate filling instead of sweet bean paste. Fortified with calcium! My thoughts: Another one of my personal favorites! This wafer had a creamy chocolate center that was mouth watering.

9. Hora Dekita DIY Candy: Making "candied apples" is as easy as following the directions on the package! My thoughts: This was hands down my favorite product! The miniature candy apples came with candy syrup for dipping and sprinkle candy. The candy apple was soft and the syrup wasnt overly sweet.

10. Maze Maze Drink: Mix and match candies to create your own flavors and tell us what you like best! My thoughts: Fun flavored candy very much like jelly beans.

Final thoughts: I discovered a very big difference between American candy and Japanese candy. American products seem to be packed with more salt and sugar thus masking the flavor whereas Japanese candy doesnt use the ingredients as much therefore, you get more of the flavor. On the occasions that I do eat candy, I tend not to eat too  much because it is too sweet and makes my teeth hurt. I didnt have that problem with any of the candy I taste tested. Everything was favorable yet light. It was very enjoyable tasting amazing candies and snacks from overseas. CLICK HERE  for information on ordering a subscription box!

Visit me on my Official Facebook Page

Read More..