Interview of the d'Arda Sisters (USA)

Here is the interview of the d'Arda sisters from the US !

1. For how long have you been in cosplay ?

Remi: We’ve been cosplaying for about 5 years now.

2. Cosplay is a time consuming hobby. how long does it take to craft your costumes ?

Noelle: It all depends on the complexity of the costume and the techniques involved. A simple leotard based costume like Ms Marvel takes only a couple of days but more complex or intricate designs like Remi’s Fai D Flowright costume can take up to a month or more.

3. Any other hobby or passion besides cosplaying ?

Remi: We love comics, anime/manga, video games, drawing, and horseback riding ! We both have horses but sadly don’t get to ride as often as we’d like.

4. What materials are you using for cosplay crafting, worbla? Foam? Can you talk about that a little bit? I've seen we have transparent worbla now…

Remi: Among a myriad of fabrics, we also use Worbla, wood, resin, different types of foam, and fiberglass. We haven’t had a chance to get our hands on transparent Worbla yet but we can’t wait to try it !

5. Do you have any FAVORITE cosplayer ?

Noelle: We actually have to contribute our start in cosplay to Yaya Han and she remains one of our biggest inspirations to this day !

6. Did you hurt yourself while making a cosplay or in a convention?

Remi: I burned myself with a heat gun pretty bad and have the scar to prove it and Noelle ended up stabbing a rather large needle through some leather straight into her hand. But thankfully we’ve been spared any really bad mishaps. Of course, now that we’ve said that, we’ll probably sew through our fingers tomorrow, lol !

7. Do you sell your old cosplays, or just keep them in a huge closet?

Noelle: We keep them in a two huge closets, lol ! We continually re-wear our costumes at conventions. The only costume that has been semi-retired is Remi’s Fai D. Flowrite from Tsubasa Reservoir Chonicle due to how difficult it is to wear.

Remi: As of now, we’re not sure if either of us could sell any of our costumes as it feels slightly akin to selling one’s child but, who knows ? Maybe that’ll change in the future.

8. Who taught you to craft your cosplays? Your family? By reading books or watching youtube tutorials?

Noelle: Our mom is a seamstress and has done everything from work in the bridal business to quilts and she taught us nearly everything we know about sewing, but when it comes to the crafting aspect Google was our teacher, lol !

9. Which conventions are you going to this year?

Remi: We’re still working out our schedule for 2016 but a few that are on the list are; PAX South, Katsucon, C2E2, Anime Alpha, and New York Comic Con!

10. What is your budget limit for a cosplay?

Noelle: To be honest, we really don’t have a budget per cosplay. We try to use materials we feel will best help make as convincing and authentic a real life translation of the source material as possible. It’s always more satisfying to spend a little more on a costume and be happy with the results than skimp and not be proud of the finished product.

Remi: That being said, coupons are our best friends! We’re always on the lookout for sales and try to never buy things at regular price. Noelle also haggles over everything ! She gets kind of scary in the garment districts, lol !

11. Any future super secret cosplay project in mind?

Remi: One of our dream cosplay pairs are Momiji and Rachel from Ninja Gaiden. We haven’t tackled them yet as we’re both a little intimidated and want to make sure our techniques are up to par before taking them on.

Noelle: We’re also both perfectionists and sometimes its frustrating because we have a hard time leaving “well enough” alone so we have a tendency to pick at costumes. But we’re both learning to balance the amount of time we spend on a costume so maybe, just maybe, you’ll get to see those two in 2016/17!

12. Do you have limits ? Some cosplays you will never make (too sexy, too hard, too heavy...)?

Noelle: Not really. Most of the time if we see something that looks impossible we really want to try and make it just to see if we can. We always like to push ourselves and try new and challenging things!

13. What are you doing in "real" life for a living?

Remi: What are you talking about ? This is our real life, lol ! We’re models as well as co-owners and founding members of The Yume Group and Dial Up Games & Toys. So not only do we cosplay and model but we also sell retro video games and vintage toys online and at conventions across the US. You can check it out at dialupgames.com ! You just might find something you like !

Noelle: Cosplaying, modeling, and running a growing corporation really is a balancing act and doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything outside of those things. We’re still learning and the road defiantly hasn’t been easy but being able to make a living by doing the things we love most is extremely rewarding !

14. What is your best souvenir from a convention?

Remi: It has to be these little Lego Star Wars ships we got from Star Wars Celebration 2015 ! Every day of the convention you could go to the Lego booth and build a little starship for free and there was a different one each day.

Noelle: Thursday you could build an Imperial Destroyer, Friday was an X-Wing, Saturday a Ti Fighter, and Sunday the Millenium Falcon. They’re so cute, I have my set lined up on my dresser !

15. Any advice for cosplay wannabees or beginners?

Noelle: Don’t ever be afraid to try new things ! Keep developing new techniques and never stop pushing yourself to be better !

Remi: But never forget to have fun ! We’ve met so many cosplayers who have gotten so caught up in competing with others for prizes, fans, popularity, etc. that they’ve forgotten how to have fun cosplaying. It’s not always a competition, lets save that for the cosplay contest.

Their facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/dardasisters/