22 Andrew Pandes: www.andrewpandes.com
had to try cosplay eventually. My first cosplays were at my first cons: Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Haruhi Suzumiya from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and I think Misa Amane from Death Note. Do you make your costumes and what’s been your most difficult cosplay? In my earliest years of cosplay, I didn’t even know how to sew or make props, so I would commission outfits or customize and put pieces together, in addition to buying wigs or any other necessary accessories. For many years now though, I’ve learned to sew entire costumes and create any accompanying props or accessories. Making my own costumes is always exhausting or stressful when there’s a time limit for a con or photoshoot, but I love taking that opportunity to give all of my love and hard work into something I care so much about, and then wearing the final product. I’d say the most difficult cosplay so far has been my Crimson Akali (League of Legends) because of all the components and details, which also makes it the one I’m still most proud of so far. Who inspires you in life and in cosplay? In life, I’m inspired by my parents and pretty much anything around me - music, other artists, even the other teachers I work with and the kids I teach. In my earlier cosplay days, I remember being inspired by Li Kovacs aka “PikminLink”, Jin Joson aka “behindinfinity”, and the Japanese cosplayer Kipi. I’m also inspired by my fellow cosplayer friends and seeing other cosplayers at cons just having a fun time. You run a successful blog and social media sites - do you have some tips to share with new cosplayers wanting to do the same? Sure! I guess for starters, think of a fun name you’d like others to know you as. For me, I started off with the online alias “hellozombie”, which is the username I used for my deviantart.com account and cosplay.com account, and then later, my blog. It was really strange but funny when I’d hear random people yell “ARE YOU HEL- LOZOMBIE?!” at cons, haha! So I just went with that for a while. A major tip I have though, is to stay true to yourself and to your art. For me, cosplay has always existed as a fun, creative outlet where I can also utilize the things I’ve learned from the random hobbies I grew up doing (they turned out useful after all, yay!), to my skills as an artist, martial artist, and lover of music, singing, dance, and performance, all the while paying tribute to a character I love so much. That genuineness will show on your blog and social media sites if you stay true to your passion! Stay humble, be kind, maybe study a bit of design, HTML, and CSS (or get a friend to help you), and most importantly, have fun! Some fun questions - Tell us 3 things you can’t live without Food, sleep, music Tell us 3 movies you just love Titanic, 500 Days of Summer, Princess Mononoke 3 Books you just love Harry Potter (all of them count as one), Life of Pi, The Architecture of Happiness “Stay true to yourself and to your art ” Thanks so much for being part of this issue - can you let our readers know where they can go to find out more about you? Blog: abbypblog.tumblr.com facebook.com/abbypeeofficial youtube.com/byebyezombie Email: official.abbypee@gmail.com Thank you again for having me! Really enjoyed the interview, more power to <strong>Live</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> and <strong>Cosplay</strong> <strong>Live</strong>, and much love to all my fellow cosplayers out there! ‘Til next time! ONLINE: www.abbypblog.tumblr.com www.facebook.com/abbypeeofficial www.youtube.com/byebyezombie 23