Thanks, they were And good luck!

Thank you very much <3 They were fun to make.

Aww, sharing my secrets this early? (Kidding!)

Actually, the stupid collar's the only bit where I kinda said "whatevs". I used a fleece pattern (do not recommend, by the way, if you plan to make it out of cotton) with the basics of a zip, pockets, ribbing, hood--but the weird little collar thing seems to take care of itself from the weight of the tag I made. (Aluminum covered with a very thin layer of Sculpty, by the way. Oh, and Sculpty painted with a glaze. Do not forget the glaze. It will make it ten times more awesome.) I was going a little crazy about it for a while, but eventually I decided that it was a drawing, and I can't copy a drawing exactly, because it's a bloody drawing. If you watch the anime, they can't even keep straight whether the black lines are at a 1/2 point or a 1/3-2/3 point. (Which annoyed me to no end. Ended up using the 1/3-2/3rd from the Bulbapedia reference picture and it still looks a little too high. I suggest going 1/2.)

Annnyway, I was actually going to do a tutorial on how to paint shoes after painting these (because it's annoying), but to be honest the method I used is not the most practical in the world. I cleaned them up with acetone, sanded them down, and painted them with acrylic...which worked fine everywhere except the stress points. Fabric paint wasn't much better, it cracked too. So, haven't found a solution yet for that...I ended up just keeping the paints in my backpack and fixing the damage every few hours. I suggest experimenting with spray paint. I met a Lady who spray painted her shoes and they looked quite nice. It is a little more tricky, though, which is why I was trying it out with acrylics. As for the build for the shoes, they're shoes I bought a couple of years ago when I was planning on making Sinnoh Brock...but I never ended up finishing the costume. They were the ugliest things in the world, by the way...painting them with Ash's colors actually made them look a million times better. (And when Pokemon fashion beats yours, you're pretty low down indeed.) I suppose if I put the tutorial up you'll see the brand's symbol...I can't really help you with much else, because I painted over all the brand name references.

Other suggestions....make the cuffs for the gloves out of knit fabric (T-shirt fabric). Seriously. Your life will be so much easier. Also, you'll have to cut the white top bit into triangles like a real hat (if you're sewing over a real hat and your hat is all red, anyway). I couldn't find a way to stretch the knit well so it would lay flat. And if you're putting white fabric over a red hat, put lightweight white interfacing on the red hat's front side first. It'll make sure the red doesn't shine through. (I always avoid painting hats because I like to use them in real life, and in rain paint runs.)

I can't think of anything else, really. You'll have to show me your costume when you're done!