I'm sorry I didn't see this thread sooner but I ordered the Hello Cosplay suit last year and had them customize it for me. I got them to revise the back so I could put the rear star buckle on without having to do any modifications. I was also able to get them to make the white under tunic with a blue back.
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I detailed my experience with them in my build thread (
http://www.therpf.com/f24/another-c...me-thread-you-bet-new-pics-161615/index2.html). Again, I'm sorry I was late to this party!
In terms of the upgrades I did to the suit, I replaced the front straps with 2" red webbing from
strapworks.com along with the metal webbing sliders. You can also get 1.75" red webbing from them that will work with the existing hardware. It looks way better than the provided straps in my opinion. Since the screen used costume straps have a layered look to them (because they used cloth), I sewed a dark gray stitch a 1/4' off of the webbing on each side. I also got the 2" "caps" from strapworks to put on the bottom of the webbing.
I replaced all the metal "slides" on the upper chest area with the more screen accurate triangle shaped slides - I also replaced the ones on the lower bicep area where the leather strap is (I left the higher ones as is). And I didn't cut the that faux leather arm straps for fear of them fraying and falling apart - I just adjusted them to the length I wanted and then wrapped the excess on the inside of itself and used a small piece of tape to hold it there.
I replaced the vinyl stars on the shoulder pauldrons with rubber ones from Bamabat - I originally used his chest star but have since opted for something a little smaller that is more in proportion to the size of my suit. The vinyl stars are easily removed on the chest and shoulders by carefully cutting and removing the stitching. Once you get it started, the come right off. To put on Bamabat's chest star, I used white velcro - it worked very well.
I had originally made the rear star buckle and strap slide that attaches to the belt out of plastic sheeting (as described in my original build thread), but I managed to get my hands on a set of those items from rpf member hikz. They were awesome, but again, were too big for my costume so I went with another smaller option.
I added stitching to the chest area and on the back to give the feel of the overlap effect the material has in the screen used costume - I have seen others modify the Hello Cosplay costume to the point of where they actually do the overlap.
These are the boots I used -
Dr Martens Samuel Buckle Boot | Men's - Brown Re-Polished Wyoming - I was on a budget.
Off the shelf pouches are tough - these are really really hard to find but have the feel of the screen ones.
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My final step was weathering everything on the suit - straps, buckles and the suit itself. I definitely wanted to make it look well used.
I could never find good gloves, but now I'll be getting a pair from where you got yours!
The biggest visual drawback of the suit (in my opinion) is the light padding in the abdomen area which doesn't have very much definition and the pants. In terms of wearing the costume, an issue I've run into is the white under tunic not staying tucked in - I fixed this by adding a couple of straps to the bottom of it that go around my legs (kind of like a jock strap) before I put the pants on. That helped a lot.
All in all, this suit is really good - I have been happy with it.
I hope a couple of these ideas help.
