I’ve been talking about my interest in cosplaying for ages now and it’s finally the time to do some real work. I’ve considered to cosplay a lot of characters such as Nanami from Suikoden II, Farah from Tales of Eternia (green hair! D’oh!), even Fukki from the best shonen manga ever created: Houshin Engi. My final decision fell on a cute, clueless character (like Viki of Suikoden, whose costume in Suikoden III is the best) from one of my favorite classic games of all time. She is Pearl from Legend of Mana.

pearl

I decided to share my costume-making days here in my journal. This is the first time for me and I hope people who read my journal can give constructive ideas, should they have any cosplaying experience. For those who have not cosplayed before, I hope this journal can give them some information about costume-making. I don’t sew the costume myself, I can’t. The day I’m going to cosplay a rather advanced costume will be the day I graduated from a sewing school. If I want to make it myself, it should be perfect. For now, I trust my tailor to do the basics and I’ll do the details myself. Again, before reading this journal please remember this is my first time so…be nice and be constructive if you can. Any help will be very appreciated!

Day 01 – Encounter With The Tailor

After looking about in the interwebs, I found a contact of a tailor based not far from my house. I checked her site and the few photos there are very great. That was when I wanted to make my yukata though, so I have never met her before this afternoon.

We agreed to meet at A&W restaurant in Pasar Baru. In her text messages she said her name is Onii. I waited with my friend and the figure that appeared before us were…MY OLD HIGHSCHOOL CLASSMATE! What a coincidence! It turns out that she is taking a fashion design major. The funny thing is, one of the photo in her site I mentioned before features herself, cosplaying as Okuni from Samurai Warriors 2! I didn’t even recognise!

We talked for a couple of hours, consulting about my costume and my 2 friends’. After that I went to buy some material. I bought only Rp. 400.000 (about $40) so I wasn’t content. I bought the material to make a “blown-up” skirt first since it’s the easiest to find. I found a very great chiffon for the leg part which I like very much. I had to buy it later though since my priority is the main thread for the dress-robe.

I asked for a “white, not so thin material that is not shiny” and the storeclerk took me to the very back of the store. In that dust-stenched room I found the gem: a white bridal satin thread. Yes, it is satin but no, it is not shiny. It’s also not too thick so we can make the wrinkles needed. The price was also reduced because I bought quite a lot (4 meters to be exact).

I spent all my money though T^T

I still need to buy materials such as the pink thread. I have promised to come back later to purchase the pink bridal satin because I really like its texture. I also need to buy a LOT of green and white laces, fake pearls and christmas ornaments. The ballet shoes, wig and contacts will be bought much later.