Construction Details:

This costume was mostly based on the Dissidia artwork and game model, but it's really more of a fusion between Dissidia and FF9 elements. I spent about a year working consistently on this project.

Boots:
Started as ankle boots. I made them knee-high. They slip on and lace up the front. Pleather outers, kona cotton lining, two layers of interfacing, equidistant vertical seams, and a ton of topstitching. The ankle fins are boned. The buckles and toe armor are craft foam.

Leg armor:
Heat-formed 3mm craft foam in layers, reinforced with Paperclay. Surface grooving done with an X-acto knife and plastic clay-working tools. They're poleyns fused with greaves. They velcro onto the front of the boots and conceal the lacing.

Koshimaki / buttcape:
Cotton sateen. The gold trim is embroidery, satin-stitching, two colors of Lumiere paint in a gradient, and faux pearls.

Codpiece / straps:
Pleather and bias tape edging. Lots of elastic in the codpiece. The whole thing is held together with velcro and overall buckles. The strap anchors are craft foam, Paperclay, and satin rat-tail cord.

Vest:
Tan glitter organza layered over yellow costume satin to get a metallic look. Country cotton lining. It velcros shut with that purple and gold "grill" thing. The grill design is embroidery.

Bolero:
Polyester stretch suede lined in country cotton. Lower sleeves are cotton sateen. Lots of hand-painted bias tape and topstitching.
It's hard to see in the pics but I do have the two collars going on. There's a full convertible collar and half of a Mandarin collar on the left side.
The ball shoulders are interfaced and stuffed with tightly packed fiberfill. The bicep line has plastic boning underneath the gold trim to prevent the circumference from collapsing.
This thing has no center back. There's a built-in yoke (~3") to stabilize the collars, but beneath that the right and left sides hang completely free of one another. The silver belts across the back and chest help hold the sides together so the whole thing stays in place.
The undersleeves have built-in gussets for more mobility.
And as a convenience for myself, I put a bound buttonhole pocket in the left breast. It's just the right size for a credit card or hotel key.

The costume isn't quite 100% done - still needs the gloves and bracelets. I also plan on remaking the boots and armor at some point.

How was the wig colored?

Petting Zoo wig dye, Cloudy Grey

Styling Notes

The feathers are on a hairclip that slides into a slit cut into the wig scalp. The dyeing process relaxed some of the wave so it's not as extreme. I also cut the feathered bangs into it.

Wig Review

New Look wigs barely fit the size of my head. This means that they're just a little too small when all my real hair is shoved underneath it and the ear flaps sit about an inch too high. Thankfully, the long bangs hide the dark brown hair that's not covered...

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