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I swore I would never, ever do a Bleach cosplay. There are just so many cosplays, and not enough variations in costumes to make me want to do a Bleach cosplay.

Then I saw the episode with young Byakuya.

And found royal blue twill on sale.

The Shinigami Academy uniform, my brain thought. It had to be done. Even though you never see Byakuya in the uniform, it HAD to be done.

Plus I was in the midst of growing out my hair; by the time the occassion would arise for me to wear it, my hair would be long enough. Woo hoo no wigs! Alas still need contacts.

The blue isn't the right color. My fabric is more of a royal blue while the uniforms are more of a subtle grayish-blue. But I don't really care because I wouldn't pass up $3.99/yard twill. The hakama was made using the instructions from Folkwear. It's my second time making a hakama, and I like this one infinity better; the fabric is stiffer and pleats very well, and I actually made a koshiita (the back board). Now I just have to figure out how to tie it proper.

The under blue kimono is made from the same twill as the hakama, and it was also made from a pattern from Folkwear. Nothing special on it.

The white outer kimono, also made from the Folkwear pattern, is made of white oxford cotton. It's lighter in weight than I would like but I couldn't find what I wanted. The blue stripes on the sleeves are made from left over twill. The black emblems are satin stitched to the front. The bottom of the sleeve is left unjoined from the body of the kimono so that the blue inner kimono peeks out.

Other than color, the only inaccuracy is the sides of the white kimono show throw the hakama slits. I actually like the change and decided against making side panels. There's at least one image what shows the white kimono showing through (and numerous images that reverse the order of the sleeve stripes).

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