Construction Details:

Ninian is a Dancer in the game Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword. Frail and delicate, she and her brother Nils are pursued by the Black Fang for their strange powers. In reality, however, Ninian and her brother are actually two Ice Dragons in human form. Tragically, Ninian begins to fall for Lord Eliwood, one of the game's heroes. Ninian is among my top-favorite cosplays. I spent so much time and effort into making her- down to the last bead in her headpiece. Jewelry: Starting with the smallest pieces, it was actually a long time in finding all the right parts to put it together. The headpiece is a silver circlet I bought at a Renfest, and then stripped, adding the ear triangles and the crystal droplets to. Yes, crystal. It wasn't easy finding the right shape and color. The belts? The small, silver one is one I made out of silver chain bracelets, which I linked together, and added the beads. The main one was a silver belt I found at a western store, painted antique gold, and then added additional embellishments with dangling bead-bits composed of crystal, glass, and bone beads. I made the veil a half-circle veil, and added the red and silver beads to the ends. Finally, for the heck of it, I added a nice pair of earrings and some rings. Dress 1: Firstly, there are two different color variations of Ninian, from the pictures I've seen. One is more blue, while the other more blue-green/teal. I went with the blue, I think it's prettier. In any case, both dresses are made from the same pattern- a pattern for ballroom dancing gowns, and then heavily modified. For example, the primary dress is high-necked and sleeveless, and has a mermaid skirt. The original pattern was high-necked, but backless, and had a, well, swirly ballroom skirt. Suffice to say, I had to add the back and change the skirt myself. It's hemmed with a ribbon to keep the length, and keep the shape, which is perfect, and at the neck is the second collar, which is made of the same material as the shoulder wrap, with the criss-crosses painted on. It snaps on top of the other collar. The material is a medium powder-blue, very soft, with sparkles on the fabric, and it fits me like a second skin. Secondary Dress: The top layered dress is made of a much lighter, satin blue, allowing for a fun contrast in fabrics. In the original pattern, this was a spaghetti-strap dress, but Ninian has this dress attached to a dark orange shoulder wrap, instead. Well, I couldn't find the right dark orange, so I went with a stretchy, gold/tan I found. I painted on the design, and since it stretches, it allows for easy movement. The dress is connected to this, as is the left glove. But, the glove is only tacked on, so I can move with it on. Understandably, this dress is made looser, so it can fit over the first one. Gloves: Ninian's right glove is more like a bracer, made of the same material as the primary dress, with a gold wrist accent, and a strip of the fabric used in the secondary collar/shoulder wrap, and painted with a triangle design. The left glove is longer, made of the same material as the secondary dress, with a small bit of gold-painted detailing at the wrist Satin doesn't lend itself too well to movement, though, so the glove has to be zipped on to tighten it at the wrist, and is tacked to the shoulder wrap to keep it up high. Veil: The veil is made out of extremely light-weight white gauze, in a half-circle design. This is where I disagree with most other Ninian cosplayers, who attach the veil as a cape. Ninian doesn't have a cape! It's just her dancing veil, which she wears up with her shoulder-wrap! Dang it! Lemme tell you, I went to a great deal of effort to figure out every last detail of Ninian's costume, studying her reference images (of which, there are, like, 2!) very carefully. I am VERY proud of her. Not only is she pretty, but she is also WASHABLE and WEARABLE. Sure, she might be a little tight, but that's only because I need to lose some weight.

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