Construction Details:

No patterns were used for this costume. I draped the top myself, and also draped the skirt. The purple pieces are made from purple taffeta, and the skirt is made from a sheer silk that started off white. The skirt itself was sewn together first. And then hand-dyed myself with silk dyes. I started off with letting it soak in a very light pink color all over the skirt, and then began adding more and more color to get the gradient affect. It was my first time dyeing fabrics and i was super scared. But the results are better than anything i could have ever purchased at a fabric store.

All of the gold designs are done with gold vinyl, that was hand-cut and placed with heatnbond. The top features gold dangly bits that jingle when i walk, they started off silver and then i painted them gold to match my costume. The middle triangle piece was disassembled then colored and painted by me. The skirts waist bustle was also dyed. Started off as a teal fabric then blends into a darker purple.

Butt-bouquet was several bouqetes that i arranged together and used ribbons to tie it all together, it's a silly accessory to have on a costume and makes sitting impossible, unless you want to crush your flowers... Thigh-high's were draped, and then heatbonded gold vinyl was applied, also features purple 'good luck' knots that my zhen ji made for me. Shoes were painted to match.

My wig features it's own hair bow that is a seperate piece that is sewn on, and has gems and beads all over the place.

Crown is 2 layers of foam that are glued together. One layer has all the colored bits, and the top layer has the gold intricate cut out. Once together it forms a really pretty crown that shows the colored bits through the cut-outs. it's wired to a headband, with 3 flowers wired to the crown as well!

Personal Thoughts:

I have always wanted to tackle a Dynasty Warrior costume. And last fall a group of friends thought it'd be fun to do The newest DW6 designs. i was really drawn to Diao Chan's design, even though previously i was a fan of Zhen Ji. Unfortunately with school i wasn't able to work on diao chan till i had finished school/graduation priorities. Even then i was not going to finish it for fanime, but it was announced that WCS prelims would be at fanime and so I decided to go ahead and finish it to go with my friends Zhen Ji

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