Construction Details:

Oh, princess Estellise. I shake my fist at your impossible dress. But somehow, I've done it! Where do I even begin with this costume?

To start, I'll say that I went through a LOT of mockups before I was satisfied with the dress. There are a several layers to this costume--the capri pants underneath, a short hoopskirt,the pink petal dress, the white overdress, and the gloves. I made all of those things myself! Both dresses are fully lined and the gold detailing is a mix of handmade bias tape and applique. (For the record, stretch sateen makes FABULOUS bias tape!) The pink dress is made of kona cotton for the color choices, it zips up in the front and the "tulip petals" overlap each other slightly. The white is made of poplin and the sleeves are reinforced with heavy interfacing and wire so they hold their gravity-defying shape.

What I am most proud of is my shield prop! I've never really constructed a prop from scratch before, so I put a lot of work into this one. The base is constructed from foamcore board and covered in vinyl. The pink is nearly impossible to find, I managed to track some down on ebay. The gold was spray painted after I cut the shapes out. There are several types of glue in this baby ranging from epoxy to gorilla glue, it's pretty crazy. You can't see it in the pictures, but there's a place to put my cell phone and money in the back with the door handle. I LOVE my shield! I don't even want to talk about the sword, the one I started to make was God-awful so I bought a cheap costume store pirate sword as a stand in. I may still make one, but at this rate I think it would be easier to make a staff instead.

The boots were really the biggest disappointment. The pleather began to peel and fall apart within four hours of wearing them.

Personal Thoughts:

This was originally my boyfriend's idea. He played Tales of Vesperia before I did and expressed that Yuri is by far his favorite Tales character to date. (I have to agree with him on that one!) At first, I really didn't want to be Estelle. I took one look at her dress and stuck my nose up. (I was in pink denial at the time.) When I started playing, I was even more hesitant because I wasn't sure how I felt about her as a character. Several hours in, I found myself thinking critically about how I would construct the separate parts while turning the character model around! What can I say? The princess really grew on me. I think I did a better job making his Yuri costume, but that's alright by me.

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