Construction Details:

Chrono Trigger is my favorite game EVER, and while Marle isn't my MOST favorite character, when I found cotton at G Street Fabrics in the PERFECT shade of pale seafoam green, I decided on a whim that I would be making a Marle costume, and bought the fabric on the spot! ^_^

The "jumpsuit" I actually made into two pieces, a top and harem style pants, for ease of restroom breaks. I trimmed the top in this pretty vintage red patterned ribbon that I found in my late grandmother's sewing basket. She loved to sew and was self taught, and had always wanted to be a fashion designer some day, even though she worked most of her life as a nurse, so I am pleased I was able to include something of hers in a costume that is already special to me. :)

This was my first time working with craft foam, and I used it to make all of Marle's jewelry and her belt, which I also reinforced with plastic canvas to make it more sturdy. I also had the belt lace up in the back with a cord and grommets to help it keep its shape while I wore it. It can hold up the bag she wears on her belt just fine as long as I don't put too many items in it. ^^;

I think I will remake all the foam pieces at some point though, because they did not hold up very well. I used the Helmsdeep Tutorial and followed it to the letter, but by the end of the con a lot of the gold finish had chipped off. :( In general the accessories I had made seemed too delicate for Marle's active & adventurous lifestyle.

The sandals were a lucky find at H&M that I bought on sale for $7!! They are not very accurate (or especially comfortable), but they will do for now until I can afford to buy a nicer pair.

The pendant was also a lucky find on ebay that I bought ages ago, back in early 2009. I bought it at the same time that I bought Terra's pendant on ebay, they both came up in the same search!

I didn't have a chance to complete her quiver before Otakon, but I'm not too bothered by that since I don't even have a crossbow yet. Hopefully I will have one by AUSA in November. I also purchased some fabric 50% off a couple weekends ago that will be perfect for the fuchsia winter coat that she wears on the Japanese box art. I figure it will be just the thing to make this rather summery costume suitable for winter. :)

****UPDATE: The wonderful folks at Cosplayer Nation interviewed me at AnimeUSA this year. You can see the costume in action and hear me talk a bit about the construction in this youtube video. ****

Styling Notes

The wig that I used as the base of the ponytail is a \"heat-friendly, synthetic fiber\" lace front wig, from A Plus\'s Ozone line in the Raquel style.

It started off long and wavy, but I straightened it with hot water, gathered it into a ponytail, and stubbed it. It was my first time stubbing a wig, and this wig was expensive, so the experience was very scary for me! >_< but it turned out ok. I made a \"superstructure\" out of a bolt and aluminum for under the wig that helps the ponytail stay perky. :) It was my first time doing that too, but I really like the result! The wig is pretty heavy though, and gives me a headache once I\'ve been wearing it a couple of hours.

The main issue I had in styling this wig was with the sheer lace hair line. My natural hair line is very low on my forehead, with a widows peak, and I am a very dark brunette besides! So covering up my natural hair line so that it wouldn\'t show through the lace was a challenge. I ended up using the same technique for coloring my eyebrows on my hair: After putting on my flesh-toned wig cap, I pulled it back to expose about an inch of my hair line, and covered all the exposed hair with a generous layer of white school glue. Then once the glue was dry, I painted over it with acrylic paint in a light blond color (to match the wig). Then I pulled the wig cap forward again just a bit to cover the \"seam\" where my brunette color met the painted color. I then put the wig on my head and positioned the lace right over my natural hairline, gluing the lace into place with spirit gum.

The end result looks very natural, flawless even, but unfortunately is very time consuming. The glue takes about an hour and a half to dry before I can even apply the paint, which I also have to wait on to dry. If I don\'t wait, the wig lace ends up glued into my hair, and is a real pain to extricate since the lace is so delicate. Then, after I am finished wearing the costume, it takes about an hour to soften the glue from my hair and comb all the paint and glue out of it. >_< Much too inconvenient. Hopefully, I can figure out a suitable alternative before I wear this again at AUSA!!!

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