Construction Details:

The costume is 3 layers - an under kimono, a skirt, and a robe.

The under kimono is a textured stripe cotton I found on clearance - it happened to be a really nice cotton from Japan.
The skirt is plain white cotton with orange linen trim.
The robe is blue brocade trimmed in the orange linen and lined with an orange chrysanthemum designed sheer.

I wanted to use a nice fabric for the outer robe since Himiko is a queen, so the royal blue brocade seemed suitable. I also wanted the pop the colours have in the original designs, and the only fabric that seemed to have the look and colour I wanted was linen... I never imagined in a billion years that blue brocade and hunter orange linen could be friends, but here we are. The lining material was also a clearance find - I wanted something loud that matched, but wasn't clingy lining material. The fact it was floral was an added bonus. I think it was here that I found my love for lining things in silly fabric - going forward if it's something that's not going to be viewed by cameras or judges, it's probably lined with the most absurd thing I could find. I'm easily entertained like that.

The accessories: For the cartoony look, the fan and flames are craft foam heavily outlined in sharpie. The original intent was to have a motorized fan and moving flames on the headgear, but I'm really glad I went the cartoonish route instead. It seems to work better. The beads are model magic. I planned to reinforce the sash with wire so it'd float instead of hang, but I don't wear the costume enough to warrant revisiting - if I do, I'll put the wire and probably redo the wood parts of the headgear.

Personal Thoughts:

I love Okami, and hope to make more from it in the future!

Styling Notes

No real styling required. The two front pieces are attached to the hat, not the wig.

Sorry, you must be a registered user of and logged in to view and add comments. Either log in or register now!