Construction Details:

This is the same costume as my other Manga-Utena costume, but I took some of it apart, added new pieces, and converted it to this version.

The epaulettes are a base of 3 layers of foam core, with the dome being made of plastic bags covered in tin foil, and then again in heated-and-formed craft foam. Crevices were filled with modeling clay, sanded, and the whole thing painted in the same paint as my buttons. The 'cigar-like' tassels were made by rolling pieces of white felt, and hot gluing-them into the shape needed. I then rigged a series of wire loops, which I glued into a burnt-out grove in the bottom of the epaulette base, and sewed each tassel to a wire loop so that they could move individually and freely with my arm movements. The whole piece was attached to my jacket with Velcro.

The chord was a simple white cord that I purchased from the home dec section at JoAnns. The Cabochon jewel was cast in resin using a 99 cent paint tray as the mold. I painted the back in a metal blue paint, then mounted it on a craft-foam setting that I made by gluing together 2 layers of craft foam, and burning out the center of the top layer, so the jewel could be set in. The triangular piece is also several layers of craft foam, and the whole thing is secured to a wire on the back side, which mounts all the pieces together. The cabochon is glued to a pin backing, and the whole thing holds the jacket shut where I removed the top button. The end of the white chord is wrapped in velcro, and secured right underneath one of the epaulettes. The cuffs were drafted by me, trimmed in more of the same baby-blue bias tape, and made from leftover white cotton. The ruffle/skirt underneath the jacket is made for 2 large circular ruffles of chiffon, serged on the ends, then pleated, and pinned in place on my shorts with safety pins, so that the slit in the middle wouldn't shift around, without bulking up my shorts with non-stretchy notions to keep it in place.

Personal Thoughts:

For Anime Matsuri 2013, I decided to finally update this costume to her Duelist form.

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