Construction Details:

Bodice - I drafted the pattern for the bodice after looking at a pattern for a cropped corset. The bodice is made out of red milliskin spandex that was dyed a darker shade with fabric paint stenciled roses on it for detailing. The ruffles were hand gathered and are a double layer of Primrose and Blush chiffon from the Casa collection; and there is rose venetian lace layered under the ruffles. The striped detailing is done with Eggplant Casa satin heat n' bonded to Ivory Casa satin. The gem is a simple glass cabochon and tear drop beads painted with green nail polish. The beading below it is made from 2 different sized gold seed beads. The bodice closes with a separating zipper up the back.

Arm warmers - These are made out of a combination of the same red detailed spandex as the bodice and gold metallic spandex. There's obviously a lot of lace and trim (some of which had to be altered to the correct size/shape) attached at various points and 2 glass cabochons also painted with green nail polish.

Skirt - This is basically a tube top shape with doubled over dyed red millispandex. The trim on the hem had to be cut down, because it was twice a big originally, and sewn on individually. The stripped detail portion is made the same way as the piece on the bodice. The various ties and bows are made out of Casa crepe in a number of different colors. Some of them have trim or hand painted details, they all have the same fringe trim as my main cape. There is a belt underneath all of the sashes which serves as an anchor point for the strands of beads dangling and for my sword.

Tights - The upper portion of the tights are actually basically bike shorts made out of blue and white milliskin spandex that I had to sew into stripes before cutting the shorts out. There's lace and trim at the hem of the shorts to give the illusion of the tights being attached/merged. The tights (originally basic white dance tights) were hand painted with acrylic paint by a friend while I was wearing them.

Boots - These started out as plain black ankle boots, which I covered in the same dyed red milliskin spandex and then added on metallic gold spandex detailing. The cuffs of the boots attach with velcro and have wire in them so that they can be shaped and flare out from the boots. The gems are more glass cabochons painted with green nail polish and some gold beading.

Capes - There are two capes for this costume. The base cape is made out of Primrose Casa chiffon and has Eggplant satin triangles heat n' bonded to the bottom. There is gold detailing sewn on the hem and around each of the triangles. The main cape is made out of Blush Casa chiffon and lined with Ivory Casa lining. There are approximately 185-200 organza flowers on the cape. The flowers are made out of several different shades of pink and purple organza - each flower is made of 3-4 layers of organza and there are 4 different sizes of flowers. Each of the flowers is handed beaded with either a glass pearl center or a glass pearl center and a gold seed beaded center. The main cape is finished with gold fringe. The capes are both attached to a strip of craft foam covered in fabric as is the collar which is a craft foam base covered in layers of ruffled Blush chiffon and Ivory lining. The cape snaps to the bodice in the back and is also secured around my shoulders with elastic strips.

Jewelry - The choker, head piece, and earrings were all beaded by hand and contain a combination of 2 sizes of gold seed beads and various different gems and beads.

Armor & Sword - The shoulder armor is made our of Worbla as are parts of my sword's handle and my scabbard. This was my first time working with Worbla (with the help of my boyfriend) and I'm pleased with the final product, though the process was much more time consuming than I expected. The shoulder armor attaches with industrial strength velcro to the shoulders of my bodice and the scabbard is tied to a belt under my sashes. The sword was originally a wooden practice sword that was sanded down into the right shape, painted with metallic paints, and detailed with a combination of gems and glass cabochons painted with red nail polish.

Personal Thoughts:

I still need to do a photoshoot with this costume, but I'm so excited by the final product that I figured I'd post a couple of the pictures I got of it at the con.

Styling Notes

This was my first time ponytailing and curling a wig. I used wefts from a long clipin ponytail for coverage of the edges of the base wig and then after several tries I was able to get everything up into a clean/smooth ponytail. I left some hair in the front free and cut both that and the ponytail to the approximate length that I wanted before curling everything with a 1" curling iron. The wig ended up being a bit curlier than I originally intended, but I love the overall look. I ended up having to put in 2 toupee clips into the front of the wig to help keep it up due to things being back heavy with all the curls and decorations.

Wig Review

I really like Arda's color options and fibers, I just wish the wigs were a bit smaller/more easily fit to my head.

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