Construction Details:

I knew for Arisia I wanted to do a cosplay for the masquerade, to show the sci-fi costumers that cosplay isn’t just school girl uniforms and ninjas. While browsing Creative Uncut I came across the designs for Dynasty Warriors and loved all of them. Narrowing down what character I was going to do was challenging, and I was stuck between Diao-Chan and Zhen Ji. Then when I played the game and I noticed Zhen Ji’s weapon was a flute. Having played flute for 13 years I was very excited about that and my decision was final. My description of how I made the costume is longer than usual, because I detailed my construction for my documentation for the judges.

I started with the bodice of the dress. I used a lightweight, crepe polyester that I had on hand (which I had purchased months ago at Joanns for $1.50 a yard, for no purpose other than it was pretty). I used Simplicity Pattern 4940 and sewed it following the pattern, stopping a few inches below the hips. Once complete, I put it on my dress form and lowered the neck line and cut a low back. I then draped the black sheer to get the pieces I needed. After adding in the black sheer, I stitched on the thin black cording, an invisible zipper, and a collar made from black casa satin. I then attached an underskirt of black stretch polyester, with a black fringe added.

The next step was the skirt. I drafted a pattern using Vogue 8281 as a base to get the close fit at the thighs. Once the pattern was complete, I cut the entire length on the bias with a purple micro-suede print from Joanns. These were sewn it into two halfs, left and right. I then drafted where the gold flower print would go, then cut those from black and gold brocade from Lorraine Fabrics in Pawtucket. The top of the black is satin stitched to create a clean finish.

I started the sleeves by creating a pattern so that the ends would flare out. I cut the entire sleeve out of the light purple first, then cut out what I needed from the dark purple and top stitched it to the light purple. Just like the skirt, I kept the full length in the dark purple, and stitched the black and gold floral on top.

The two gold trims are made from crepe back satin from Joanns. They are adhered with fusible and fabric tape. The feathers are from three boas purchased at Joanns and are hand stitched and glued onto the dress. The brooch is made from a white feather and craft foam.

My shoes started as a pair of black open toed heels from Target. I pulled off the details on the front, then hot-glued the same dark purple fabric from the dress onto the shoes. I used black ribbon for detailing and to cover the edges. Using the trim fabrics, I made the gold detailing, using heat and bond and put them onto some extra white twill for stability. I then hot-glued them onto the front of the shoes.

My headdress is made from model magic, craftfoam, and beads. After the model magic dried, it and the foam were layered with gesso, then painted gold. The raised designs were done with puff paint, then another layer of gold paint was added. The headdress is glued to a black headband, which is secured with hair clips. I used my own hair and made a long extension for the ponytail.

The flute is made with PVC pipe, paperclay, and craft foam. I molded the paperclay onto the PVC and used craft foam for the feather-like detail and to support the holed-part on the other end. The raised designs on the “feather” were done with hot glue. After the paperclay dried it was sanded, then covered with a layer of gesso. I then painted the PVC a blue-purple and the paperclay/craft foam gold.

Personal Thoughts:

This was made for Arisia 2010 for my masquerade entry with Crazy Flower (Lu Xun). I got black feathers everywhere - in the hotel room, in the green room, in the hallways. Everywhere. This sucked up all my free time for two weeks before the con. Hopefully I'll learn my lesson next time and start my next costume earlier... yeah right.

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