Construction Details:

The wig is an Arda Jeannie in black. I removed the ponytail clip and re-brushed it so the existing, smaller ponytail would have a more natural look. I then covered the band with more hair and added the feathers to the back with glue. I styled both the ponytail and the bangs.
The necklace is made of individual pieces of EVA foam that I cut to shape and then covered with worbla. There are longer pieces on the bottom in varying lengths getting shorter as it approaches the back, followed by the flatter rounded pieces on top, and finally the pieces closest to the neck which bend at an angle. I attached the individual bars to a piece of skin-tone mesh, allowing them to move and be wrapped around my neck, then attached the top pieces in three sections so it could be opened and closed. Each individual piece was primed with plastidip before being painted. The bottom jewel piece was made the same given the same treatment. It attaches with velcro in the back.
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nThe broach is molded from worbla, finished with the same treatment, with the feathers and a safety pin glued to it.
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nFor the undergarments, I created a cage skirt and large petticoat from scratch. I used a vintage Victorian cage pattern, heavy boning, and ribbon for the base and then created a petticoat of varying sized of crinoline attached to a waistband. There are over 50 yards of gathering in the petticoat between the various layers on the sides and the back
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nThe dress itself is in three parts. The bottom-most layer is the red underskirt, which exists on its own with a waistband. The green overskirt and the red top are sewn together at the waist with a clasp in the front, enabling the top to go over the gold chest piece at the top of the corset while allowing the waistband keeping it closed to slip underneath it. There are also hooks on the golden chest piece and the inside of the red top that keep it in place. The red parts of the dress were a brocade that was originally very bright red and was dyed to achieve a more blood-red color. The green is a heavy velvet.
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nThe top was custom patterned and the additional black lace and silver piping were sandwiched in between the top layer and the facing. The black lacing on the top and the corset were coated in mod podge to allow them to stand and keep shape, additional lace bits that did not fit the design were cut off. The sleeves are two completely separate pieces that connect via the gold clasps, which were glued shut for security. The bottom of the sleeves is the same fabric and studding as the corset. The back of the top is technically two pieces, which I connect with a tie through the hand-installed grommets.
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nThe gloves are a green fabric that I added three different sizes of trim to between the large and small silver piece and the gold wrap around on the longer glove. The tip of the point of these gloves have a snap that attaches them to the separate black fingerless gloves underneath.
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nThe corset was made with a single fabric, alternating between the ???right??? and ???wrong??? sides to keep it in the same color family while showing the difference in tone. There are over 400 individual round studs in the top layer of the corset, put in before it was sandwiches with the canvas lining. Plastic boning was slipped into boning channels to create the shape, and the closure is actually jean studs individual hammered into the piece. In the original design Morrigan has a hook that her lacing goes through instead of the traditional holes, these were as close as I could get at the time of making the costume. The black lace and gold pining were sandwiches in-between the canvas and top layer, then the top was finished with a binding of the same fabric.
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nThe golden chest piece is about 100 individually formed pieces of worbla over an eva foam base, then molded to the shape of my chest. It also serves the purpose of keeping the cage leaning backwards for the bustle effect of the silhouette. It was primed and painted in the same fashion as the necklace.
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nThe flies on the skirt are over 100 individually made buttons. I used round buttons and formed each fly over them with worbla, primed them and painted them silver. In between those larger buttons are diamond studs, as a close-up of the reference shows much smaller fly buttons, almost so small they didn???t look like flies. I decided making them flies would make the skirt too busy.

Personal Thoughts:

This was the largest costume project I ever took on and it involved a lot of new methods that I had never tried before. I had attempted to make and finish it in time for Katsucon 2016 but sadly ran up to the line and out of time and decided to leave it at home. For Katsucon 2017 I picked up where I had left off, which meant not only finishing, but remaking parts that didn't hold up to my standards a year later. I'm still working on this piece and I think I will be for a while, but i'm incredibly proud of it and can't wait until i'm satisfied.

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