Construction Details:

The whole appeal of this costume was that I could buy most of it directly without needing to do any real work, so I wasn't too fussy about the details -- The costume I put together is about 95% accurate to the image I have posted, but also blends a bit of the Anime variaton (black stockings instead of red), as well as just trying to stick with Nana's general aesthetic.
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nI'll start with the Big Pieces: Wig, Clothes, and Shoes. The biggest, deal-breaking piece of this costume, was the leather jacket, which I lucked out on -- it had all the right details, and only cost me $25 on eBay. Being as it was Chinese made for Asian sizing, even the Largest size (XXL) fits me just perfectly. Once I had this in hand, I was okay with proceeding with the collecting the rest of the pieces. The wig was an Arda Blue Steele in Natural Black, which I did just a bit of custom styling on. The shirt was a Navy Blue blue Ladies' T-shirt I bought on ebay, and then custom painted using the reference art and a small photo of the actual vintage Vivienne Westwood t-shirt for reference. The skirt was purchased at Hot Topic. The garter belt was orderd from Yandy.com, fishnet socks were bought at a local halloween store, and boots came from eBay. I chose Combat Boots instead of the motorcycle boots because they were signifigantly cheaper, and their shorter style would help to make my legs look longer.
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nJewelry and Accessories: Most of this stuff was bought on ebay, with the exception of the silver loop earrings, and my choker. The loops were leftover from my days cosplaying Winry and are spring-backed. The choker had to be made because the inexpensive ones for sale were not large enough for my neck; I made it from small spikes I bought on ebay, a piece of costume pleather (which I had tons of) and a bridle buckle from Tandy Leather. The wrist bands were the cheapest I could find, and I might someday revitalize them by harvesting the spikes and putting them on pleather to match my choker. The 'saturn' earrings aren't screen accurate but they are genuine Vivienne Westwood, which I got on ebay for about $20. The belt I found was a second-choice after the only single-row studded belt I could find was no longer carried in my size. But, Belt #2 only cost $3, so I'm not complaining too much. :) Finally, the armored ring is the official Nana merchandise, modeled after the Vivienne Westwood ring design; I just got REALLY lucky that it fit my hand.

Personal Thoughts:

Nana is one of those Tragic series that went on Hiatus and after several years, has never been restarted. Despite my better judgement of knowing it's an unfinished series, I decided to watch it. I found myself immediately drawn in by Nana Osaki's aesthetic, and decided she would make for a fun side costume. I mean, I realized I could BUY most of it, so there was very little work involved, and that really appealed to me. Of course, I ended up with some custom pieces in the end anyway...

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