H O M U R A . A K E M I

Despite how simple this costume looks, it is a beast. Much of the shapes had to be hand-drafted, including the collars, the patterns on the bows and sleeves, and all of the particular modifications to the jacket.

The wig was made by sewing together two separate wigs, to achieve the desired thickness. The black shirt is made from cotton sateen, with a simple white braided trim hand-sewn on. For the collar, shirt-cuffs, and skirt, I started out with a cold grey poly-taffeta, which I custom dyed. In daylight it still looks grey, but in shade or artificial lighting it turns purple. The white of the jacket has princess seams, closes up the front with hook-and-eyes, and is made using the dull side of casa satin. All of the black trim work is appliqued, satin-stitched shantung. The entire piece is fully lined again with satin, to reduce any black showing through on the under-side. The bows on the chest and back are also made of shantung, with appliqued, satin-stitched detailing. The white underskirt is made from bridal crinoline nylon and poly-lining, with the ruffles themselves being made of casa crepe. I box-pleated and then gathered the fabric to create the ruffle exactly as I wanted it. The tights are a pair of micro-fiber dance tights that I purchased, and I cut a hole for the heel of my pumps to slid through, so the shoes are worn on the inside. I created a diamond stencil, and had Kayla paint the patterns in a pearl-ized purple paint, while I was wearing the tights. The Soul Gem was originally cut out of wood thanks to my friend Mandy. We then made a mold, and cast the jewel in clear resin, and painted the back in a metallic purple nailpolish. The setting was made by cutting out and veeeeery carefully burning the shape from a THICK piece of craft foam, using an adjustable-temperature burning/heat tool.

The shield was made using a 99 cent frisbee as a base. I looked at the design for the details, and drew it on tissue paper, which I then glued directly to the frisbee, and glued over the lines with a craft chord. The domed shapes are half a plastic Christmas ornament in the middle, and the smaller ones were cast-and-painted resin. I heated, formed, and glued bands of craft foam around the edge to create some extra depth, and dry-brushed some different colored paint into the crevices. On the back, I glued strips of pleather with velcro, to create the arm band.