G A R N E T " D A G G E R " T I L . A L E X A N D R O S
Final Fantasy IX
U T E N A . T E N J O U
Revolutionary Girl Utena
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The Inspiration
If you've known me for any length of time, you know that Revolutionary Girl Utena is a series very near and dear to my heart, and you know that Utena herself has always been a character I have felt very attached to. I have wanted to make a Rose Bride costume for a VERY long time, and ultimately decided, why not Utena's? It all came together when my friends volunteered to do a Rose Bride group for AWA 2017! I couldn't very well say No with that opportunity staring me in the face.
The Build
The wig was made from combining 2 Arda wigs -- a Venus and a Buttercup, both in Baby Pink. I removed the skin-top scalp from the Buttercup and sewed it into the Venus, then sewed some of the remaining Buttercup wefts into the Venus as well. The bangs were created with a combination of back-coming, curling and custom trimming. I'd styled an Utena wig before, so I already knew what I was doing.
I created all of the jewelry and accessories for everyone in our group. The shoulder pieces are a combination of fabric-covered thick foamies and heavily modified plastic Christmas ball ornaments. The tassels were all made from meticulously combing out a LOT of yarn, and the cabachon's were made from acrylic half spheres and rings I picked up from TAP plastics. The crowns and additional bits and bobs were made from Thibra and craft foam.
All of the dresses were made using a faux silk shantung I found on Amazon. For mine I went with the Ice Pink and Dusty Rose. We decided to go with something a little different than the usual satins, and we were so lucky to have found such a wide variety of colors in this fabric. <3 We used a combination of modified patterns, and purchased elliptical hoop skirts on ebay. Nothing had to be hemmed or properly lined (except the skirts) because of all the bias tape binding which was AWESOME and a total time saver (except for, ya know, mitering all those corners). For my costume, I made all of the bias tape out of a navy blue rose-print jacquard. I had made almost everything on this costume before, and it SHOULD have been simple, but I ran into so many issues it was maddening. In the end, I'm not 100% happy with it, but it turned out alright I guess.
