Completed for: Anime Expo 2002
Worn at: Anime Expo 2002
Awards won: Honorable Mention, Presentation, Anime Expo 2002

Why I Chose This Costume:
Kel and I have wanted to do these costumes for a while, as they were richly opulent and dynamic designs. In addition, the humor of doing female characters from a "boys" anime appealed to us. Yet again, the character decisions were made by height.

How I Made This Costume:
Right from the beginning, we wanted to capture the humor that was present in the character's world view, that of total pacifism. In a world torn by war, they advocate a complete resistance to war, even at the expense of their own safety. However, they are members of the elite, with unbelievable wealth and benefits surrounding them. To accomplish this "feel," we decided to execute the coats in velvet, with metallic applique detailing. The frock coat patterns were heavily adapted from a historical pattern. The applique was accomplished by lightly crushing the velvet where the applique would be, heat and bonding the fabric to the velvet, and then satin stitching the edges of the applique to the velvet (it took forever!!!) I felt ready to work at Disneyland embroidering names on hats by the time we were done!! The epaulets presented many diffficulties, as usually when we see them done, they don't look rigid enough, or shift easily, or look like fabric wrapped around cardboard. To accomplish the rigidity, we cut the appropriate shape out of commerical thermoplastics, and melted the shape over something (poster tube) that approximated our shoulders after coat padding had been applied. We then covered the shape in craftfoam for an even surface for paint to stick too. We painted and and applied sealant, and then glued braid trim arround the ege, and the fringe around the outside.

My Thoughts on this Costume:
First and foremost, UNBELIEVABLY HOT!! We knew this would be an issue, especially since we had to heavily interface the coat with flatlining, interfacing, and horsehair canvas to give the velvet the right drape. I am unhappy with the pants, and will be redoing them before it is worn again. However, I am happy with the applique, and on the whole, I like out it turned out. However, for the hundreds of hours of work that the coat required, it is very understated and perhaps does not appear as opulent as I would like.