Princess Kushinada - Orion
Worn April 2007 - I won my first major prize with this, in the new judging criteria. Very pleased!I read Orion after seeing costumes done by Yaya Han and Erika Door and pretty much decided right then I'd do a Kushinada costume. I didn't actually like the manga that much to be honest, but since when has that stopped me? :P Oh yeah - and I won Best Costume! FINALLY!! The corset, skirt and HAREM PANTS TM were modified from existing patterns, and the embellishments were fairly straightforward - applique all over the place and hand-sewn trims and binding finished them off, pretty much. I'm very proud of the gold at the hem of the pants - it's a very, very shiny gold organza-like something and I mimicked the motif in the reference image. I've never really had much luck with machine-applique before, and it's not a complete success now either - but who can tell? The petals were hand-painted individually onto a single thickness of fabric, cut out and hand-sewn onto a tulle base (pre-gathered and stitched onto a stay). The dewdrops were hand-sewn into place, and are small silver seed beads and plastic pearl drops. The necklace was made from sculpey and painted with acylic, and nail polish - I found a really nice coloured polish, so thought hey? Why not? And it worked great, good tip there! The headpiece was craft foam, cut into shape, glued together, heat-molded and spraypainted - the raised decoration in the center is fabric paint :) I aged it with black acrylic and copper craft paint. The wig was the Enchantment style, from Amphigory (via Katie Bair) and I nearly strangled it SO MANY TIMES. It was a nightmare to brush out, which is why it is bound with ribbon - that ribbon hides the birdsnest to end all birdsnests. Ick. I used a pack of loose extension hair at the hairline - pinned at the center part and just above my ears. Photos by my mum. 
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