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Complete Planned

Ahiru, Princess Tutu

Ahiru Worn At - Ayacon 2009
Difficulty - 2/5
Time Taken - 2 weeks
Cost - £60GBP
Costume Status - Active
Hardest Task - Wig
Easiest Task - Stockings

Favourite Aspect - Shoes - I love my little ducky shoes. They were a lucky find in Barrets, and only needed a little bit of adjusting to make them suitable. I had to paint the sole of the shoe, and also obvious make and glue on the duck feet. But was very happy with my shoes. Not to mention they're really very comfortable!

Least Favourite - Hmm... maybe the paint on the shorts? I mean, you can't really tell from the photos, but the sides are painted differently each side. XD That'll teach me for painting without having a referance image handy!

Why? - I had been hearing the title Princess Tutu thrown around a lot at the end of 2008 and the beginning to 2009. When I went to stay with my friend Emily in February 2009 she had the first DVD and we watched it. I was instantly in love with this endearing, sweet and funny anime. And more so with the lead character, Ahiru (or Duck). I loved her innocence, and sweetness and her overall selflessness to help Mute. I knew I wanted to cosplay her, but which costume? I don't have the skill for her school uniform, and her lesson costume is rather too simple. I couldn't do Princess Tutu, as I can't construct a Tutu and Princess Tutu isn't Ahiru. Then it struck me as I was watching the whole series on my laptop her yellow outfit. I was in a yellow mood anyway and the outfit struck me as cute, simple and eye-catching. So from there my mind was made up!

Construction Notes

This outfit, despite a few mishaps with paint and nearly ruining the shorts, came together fairly easily for me. I started with the shorts, which I made out of left over t-shirting cotton from Warrior Rikku that was originally white and I had dyed for Warrior Rikku. The colour it had been dyed happened to be perfect for Ahiru's shorts. I used a Kwiksew pattern (insert number here) hot hotpants, and just lengthened them slightly, while folding over the top hem and threading through some elastic to keep them up at the waist. The wings on either side were painted on with Dylon fabric paint.

The polo neck is made out of cream fleece, which I love to work with because it doesn't fray or shed or anything. Its lush! Again, another KwikSew(number) for this pattern. When making it, because I knew I would have to attach the yellow cuffs, I kept the arms open up to the elbow until the cuffs were made and sewn it. The cuffs themselves are the same material as the shorts. I drew the kind of feathery shape on some paper, before pinning it to the material, folded over twice. Cut out thxe shapes on the material and sewed around the edges. Then, ran the fleece and cuffs through my machine, to attach them to the sleeves. Once the cuffs were in place, the sleeves were sewn shut on the seam, and that was the top complete.

Next came the shoes, which, as I said before were a lucky find in Barretts (a UK shoe store). Originally they had a buckle over the front, so all they needed was a lick of paint and the buckle snipping off. The duck foot decorations are made from craft foam. The necklace was a cheap bronze chain from a cheap necklace, and fimo, moulded and varnished into the (approximate) right shape for the necklace. I had to shorten the chain as originally the necklace hung much too low.

Finally the wig, which caused me headaches to no end. I am not a natural wig styler. Really. The most my skills go to is putting some flicks into the back of my Xianghua wig. So this... was interesting and frustrating. However, after several hissy fits and my sisters having to calm me down, I managed to platt the hair so it wasn't too loose or too tight. The bangs I tried to style. Read: tried. I did not succeed very much though. ): The ahoge (standing up segment) is the DEVIL. After trying everything from wire, to hair gel, to hair spray to paper clips, I eventually opted to glue the hair down slightly, and curl it over, with some wire down at the base of the ahoge. When curled over, I leave it clipped to the wig cap, then proceeded to spray the hell out of it with Trésseme Freeze Hold. It works to a point, though still want to try and get it to stand up perfectly perpendicular.

Photographs

NB: The Fakir in the photos is my friend Angel Aiko. Her Fakir costume is currently a WIP.


Taken by Seraphim Cry of Cosplay Snap


Taken by Nert of Many Lemons


Taken by Cosplay Fever

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Site by Silver. All costumes made by Silver unless stated otherwise.