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Cosplay

Sailor Jupiter, Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon

Worn At - London Expo, October 2008
Difficulty - 4/5
Time Taken - 2 months
Cost - £60GBP
Costume Status -Retired
Hardest Task - Overall fuku
Easiest Task - Hair accessories

Favourite Aspect - I do like my fuku. Despite the pain it caused me when I made it. I think its probably one of the better fukus I've made.

Least Favourite - Shoes. So inaccurate and uncomfortable

Why? - Sailor Moon was always a favourite show of mine when I was growing up, it was one of the first animes I ever watched and it hooked me. And besides, show me a little girl who's never wanted to be able to transform into a fighter with magic powers? Why Sailor Jupiter? She was always my favourite. I always used to pretend I was her, cause she was so tall, and stronger than the others. Plus her powers rocked.

Construction Notes

OH GOD. What was meant to start an easy costume turned into my worst nightmare!! It started out easy enough. I bought a KwikSew pattern (2932) as it had the ideal shape and look I was going for, and had sleeves, would would come in useful later. The making of the the white body suit was straightforward and easy enough. That was wear it ended. I used the pattern to make the skirt, forgetting this pattern is for an ice skating dress and skirts in ice skating are non-existant So the skirt I made was insanely short. I sewed it on anyway hoping it would be sufficant. Uhh... no, is the short answer to that. It barely covered my arse. Not wanting to be defeating, I made a longer skirt of tull to give the skirt some 'poof' and hoped that would save my modesty. How naive I was! In the end I made another skirt, a longer one that didn't make me so scared to wear it. I had to sew it to the bodice through four layers of other material. There was a lot of swearing I don't mind telling you, but the outcome looks good. I tried to hem the skirt, but in the end I used bias binding.

Next came the bows. They were easy in comparison. Just two strips of fabric, same width and length sewn together and literally tied in a bow. The front bow is slip stitched into place, while the back bown is held up with velcro to help keep it's shape. I did the sleeves next, which were white lycra (same material as the bodice) wrapped around wadding and sewn together and then slip stitched to the arms of the bodice. The collar was fun to make. I winged it and it turned out really well. The white stripes are bias binding. The gloves took two attempts. The first attempt I made the cuffs way too tight on only glove and couldn't get it up my arm, at all. Unless I wanted to rip the seams apart. So I bought another pair of gloves and made a bit of a cop out pair of cuffs. Literally just a segment of green satin, stuffed with wadding, all the edges sewn up, and two lines up the middle, seperating the one big segment into three smaller ones. Voila, cuffs.

The shoes were a pain because its impossible to find Sailor Jupiter shoes anywhere except the internet. So in the end I bought a pair of ankle heels from New Look and painted them green. It took four coats to get them the shade I wanted but they look great. Even if its hysterical watching me try to walk in them.

Finally came the accessories. Sailor Jupiter's trademark rose earrings are clip ons (because I don't have pierced ears) with little sew on rose (the kind you might sew onto a child's dress?) glued to them. They work really well. The choker was a length of satin with a snap fastener at the back to keep it together. I made a star out of fimo to stick to it, because I'm special. I also made a transformation wand (a henshin) out of fimo. Which I then painted and varnished with acrylic paints. Its not perfect, but I like it. The broach is also fimo.

Photographs

Taken by GunstarVixen

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