I’m a cosplayer now

This past March was a busy one for me. I knew it would be crazy, and it was. We hosted friends here in Colorado for some skiing bidentures and it was a blast to have so many of our college friends in the same place at the same time once again. Then we schlepped over to Utah for more skiing, and lots more snow. I feel so lucky to have gotten the conditions we were faced with. My only regret from our Utah trip last year was not skiing Honeycomb Canyon at Solitude the whole four days. My patience was rewarded with an afternoon rope drop on a Thursday with almost no crowds to share the foot+ of snow in the canyon. It was heaven. Okay sorry humble brags over for now. Let’s get to the real reason for the blog post:)

So on said Thursday we departed from Big Cottonwood Canyon and made for home. I got home at about midnight, crashed, woke up the next morning, dyed my hair, unpacked from the ski trip and repacked for Colorado Anime Fest!! We had been looking forward to the convention for a long time. It was my very first anime con and I had decided to go as Daki from Demon Slayer. I thought that she would be fun to cosplay and that making the costume from scratch was within my reach.

To make the costume, I used deadstock black athletic fabric from Surge fabric shop. I also got my stretch lace from there. I usually don’t buy fabric online since I can’t feel the fabric or see it up close before buying, but the ‘risk’ paid off and I was happy with what I ordered. I based patterns for the top and bottoms off of my own clothes and did a LOT of trial and error to get the shape and support that I wanted. It was definitely a challenge to get the top to have the support I had in mind when the original costume design is basically just two strips of fabric down her chest. I tried on the bra many, many times during construction to get the fit right. I didn’t have any big wide elastic for the torso band so I made some out of two layers of the black athletic fabric and lots of zig-zag stitches running down the length of the fabric. The finished band had four layers of fabric over it, which did a lot to give the support I wanted. The strap fronts are also double-lined and have bra cups sewn inside of them. I had to find just the right cut and adjustment for the cups inside. I made the back straps an X pattern, as opposed to the straight straps that Daki has, to again have more support and avoid the risk of the straps falling off my shoulders. Although I made a top that I am very happy with, I used fashion tape to secure the outsides while wearing so I wouldn’t have to worry about falling out or re-adjusting all day.

The bottoms took a similar trial and error process to create. I originally tried to make boyshorts instead of straight panty-shaped bottoms so that I would have a bit more coverage, but I didn’t have enough lace to cover the shorts in a way that looked good. So I ended up going with a panty-shape. I was generous on the shape so I would still feel comfortable walking around in public with basically underwear on. I first used the black athletic fabric and then sewed the lace on top. I made the waistband thicker at one of the last steps and if I were to make these again, I would definitely work a thicker waistband into the design a bit better. But, they look good and are comfortable so I’m not complaining too much. I added the hip ribbons with scraps of the black fabric.

To save on money, I had the idea to make Daki’s leggings out of thrifted leggings/pants. I found some pants at my local thrift store that were perfect. I cut the legs from the rest of the pants and measured them against a pair of leggings I already had to make sure they would fit me well. I zig-zag top-stitched the outer side of the lace onto the leggings and encased the inner side in a full seam. I used this seam to tuck in the white legging-toppers as well. For the tops, I just used a white cotton t-shirt that I also got from the thrift store. The stretch between the fabrics was very different so they look a little ~ wavy ~ when they’re not being worn, but they look fine on a body. Again, I made sure they fit me well by trying on multiple times during sewing. I didn’t realize until after the convention that Daki actually has more pink lace stripes down the back of her legs, as well as the front. I don’t have enough lace left over to modify the costume so they will stay black lol. I don’t think it’s that huge of a deal¯\_(ツ)_/¯. On the day of the con, I again used fashion tape to keep the leggings from falling down. I used multiple strips around my thighs and they worked for most of the day but started giving up after about 6pm. In the future, I might be interested in sewing a grippy elastic into the tops of the leggings, or using more strips of fashion tape. Or a combination of both. The pants I used for the leggings were wide-leg originally, so I used the scrap from the leggings to make the long strips of fabric that extend down from the top over Daki’s obi.

To save myself time and effort, I ordered the obi satin fabric from Spoonflower, pre-printed with Daki’s obi pattern. It worked out great for my version of the costume. I have seen others’ costumes include wire and/or foam in the obi sashes, which looks cool and adds tons of volume to the whole look, but I didn’t want to have to deal with stiff props around me all day and overall wanted a flowy-er feel to the sashes so I left them as just fabric. The single yard that I ordered had enough fabric for four sashes. The first one I used for around my waist. I didn’t want to lose any fabric trying to match the mirrored pattern Daki wears around her waist, so I left the pattern as is. I attached the waist obi to my top with fabric tape. Next time, I might consider just sewing them in since the sides wanted to fall down a couple of times. The back of the obi is secured to itself with velcro. The next two sashes I sewed to the back of the waist sash to flow down behind me. The next time I wear the costume, I might add some tiny finger loops at the ends of the sashes so I can have a bit more fun with them. I attached the last strip of the obi fabric to a baton for twirling ribbon. The satin was a bit too heavy to get the twirling ribbon effect that I had in mind, but it was still fun to wave around and bring movement to my costume. Shoutout to fabricmancer on Spoonflower for posting this pattern!

For the hairpins, I originally tried to laser cut them with a friend’s laser cutter. But technology is hard so I had to make a plan B. I used wooden kebab sticks from the grocery store and Crayola air-dry clay from the dollar store. I shaped the tops of the pins in clay and attached them to the best of my ability to the wooden skewers while they were still malleable. Once dry, I reinforced the backs with hot glue and painted the fronts with acrylic paint and black Sharpie. I chose to not make the bottom four hairpins or comb since I don’t think I have enough hair to support 11 things on the back of my head. I was surprised enough that the six top pins held as well as they did!

For the hair, I decided to go with Daki’s first demon form and dye my hair black for the part. It would look sick to have her white and green hair, but I have never shopped for a wig before and I didn’t want to overwhelm myself. I also was not ready to shell out good money for a quality wig just yet. I used Manic Panic’s raven color and dyed my whole head the morning of the con. The black faded within about 2 or 3 weeks but I still have green undertones almost 6 weeks later. I tried to style my hair like her’s with a pouf in front, but I’m either bad at styling or just don’t have enough hair to work with, so it didn’t come out super voluminous. Maybe I could try some styling tricks next time.

I just used dollar store cosmetics for Daki’s face makeup. I used different lipstick and eyeliner colors for the plum blossom face tats. I also wore fake nails for the first time. They were pretty fun:) Made me feel like a diva for sure. I also got the shoes at the dollar store as well. I might interpret the shoes differently in the future, but the sandals I got were comfortable enough to wear all day which was great.

All in, I think I spent about $80 for all of my supplies. I am super happy with how the whole costume turned out and am really proud of myself for sewing all of it. I might try to make some modifications for the next time I wear it. I might try to make more accurate sandals, and I would definitely add the white sandal straps to whatever shoes I wear next time. I also might purchase more of the obi fabric and add more sashes around the waist for more drama. I had fun dyeing my hair so I would probably only use a wig if I found a good deal on one.

As it was my first con, I decided against trying to vend there. I figured I should probably go just as an attendee first to get the lay of the land and see what other people bring to sell. I’m hoping that next year I can get a table at COAF:). Daki was my only big costume for the weekend, but it was so much fun to dress up as her and walk around the convention. I guess I need to learn how to pose for photos now! I didn’t see anyone else dressed as Daki for the entire weekend, so I filled a need in the community, clearly. People stopped me to compliment my costume which was a huge confidence booster. I’m already working on another costume for Fan Expo Denver this summer! So excited I have another expensive hobby to consume my time and bank account hehe:)