Yuuko Ichihara - Green Dress #1

Yuuko Ichihara & Kimihiro Watanuki,
xxxHOLiC, by CLAMP

COSPLAY ID
CHARACTER Yuuko Ichihara
SOURCE xxxHOLiC manga, by CLAMP
COSTUME vol. 7 cover art & Kochou no Yume artbook

 

 

 

 

COSTUME BREAKDOWN

• black furry hat/headdress with orange and gold tasseled medallion
• pinned up, braided hair
• black furry choker (may be part of the dress) with orange and gold medallion
• turquoise green embroidered high waisted dress, with bell sleeves, undersleeves/fingerless gloves, with asymmetrical skirt, over the knees in front, floor length in the back, trimmed with black fur and lined in bright orange
• black furry garterbelt with orange and gold tasseled medallion
• turquoise green embroidered shoes with orange and gold medallions and black fur
  

I've been planning this costume for quite some time now, but, as usual, I've been searching for the right and affordable fabric for a while. All the interpretations I've seen of this costume so far, see it as something very luxurious, with silks, or other high end fabrics, more like a ballgown. Looking at the artwork, the whispy patterns in particular, make me think of something Mongolian or Siberian. I see a mix of rustic and high end materials, for Yuuko is a posh lady, but she also wears a lot of ethnical clothing, mostly Asian, not just traditional Japanese. So, I thought of a wool for the dress, and embroidery for those patterns, specifically tambour embroidery. I see the lining as the opposite, the most vivid orange satin I can find, and the black trim may be either fake fur or marabou feathers. But turquoise wool, at affordable prices (i.e. under €10/m), is almost impossible to find. I looked at the Portuguese wool fabrics from the south, Alentejo, but they're hard to source in turquoise, very heavy and warm, very expensive, especially for a costume that requires at least 4 meters.
Then one day I asked for some samples from tecidos.com.pt, and they had a purrrfect flannel in the right colour. A cosplayer and friend of mine, LadyXzeus, also needed to order something from the website, we made the order together to save on shipping. COST: €39,75.

turquoise flannel & wooden beads
(there were none in raw finish)

The flannel is perfect for what I envisioned, flannel is also cotton (no plastic!) and this one is a very nice quality, very dense. I just remembered, it's cotton, maybe I should pop it in the washer to see if it shrinks or bleeds. That's something flannel does. I usually don't pre-wash my fabrics, and never had a finished garment shrink on me... we'll see about that.
I also got some wooden beads and acrylic paint to paint them the same turquoise of the fabric, and maybe start the small accessories.
The satin I can source at Feira dos Tecidos, I was thinking of using thin wool yarn for the embroidery for the embroidery, and I already got a tambour embroidery needle from eBay. I've been looking for marabou feather prices, and I may need to buy some black hair wefts to make her hairstyle. Find the shoes.
Because of the stress it takes on a synthetic wig to make an updo, take it down, and do it again, I may buy a new black wig to style in Yuuko's updo's, as I cosplay her quite often. I lost count of the amount of her costumes I've made so far.

+ I finally found the fabric, love the colour (it's perfect) and the texture. Flannel is also one of the most comfortable fabrics around.
- As I said above, flannel tends to shrink and bleed, I think I'll cut a little piece and make a test, before popping it in the washer.

THE CUNNING PLAN
None for now, maybe start the small accesories, but I only plan on really starting this one, after I finish the Mad Hatter costume.

[written in 28.11.2020]