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| Yuuko Ichihara, xxxHOLiC manga, vol.3 |
CHARACTER Yuuko Ichihara
SOURCE xxxHOLiC manga
COSTUME Little Black Dress with Red Rose, in xxxHOLiC, vol.3
COSTUME BREAKOUT
- black dress with big red rose appliqué
- black scarf with red rose pin
- black wide fishnet tights
- over knee black boots
- red aluminium baseball bat with Ryusei (流星) written on it
When I first heard about the new xxxHOLiC live-action movie, directed by Kamikaze Girls and Sakuran's Mika Ninagawa, I was beyond excited, it looked sooo good in the first pictures released. Then, at the beginning of the year, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Portuguese Fantasporto Film Festival. Fast forward to the last weeks of March, they finally announced the day of the screening, April 1st, Watanuki's birthday! In Japan it will open on April 29th! What a privilege. I bought the ticket and the train tickets online, and tomorrow I'll be travelling to Porto just to watch the film!
I tried to get an invitation, and I would wear Yuuko's Valentine's Kimono, but "the festival doesn't give away invitations". And, because prices to stay overnight in Porto are too high, I decided to go and return on the same day. But, the cheaper train in the morning, is reeeally early, and the last train, after 11 p.m., is a regional train, which stops at every single station, a 4 hour long trip. This means I'll be around 24 hours in transit. Good thing I sleep well on trains. So, I gave up on wearing cosplay, and thought about taking my, CLAMP designed Blythe, Yuuko-san (B2-HOLiC) with me instead. But then, I was organizing a few costumes, because of Anisama, and I remembered this one, which is quite simple, comfortable, and easy to change into. I mean, I'll be wearing the dress, the tights, and on top of the tights, leggings. Before the screening, I'll touch up the make-up, take the leggings and sneakers off, put on the boots, wig and scarf, and voilá, costume on!
Actually, I made this costume exactly for this type of situation, where I can wear a cosplay but also be sort of practical, for a job or something similar.
I made the dress out of t-shirt knit fabric, applied the appliqué with the sewing machine, and the boots are store bought. Initially, I made some boot covers out of fake leather, but they were my first and didn't turn out as good as I would like to.
It also took me a while to find a red aluminium baseball bat, but I found one, with some white letters on it, at a nearby Chinese store. With the help of toothpicks and my own nails, I managed to eventually wipe those letters off, and drew on the Ryusei kanji with a Sharpie. The plan is to paint them with a more permanent paint in the future. But I won't be taking the bat with me to Porto, just Mokona. Mokona also has some cheering wings I made out of glittery white EVA foam, but I won't be taking those either.
I'll take my free time to enjoy Porto, visit Rua da Cedofeita, my favourite street in Porto, buy a pastel de Chaves, and go to Mundo dos Tecidos fabric store.
+ This costume was planned and made for this type of half cosplay, half practical circumstances, and I've already worn it for a BlytheCon.- It is very simple and I can't just take the baseball bat everywhere. Even if it's practical, I still have to carry extra make-up and replacement shoes, as the boots are comfortable, but not enough to get around all day.
THE CUNNING PLAN
Meet Eva, a fellow cosplayer there, and enjoy the film. I'll report back, maybe after I write about Anisama.
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