Ever since I first played FFX I have wanted to make Lulu’s gorgeous costume *tip of the hat to Nomura Tetsuya* I actually started this ages and ages ago and made the corset and the sleeves and the overskirt using just plain lace for the designs and it looked terrible. I cast that one aside, and a few years on I made this version. I’ve gone to as much trouble as I possibly can to make it as accurate as possible!

Corset
The corset is made from plain black cotton (I was going to use satin but for one reason or another I decided not to, but if I commissioned this costume I would ask whether cotton or satin is preferred because either is fine to work with really!) It’s been trimmed with grey matt polycottone ribbon and is fully boned with thick and sturdy, yet flexibly comfortable, flat rigalene. The back has eyelet tape which it laces up through and it’s a murder to get on! But I didn’t want to be inaccurate and have a zip, plus the lace up… well, it makes the chest are look a little more Lulu!

Over-Skirt and Sleeves
The skirt part is made separated and is made from pleather like the sleeves. I used the lightest shade of black (if that makes sense) because I couldn’t find a very dark grey like Lulu’s actually is. I’ve hand-painted the design on both the sleeves and skirt in about thirty different shades of hand-mixed fabric paints for an authentic finish. I thought about embroidery, but decided that I’d rather have the colours and vibrancy exaggerated (you will notice that the colours stand out more on my costume than Lulu’s actually do- Lulu’s looks more cream than anything else when in fact it’s quite varied in colours!). It’s deadly accurate, and I love the gradients of blue to pink and cream to gold. The designs were made separately and painted and heat set on other bits of leatherette and then bonded to the skirt and sleeves. To make it more convention friendly, and to avoid it being stood on in the cramped environment of the con it was made for, I sacrificed a lot on skirt length and flare. Most people get the back of the skirt wrong- it’s actually low cut as you can see here.

Belts
I made this as a separate apron to wear as a panel underneath the over-skirt. I matched them all up quite accurately, and put a lot of effort into making sure they hang well. I have also sacrificed on a lot of background belts because of the sheer weight of this costume.

Fur
The fur has a very defined shape- pointed at the front and then flared and hanging down at the back. I used a light brown and did everything I could to make the shade more accurate.

Wig and Hair Ornaments, and Jewellery
The wig was hand-styled from a plain long black wig, and the kanzashi were all made by me, as was all the jewellery. The wig is over 4ft long, so it’s quite heavy, but a pleasure to wear. The hair sticks were made from bits and bobs, and I would like to make a more accurate version of the one with the blue ball on it. The jewellery is hand-painted and shaped beads, hand-cut foams and all kinds of paints and varnish, and it turned out rather well! I made the purple and gold necklace with stretchy elastic at the back so it’s easier to put on and take off. It’s all extremely light! I also noticed that on the reference picture I used mainly, Lulu has three other piercings on her left ear.
Items made: Corset, shrug, sleeves, skirt, the wig was also hand-styled. (Vidina’s costume was also made)
Items bought: Stockings (hold ups), ear cuffs, and the moogle Min Moonshine ^^

Accuracy:
I tried to make this as accurate as possible with hand painting all the details, and all the belts! There are a lot of people who just use either strips of fabric or don’t match up the belts very well, and it ruins an otherwise perfect cosplay for me (I’m an ‘attention to detail’ kinda gal and a total perfectionist unless its my own artistic license)! The hair sticks were done very quickly, and very budget, so they are not perfect, but considering what they were made on, I’d say they look very good! The only inaccuracy that I did deliberately was I made the sleeves separate to the corset so it’s not as hard to walk in and a little cooler. They are like arm warmers whereas in the game the entire dress it attached.
Favourite part to make:
I loved crafting the hair sticks (on a budget of virtually £0!)
Favourite part of the finished costume:
I love every last lickle bit!
Any bad bits?:
Making the skirt and getting it to sit right was torture. But I did it! And now I know how…
Modifications:
None. Besides the above mentioned splitting it up into components. In the game, it’s only two pieces, a skirt and corset. I have made it into a skirt, a panel and underskirt, sleeves, fur stole and corset. I made it in this way for ease of movement. Oh, and I painted the designs on separate pieces of leatherette and then bound them to the skirt and sleeves rather than putting the designs straight on.

Other notes:: I was very picky about getting the makeup right, and I still haven't technically finished this costume because I need to put beads in the bottom of the braids. It will probably come with me the AmeCon '08 so I will have it all for then ^^