This wasn't hard to do. I bought the pants, belt, and sleeve patches at the army surplus store. The gloves and boots came from Wal-Mart. Originally, I modified some swimming goggles to resemble Cid's, but they were ugly and uncomfortable, so I have replaced them with dark motorcycle goggles. For the blonde hair, i use a rinse-out spray color. The scarf is a random sash of white fabric.
The accessories were the most fun. you can't see it, but in my hip pocket is a pewter hip flash that I bought at Things Remembered, with an engraving of an anchor and sea serpent, with the name "Highwind" below it. I fill it with gin and sip it around the con.
The other accessory I'm proud of is the spear. I found a great extendable utility pole (like people use for cleaning pools) at HQ, and attached a plastic toy knife at the end. Then I cut some rings of foam from a children's toy nunchuku set, glued them to the side, and stuck some glass beads in them. The beads fit perfectly, so I can remove and exchange them with different colored ones: my materia!
There was no sewing involved with this costume: only purchasing and arts-and-crafts. It's the only costume I ever made without the help of anyone else (because, ya see, I can't sew).
Awards
I wore this costume in a group at A-kon 9, where we won Best Skit/Presentation.
United States