OVERVIEW: I love Yuko. Although there aren't too many Yuko cosplayers, all the ones I've seen (save one!) had done the same outfit. I wanted to do a costume that no one else had done before, something really cool that would make people go "WHOA!" So I thought, "Hey, how about those beads..."
THE DRESS: This was the easiest part of the costume. It was basically a sundress I made with a slanted hem--since you couldn't see the dress very well in the picture, I thought that adding a slant and two rows of beading would make it look snazzy. All of the beads were threaded onto a thick cord, and then sewn on by hand. Yes. I sewed in between and through EVERY. SINGLE. BEAD. The dress is really the only part of the costume that I'd call 100% completed.
THE HEADDRESS: This was a pain! Since I suck at geometric shapes, Dan cut every single one of the stars and other shapes out of felt. We glued them onto the stiff felt orange star, then I had the fun of sewing all the beads on--by hand. Then came more bead-stringing fun! I sewed this contraption onto an old elastic headband, which holds it quite well. This does have a small tendency to be lopsided--but look at it!
THE BELT: Same as the headband, all of the pieces cut out by Dan and all of the beads handsewn on. Unfortunately, this doesn't have the number of 'lines' of beads that it's supposed to--we were really pressed for time before Otakon, and I wanted to finish my other costume first. I do want to finish this and enter it into a contest, though--I mean, I actually have a matching Watanuki! (Yes, we made that outfit for Dan!) The belt also attaches to the necklace, so maybe 'belt' isn't quite the word...
THE ARMBANDS: Same as above, but we used wire in some areas instead of beads to keep the shape.
THE WIG: ... is a horrible cheap piece of... yes, I know. I'm sorry. I have a newer one which I hope is better.
THE SHOES: ... I don't have shoes for this costume, and I can't even think of anything that would look right. If you have any ideas, please email me in some way.
THE COMPLAINTS: It wasn't finished, but I wore it anyways. Almost all the pictures I look really bloated in (lack of sleep made me poofy, for some reason! or maybe it was that hangover we don't talk about in polite company...) and one of the beads snapped mid-photoshoot.
COMPLETION? I talk on and off about re-doing this costume, but honestly, I'm not so sure. It was a lot of work, and although I like the design, there are others I enjoy more. I am happy to see that it has gotten some cosplay love, though, it seems like more and more people are making it. Yay! So I think I can retire this in peace!
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