Final Fantasy X - Lulu

[Kukkii-san]

The FUR:

I attached mine to the back only (at one point, to one side of the corset, so I would still be able to lace it in the back^^) and when I had the corset put on & laced tightly, I would wrap the fur around my arms to close it in the front (with a safety pin), one end overlapping the other. I would also use 2 safety pins to fix it to the corset in the front (at the bust).

The good thing was that I could actually wash the corset separately, I just cut off the fur at the one fixing point in the back.

If the fur stole / shwal is long enough (about 140cm or 55 inches) you can move your arms freely, you just need to fix the fur to the mid-back & front of the corset at a few points. depending on where the closure is (mine was a real corset with lacing in the back & a closure in the front to get in & out easily), you may not be able to sew the fur to the corset, but may have to fix it temporarily as I did.

well, i interpreted the fur as being one part - a long stole - but here's a basic fact about 3-D modeling & programming: they couldn't possibly model the fur as one part and still have it move the way it does when Lulu moves her arms. so it actually has "seams" or "joints" at the shoulders. you can see a similar effect on the other costumes as well, I think.

Oh and I think I should add that my sleeves were separate pieces (held up with elastic in the hem) and not attached to either the corset or the fur stole.

[Alessa]

I sewed the fur only on the front of the corset with lots of tiny little stitches, only on the upper edges of corset and fur. Where you can see the pale red line.
Attaching it to the corset there has the nice side effect that you can wear the fur rather low, just like Lulu, while the corset keeps everything where it should stay lol
It is one long piece of fur which I cut in the shape like Lulu has it (the fur isn't just one straight piece) and I just place the ends over each other (green line) when I have it on since my corset hass to be opened on the front - AND - Lulu has it like that too.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...lvin/FUR01.jpg

The sleeves aren't directly attached to the corset, but connected to it by a piece of very elastic black fabric which allowed me to lift my arms without people seeing my shoulder between the sleeves and the corset.
That I didn't sew the fur to the sleeves is one more reason why I am able to lift my arms. I just can't lift my arms too high because then the fur would move towards my neck…

[Jujubeans]

Originally Posted by Alessa

I just can't lift my arms too high because then the fur would move towards my neck…

That was my construction too. That fur got really REALLY hot really REALLY quickly if I didn't drink water, so wearing the shawl over my shoulders helped remove the heat until picture time or something.

By the way, going to the bathroom is also a pain. Make your skirt into two removeable pieces (skirt and belt skirt) so you can easily remove something and get access. Either that or take a trusting friend with you. :] /twocents

[Alessa]

Originally Posted by Jujubeans

By the way, going to the bathroom is also a pain.

Oh yes. I just didn't go to the bathroom when I wore it which was a pain in the a** cause I couldn't trink a lot even though it was hot as hell >_<

[penny_dreadful]

My skirt had elastic at the back so removing it wasn't hard-- I just don't like leaving it laying on the gross public bathroom floors. Harder, actually, was keeping my wig on while making sure the braids didn't dip into the toilet. :P

I shaped my fur like Alessa but have since decided it's too big. I'm also planning to sew it down-- not to the corset but to the piece underneath. I spent so much time making the underpinnings "accurate" it's a shame to have all that glorious cleavage covered up by the fur. Hopefully tacking it down will help resolve the problem, although I'll definitely have to attach it to the sleeves. The heavy belts make the sleeves droop and no amount of safety pins has been able to resolve it so far.

--Penny

[OneMoreSuccubus]

Originally Posted by Razia

Hmm, let's see ... well, the bottom belt fell off, as did about half of the smaller flowers. And soon after, the bone casings on the corset started to get frayed (I was an idiot and used those satiny strips that are meant for being used as the edging on blankets--found out the hard way that they're not sturdy enough to hold boning in place). Also, I used the wrong kind of spraypaint on my necklace and it stuck to my skin the whole time.

It was a big disaster, but it did manage to last through the masquerade, tho, and I won two awards for it, but ... shortly afterwards, it died =P

I was originally planning to wear it to Fanime too (it wasn't over the same weekend as BayCon back then), but that went out the window, because I just didn't feel like fixing it.

Oh my god, I'm so afraid that will happen to me. :/ Especially about the little flowers, as I'm using many of them and the applique I had to buy cost me over 50 bucks (and in brazilian currency that is a LOT).
Well, at you least it had a happy life!^^ It's very unlikely that I will win anything with mine though. The con is this weekend and I have no idea what I'm gonna do about the "skit".

Originally Posted by Kukkii-san

The FUR:

I attached mine to the back only (at one point, to one side of the corset, so I would still be able to lace it in the back^^) and when I had the corset put on & laced tightly, I would wrap the fur around my arms to close it in the front (with a safety pin), one end overlapping the other. I would also use 2 safety pins to fix it to the corset in the front (at the bust).

The good thing was that I could actually wash the corset separately, I just cut off the fur at the one fixing point in the back.

If the fur stole / shwal is long enough (about 140cm or 55 inches) you can move your arms freely, you just need to fix the fur to the mid-back & front of the corset at a few points. depending on where the closure is (mine was a real corset with lacing in the back & a closure in the front to get in & out easily), you may not be able to sew the fur to the corset, but may have to fix it temporarily as I did.

well, i interpreted the fur as being one part - a long stole - but here's a basic fact about 3-D modeling & programming: they couldn't possibly model the fur as one part and still have it move the way it does when Lulu moves her arms. so it actually has "seams" or "joints" at the shoulders. you can see a similar effect on the other costumes as well, I think.

Oh and I think I should add that my sleeves were separate pieces (held up with elastic in the hem) and not attached to either the corset or the fur stole.

My corset and sleeves are built exactly like yours. My fur is pretty long and I was gonna cut it, but now that you´ve said this I think that would be stupid.

I was planning on attaching the fur to the corset and sleeves with velcro, but from what you guys have said I should attach it only to the corset and let it hang over my arms, so that I can move? Is that it?
By the way, do you think velcro is a good idea?

Oh, and Alessa, your cosplay looks great! Amazing fur, I wanted mine to be like that! But I only found a shorter one, so I will have to work with that. :/

Thanks everyone for the explanation, I'll try it tomorrow and see how it goes!

[Kukkii-san]

yes, IMO using a LONG fur stole and attaching it to the corset is sufficient. just try attaching it to different points of the dress (you can try the sleeves as well if the fur tends to slip over them and reveal the upper edge of the sleeves) and see what works best for you.

velcro is a great idea, the only problem you might get is that the hair of the fur sticks to the velcro and some of it gets torn out... but that shouldn't be too bad as you're not gonna wear it every day *lol* you may want to attach the "soft" part of the velcro to the fur so it doesn't get all tangled while it's not attached to the corset.

basically, the only benefit of using safety pins instead of velcro or buttons is that i can wear the corset separately (for evening wear *lol*) without having ugly strips of velcro on it.

btw, what alessa wrote makes sense... hey, this would work for my corset too! if i cut the fur apart in the back, that is... or how else would i be able to open the back lacing on the corset?!
***
um... going to the bathroom?! worked fine for me: you don't have to drop the skirt, just lift it & gather the mass of fabric/leather/belts at the front! what i did have to remove where the sleeves though... and watch out for the braids *LOL*

[OneMoreSuccubus]

LOL!

I had not thought about this going to the bathroom issue. mwhauahuah

Anyway, I'm also planning on wearing the corset around, while not cosplaying. Then I'd velcro some sort of trim onto the velcro strip. This is necessary because my corset is SO low that wearing it without some kind of trim would be almost porn.

[Jujubeans]

Well the bathroom issue wasn't a problem for me. I just had to take the belt skirt off and pick up my PVC skirt around the back and yeah LOL. ^_^ I figured I'd let people know about that when "that time" comes so you can plan if necessary.

[OneMoreSuccubus]

People, how did you attach the little blue and yellow beads to the braids? Is there any special way to do it? I'm having difficulties. :P And after putting the beads on, did you use some kind of elastic underneath them, so that they wouldn't fall?

Plus, I'm in doubt about how to attach the braids to my hair. Up to now I'm holding them with elastics, but they'll have to go when the braids come to my hair. I was thinking on clips or cramps, but I'm afraid the braids will undo without the elastics. Did yours? I used some random loose kanekalon to do the braids.

And man, was it a pain to braid 2 meters of loose hair.:/

[Jujubeans]

I bought wooden beads, just a size bigger than the braids. I painted and slid them on, putting a small rubberband to hold them in, then stuffed the band into the bead while on the braid. There's pictures in my gallery under Accessories.

[Alessa]

Jujubeans' way is just perfect! My hair was fake for the costume, so I just glued them on the hair...

[penny_dreadful]

I used fake hair for the braids-- well, the whole thing was a wig-- and I wound up braiding it, cutting the tails off, stubbing the ends of both, and then gluing both stubbed ends into beads I had crafted out of Sculpey. Only problem is that I've had one or two ends fall off; thankfully I was able to locate them and glue them back in. It actually made for a pretty funny moment at Connecticon when some kind person found the end of a braid and left it at the food stand. We just happened to be on line and I was like... "Oh, wow! It's my hair!" I held it up triumphantly and everyone else on line was like, "Ew?" It's a little worse for wear, but safe and sound.

Uh, yeah. Anyway, it sounded a lot more complicated than it actually was to put together, but there's still a chance a tail might get pulled out here or there.

As for how to attach them to your own head, I'd say definitely stub the ends that are attaching to your own hair. That way there's no chance they'll unravel, and you can clip them in, bobby pin them into place, or whatever you like without the added bulk of the elastic at the top. Stubbing's really quite easy, especially when working with something as small as a braid. I recently stubbed some genuine human hair braids for a piece of medieval Japanese armor.

--Penny

[Kukkii-san]

?&///%$!$§?/& my post was deleted and i'm not in the mood to type it all again T_T

um, but my method basically goes like this: wrap clear adhesive tape (like scotch tape) tightly around the tip of the braid so you can slide the beads over it. remove the tape afterwards. you can also make the tip thinner by cutting off some of the hair, but inside the braid (so the cut-off ends won't show on the outside).

i recommend sewing the braids together on the top end (in a row) and fixing them -inside- your own hairbun with hairpins or bobby pins. insert the braids from the top (leave an opening in your hairbun).

[Razia]

Originally Posted by OneMoreSuccubus

Plus, I'm in doubt about how to attach the braids to my hair. Up to now I'm holding them with elastics, but they'll have to go when the braids come to my hair. I was thinking on clips or cramps, but I'm afraid the braids will undo without the elastics. Did yours? I used some random loose kanekalon to do the braids.

And man, was it a pain to braid 2 meters of loose hair.:/

Well, here's how I did mine: First, I put my hair up in a bun, then I added the 4 long braids, wrapping them partway around the base of the bun and securing with some elastic bands. Then I took some shorter braids and wrapped them around the bun, hiding the tops of the longer braids, and I secured those with bobby pins. I didn't have any problems with them coming out or anything.

And, yes, the braiding is a bitch and a half. ^.^;; Mine came out all frizzy, but it probably wasn't too obvious unless you were really paying attention (didn't help that I did it the day before I was to wear the damn thing, and because of that, I had to go beadless because the beads I bought ended up being too small ;_; ).

(wonder how many times I'm gonna end up editing this as I remember details XD)