Earth Dragon - Chinese Zodiac (Original Design)
Worn at:
CostumeCon 32 - Toronto
Otakuthon 2014 - Montreal
Group members: Fire Tiger – Kudrel; Fire Bunny – VickyBunnyAngel; Water Goat – Calamity; Earth Dog - Angelica Cosplay; Metal Ox - Nomadic Goldfish.
Description:
This was my first original costume and I was intimidated like hell because I was to debut it at CostumeCon. I was also concerned about “over designing” it by having too many details.
Design Concept: I was enthusiastic about being a dragon, not so much the earth part. I rarely wear green or brown, and the first thing I thought when I found out I was earth was dirt. Who wants to cosplay as dirt? But I figured I needed the challenge and that I can make it something I like. So I opted to focus more on minerals and layers of earth. The design scheme is meant to show the different layers of earth, from soils and minerals at the bottom and up to grass on top. I had to be careful with my use of gold and green because wood and metal are different elements under the Chinese zodiac.
All our designs were inspired by Chinese dress throughout history (Think Dynasty Warriors). My main inspiration was the Song Dynasty 960-1279AD. I went for a more regal/royal look instead of battle/armour.
Skirt: I got a dark brown satin for the lowest layer of the skirt. It is double pleated to get the frills. I also shortened the front to make it easier to walk since I have six inch rhinestone encrusted heelless shoes underneath (The Song dynasty is when foot binding took off). I got a crinkled acetate fabric for the top layer of the skirt. It is backed with black cotton to give it shape and structure. I bought some brown and dark green beaded trim from Fabricland for a transition between layers.
Belt: It is made of brown synthetic taffeta and I made several pin tucks to give it that layered earth look. The backing is also taffeta and I used heavy interfacing to keep the shape. I added Gold grommets in the back and laced it up with leather cord. I wanted the effect of looking at a cut amethyst rock, where it is stone on the outside and crystals on the inside. I hand beaded 6mm glass beads in gold, clear, brown and green on four sections of the belt. It took several hours and I didn’t count the beads. The beads have a gradient from gold to green (upwards to grass) or gold to brown (downwards to soil). I sealed the stiches with Fray Stop.
I added two strings of beads and stone to accentuate the hips since the outfit made me look a little boxy. They attach to the belt with lobster clasps and a sewed on metal ring. With the help of Calamity I made some decorative knots with gold cord that are sewn to the belt and the skirt.
Top: It is made of charmeuse silk and it was gradient dyed brown to green. It is lined with gold stain.
Undershirt: It is made of emerald green silk taffeta. Originally wanted a plain green undershirt but I didn’t want to install a zipper so instead I did something that took 4 times as long. I zig-zag stitched over elastic thread, gathered the fabric and secured the elastic ends. I liked the look of the gathered fabric so much because it looked like dragon scales that I opted to show it in the front rather than hide it in the back.
Pauldrons: Symmetry is hard to find with the earth so I opted for different pauldrons. They are held on by a harness: two straps over the shoulders like a backpack, one strap under the bust, and a strap at a shoulder blades to stop them slipping off the shoulders.
2 layered pauldron: each layer is made of craftfoam covered with wonderflex with rolled edges. I added one layer of gold gesso (I got it at Desseres – I couldn’t resist, and it works great!) then a layer of silicone caulk, and finally encrusted it with citrine (yellow/gold) and adventurine (green) stones I bought from eBay.
Jagged Pauldron: as a base is also one layer of craftfoam covered with wonderflex with rolled edges. I added one layer of a stone medium to add a stone like texture, then a layer of gold gesso. I added a handful of yellow Model Magic and stuck the quartz stone (bought from Aliexpress) inside so that the clay snugly fit around it and held them in place. I removed the stones, added some gold foil to them then glued them in place with E6000.
Headdress: For the base I used a toothed headband I bent it to fit the shape of my head with a wig on, then added wonderflex covered layer on top to hold that shape (basically made it hold a wider shape). I added tooted clips at 3 points to latch onto the wig. I added a layer of gold foil to the base and some small metal flower stickers for scrapbooking. The crown-like beading is on floral wire that feeds through drilled holes and are glued in place. The draped beading is on fishing wire and hot-glued to the base. Most of my beads were bought at Micheals.
Horns: Chinese dragons tend to have antler-like horns, so imagine the Dragonball dragon.
Long horns: I covered thick doubled-up wire with model magic, coated it with stone medium, painted it with gold gesso, then encrusted half of it with citrine and adventurine.
Small horns: are made of recycled Worbla covering Model Magic. I used a crackle medium (like the crackle nail polish) – step 1 paint base colour, step 2 add thick layer of medium - the thicker the layer the bigger the cracks - and let dry, step 3 paint everything but the cracks. The medium cracked my base layer of gesso and paint in addition to creating such small cracks because it shifted while it dried since the horns are so curved. So I painted everything in turquoise including the cracks, then added a layer of antique gold which filled the cracks and gave it a nice two-toned look. Wig: I bought a wig from eBay meant for an Amnesia character. I darkened the roots and French braided the hair. I added in several clips I found at the Dollarama. At the elastic bands on the end of the braid I added some stones on a wire to hide the band.
Makeup: Face: I went for some dark shading in the hollows of the cheeks for a serpent like effect. I added heavy gold glitter to the eyelids and painted my eyebrows emerald green to match my undershirt. I added some scales to my arms with gold Snazaroo and green liquid liner by placing some fishnet to my arm and painting in the gaps.
Jewelry: Bracelets from Forever21, Scale Maille necklace from H&M, Nail rings from eBay
CostumeCon 32 - Toronto
Otakuthon 2014 - Montreal
Group members: Fire Tiger – Kudrel; Fire Bunny – VickyBunnyAngel; Water Goat – Calamity; Earth Dog - Angelica Cosplay; Metal Ox - Nomadic Goldfish.
Description:
This was my first original costume and I was intimidated like hell because I was to debut it at CostumeCon. I was also concerned about “over designing” it by having too many details.
Design Concept: I was enthusiastic about being a dragon, not so much the earth part. I rarely wear green or brown, and the first thing I thought when I found out I was earth was dirt. Who wants to cosplay as dirt? But I figured I needed the challenge and that I can make it something I like. So I opted to focus more on minerals and layers of earth. The design scheme is meant to show the different layers of earth, from soils and minerals at the bottom and up to grass on top. I had to be careful with my use of gold and green because wood and metal are different elements under the Chinese zodiac.
All our designs were inspired by Chinese dress throughout history (Think Dynasty Warriors). My main inspiration was the Song Dynasty 960-1279AD. I went for a more regal/royal look instead of battle/armour.
Skirt: I got a dark brown satin for the lowest layer of the skirt. It is double pleated to get the frills. I also shortened the front to make it easier to walk since I have six inch rhinestone encrusted heelless shoes underneath (The Song dynasty is when foot binding took off). I got a crinkled acetate fabric for the top layer of the skirt. It is backed with black cotton to give it shape and structure. I bought some brown and dark green beaded trim from Fabricland for a transition between layers.
Belt: It is made of brown synthetic taffeta and I made several pin tucks to give it that layered earth look. The backing is also taffeta and I used heavy interfacing to keep the shape. I added Gold grommets in the back and laced it up with leather cord. I wanted the effect of looking at a cut amethyst rock, where it is stone on the outside and crystals on the inside. I hand beaded 6mm glass beads in gold, clear, brown and green on four sections of the belt. It took several hours and I didn’t count the beads. The beads have a gradient from gold to green (upwards to grass) or gold to brown (downwards to soil). I sealed the stiches with Fray Stop.
I added two strings of beads and stone to accentuate the hips since the outfit made me look a little boxy. They attach to the belt with lobster clasps and a sewed on metal ring. With the help of Calamity I made some decorative knots with gold cord that are sewn to the belt and the skirt.
Top: It is made of charmeuse silk and it was gradient dyed brown to green. It is lined with gold stain.
Undershirt: It is made of emerald green silk taffeta. Originally wanted a plain green undershirt but I didn’t want to install a zipper so instead I did something that took 4 times as long. I zig-zag stitched over elastic thread, gathered the fabric and secured the elastic ends. I liked the look of the gathered fabric so much because it looked like dragon scales that I opted to show it in the front rather than hide it in the back.
Pauldrons: Symmetry is hard to find with the earth so I opted for different pauldrons. They are held on by a harness: two straps over the shoulders like a backpack, one strap under the bust, and a strap at a shoulder blades to stop them slipping off the shoulders.
2 layered pauldron: each layer is made of craftfoam covered with wonderflex with rolled edges. I added one layer of gold gesso (I got it at Desseres – I couldn’t resist, and it works great!) then a layer of silicone caulk, and finally encrusted it with citrine (yellow/gold) and adventurine (green) stones I bought from eBay.
Jagged Pauldron: as a base is also one layer of craftfoam covered with wonderflex with rolled edges. I added one layer of a stone medium to add a stone like texture, then a layer of gold gesso. I added a handful of yellow Model Magic and stuck the quartz stone (bought from Aliexpress) inside so that the clay snugly fit around it and held them in place. I removed the stones, added some gold foil to them then glued them in place with E6000.
Headdress: For the base I used a toothed headband I bent it to fit the shape of my head with a wig on, then added wonderflex covered layer on top to hold that shape (basically made it hold a wider shape). I added tooted clips at 3 points to latch onto the wig. I added a layer of gold foil to the base and some small metal flower stickers for scrapbooking. The crown-like beading is on floral wire that feeds through drilled holes and are glued in place. The draped beading is on fishing wire and hot-glued to the base. Most of my beads were bought at Micheals.
Horns: Chinese dragons tend to have antler-like horns, so imagine the Dragonball dragon.
Long horns: I covered thick doubled-up wire with model magic, coated it with stone medium, painted it with gold gesso, then encrusted half of it with citrine and adventurine.
Small horns: are made of recycled Worbla covering Model Magic. I used a crackle medium (like the crackle nail polish) – step 1 paint base colour, step 2 add thick layer of medium - the thicker the layer the bigger the cracks - and let dry, step 3 paint everything but the cracks. The medium cracked my base layer of gesso and paint in addition to creating such small cracks because it shifted while it dried since the horns are so curved. So I painted everything in turquoise including the cracks, then added a layer of antique gold which filled the cracks and gave it a nice two-toned look. Wig: I bought a wig from eBay meant for an Amnesia character. I darkened the roots and French braided the hair. I added in several clips I found at the Dollarama. At the elastic bands on the end of the braid I added some stones on a wire to hide the band.
Makeup: Face: I went for some dark shading in the hollows of the cheeks for a serpent like effect. I added heavy gold glitter to the eyelids and painted my eyebrows emerald green to match my undershirt. I added some scales to my arms with gold Snazaroo and green liquid liner by placing some fishnet to my arm and painting in the gaps.
Jewelry: Bracelets from Forever21, Scale Maille necklace from H&M, Nail rings from eBay
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