Hours to Make: 10-20
Debuted: Anime Weekend Atlanta '06
This costume was an almost spur-of-the-moment idea. And when I say "spur-of-the-moment," I mean I came up with the decision to make it three months before the con. I decided quite suddenly in late July that I would make this costume for September. o.O
I chose this particular costume because (1) it stood out to me due to the leg armor, (2) it looked very simple, and (3) because it was Orochimaru and I'd been wanting to do a cosplay of him for a while. ^____^
I used the Simplicity Jedi tunic pattern for the tunic itself. I used nice drapey "plum" colored polyester for the main body, and lavender satin baby blanket binding for the front edges. The tunic closed together with small strips of velcro (which later ended up slightly ruining the satin edges when washed ;_; I guess I can always put new edges on it). The white sash was made from satin left over from the Seto Kaiba costume. It wrapped around and closed with velcro in the back. (yay for iron-on velcro!!)
The thigh armor was made from a pair of cheapo trash cans that I bought at Dollar Tree. Though they turned out alright, I do not reccommend this idea to others; it was a HUGE pain in the ass...and hands. ><; The plastic was extremely brittle, and didn't respond well to heat molding. In fact, one plate was slightly messed up (melty blob. woo.) while forming. Thankfully, the messed-up part was hidded by the overlapping plate above it. When completed, the armor plates were laced together (using the rose-knot technique...*hugs Jai*) and then hung from a regular belt that was worn underneath the tunic.
The only minor setback to this costume (other than my many failed attempts at geting the thigh armor to actually hang STRAIGHT) was the wig. We went to one of those beauty shops and found a perfect wig that was on display. Right length, black, and had no bangs. It wasn't all one length, it had some very light layering to the front. It was just right. So we bought a packaged version of that wig (since the display wig wasn't for sale). But as it turned out, the wig in the package wasn't the same wig as the display. The wig we bought had bangs. It had the same style number as the display...but it had bangs. The display didn't have bangs. So we spent over $40 on a bang-less wig that ended up having bangs. Did that make sense? No? Oh well. So I decided to make use of it anyway, since Jai was kind enough to even buy it for me, and I really appreciated it. It was better than no wig at all. So I wasn't going to complain. The bangs were a bit long anyway, so I just kept them tossed in my eyes. Except when I needed to see. Yeah, a blind Orochimaru would have been an awkward sight.
I ended up buying the Purple Kitty contact lenses that I wanted for the costume directly at the con. I had thought that I wouldn't get them, since the Purple Kitty contacts don't come in prescription. But after I bought them, I found out that I could place them on top of my normal contact lenses (I don't recommend this, but I HAD to do it or I would have been blind) and see just fine. In fact...they actually felt more comfortable that way. And the lenses were weighted so that the pupil would stay relatively straight instead of whirling all over the place and making Orochimaru look deformed. XP
Sadly, I don't have any pics of me with the contacts, but hopefully we'll have another photoshoot soon, and I'll get some. But the biggest response I got at the con was from my makeup. A lot of people were saying "your makeup looks great! It's not all blotchy or streaky!" That's because I shelled out $25 at StageandTheatreMakeup.com for professional stage makeup by Ben Nye. Since my skin is naturally oily, I used the Cake makeup (for both the white and purple). Cake makeup is resistant to oil and perspiration (though I wasn't about to go rubbing my face or anything while it was on!) and the foundation blends really well once you put it on. You just have to make sure you blend it before it dries. 'Cause once it dries, that's it. It's on there until you wash/wipe it off. And since I love makeup art anyway, I didn't have a lot of trouble drawing the sleek eye lines. I tended to mess up on the left side, but it was always correctable.
