Yaya Han Cosplay Collection for Otacool 2

Christie - Dead or Alive
Construction notes:
I amuse myself every once in a while with a completely scary costume to tackle lol. I love the Dead or Alive games, the girls, and the cheeky fan service factor. Almost every character has a super skimpy or bondage outfit, and Christie is no exception. I never thought of cosplaying her actually, but after doing a bikini photoshoot in a white wig, an overwhelming number of friends and fans told me how much I reminded them of Christie and suggested her as a cosplay to me. Around that same time I was looking for thigh high boots for a different costume, and happened to find the perfect lace up boots with clear heels for this Christie costume! That really sealed the deal and I decided to do this version for Dragoncon which is the only appropriate event for an outfit like this.. am really proud of how this costume turned out, given the circumstances. I was in the middle of moving, so most of this was sewn on the floor of my place as everything including tables and chairs was moved out already. I also boxed up all of my notions and sewing supplies so everything for this costume had to be purchased under time restraints, and then it was just me and my sewing machine + teflon foot. I got a great 4-way stretch vinyl and made all the straps and the bodysuit with my own patterns. I covered a random teal bra I found at Marshall's with the same vinyl and used three different sized sets of buckles and two sizes of studs to embellish the outfit. The gloves are my favorite - I patterened it out with the criss-cross straps, sewed everything together and added the D-rings also. Lastly I made the stretch vinyl garter straps, and attached fishnet fabric by hand sewing it to the according areas of the bodysuit. The fishnet stockings, studded wrist cuffs and earrings were purchased.

Photo by: Brian Boling

Myoubi - Alichino
Construction notes:
Ever since my friend April showed me the manga "Alichino", I've planned on making a Myoubi-costume. The story and artwork are stunning, the characters hauntingly beautiful.
Myoubi wears way too many gorgeous outfits to choose a favorite from, so I decided to take elements from various designs and combine them into a costume. Inspired by the melancholy premise of the story, I made a burgundy/gold gothic Lolita doll dress based loosely on the reference images to the left. I created every single piece of this outfit, including the bird wings. Most of the costume required working without a pattern, and I learned a lot about gathering ruffles, making feather wings, and working with different textures. The main dress is made of an incredible two-sided French Shantung, for the complimenting parts I used Casa Lace and Crepe back gold Satin. My favorite element would have to be the lace-up sleeves.
Photo by: Brian Boling

Athena - Saint Seiya
Construction notes:
I have been wanting to cosplay from Saint Seiya since I understood the term COSPLAY. T_T
It was the first anime series I watched on TV, back in China when I was about 8 years old. And it is also the first manga I ever read, and I own the entire series.
Saori is by no means my favorite character in the series, but I was told in the past that I would pull her off, and it was the easiest costume I could think of for the short time frame I had.
I used a semi-shiney crinkled/pleated white fabric in order to achieve the classic Greek pleated dress look for Athena.
For practical reasons, I decided to make the dress into a full skirt and top. The top closes with loops and ribbons in the back becauseI thought it would look more natural than a zipper.
The skirt has a second layer of bridal satin, and I wear it with a hoopskirt underneath.
The waist cincher was so fun to make - I created my own cincher pattern following the character design, used a super reflective gold stretch pvc/lycra for the outer layer, lined the whole thing and sewed boning into it. Then I drew a pattern for the top trim as well as a different pattern for the bottom trim. Using gold Lame for a separate texture, I traced and cut out the patterns, then appliquéd them onto the cincher, satin stitching and finishing all the outlines. I then hand-sewed gold and red beads to the trim and glued on large crystals following the design.
I made the necklace with blue and clear glass beads, and created the armband, choker, and hair piece with remnant Wonderflex pieces and hotglue. I plan on remaking those pieces in the future in plastic.
I cut bangs into the wig and styled it accordingly.
For the gold angel wings, I created a new design and shape, made the wings, and sized them to be folded up and fit into a specific travel friendly box. I wish I could have made the pair bigger, but I haven't found a larger box for wing transport so far! Maybe in the future?
I finished the staff in time for Anime Expo 2007 - the gold bird shaped round staff end was first sculpted entirely out of clay, then I made a mold for it and casted it out of plastic. I then painted it and attached it to the black staff itself which is a butchered curtain rod lol.

Photo by: Laura Vasillion

Felicia - Darkstalkers
Construction notes:
While I had seen a great deal of Felicia costumes in the past, I never thought I'd make it myself lol. The character is super cute and kicks ass in the game, but the design around the chest area is just scary. In the end, the challenge to tackle this design was irresistible!
I altered the strategically placed fur bits in the design to bra and panties for more coverage and modesty. After doing so I like the result more than the strips of random fur XD. Quite a bit of hand sewing was required for the fuzzy parts, especially around the fingers and feet.
I added extensions to a layered wig and teased the heck out of it until it was a big poofy anime wig lol.
The paw gloves and feet, like everything else, were created from my own pattern, built over a pair of clear boots. The clear heel gave the illusion that I was standing on the balls of my feet like a real cat! It was the fundamental element I based this entire costume around.
I sculpted three sizes of claws and Brian from Bountyhardware.com casted them in plastic. They have holes drilled into them so I simply sewed them onto the gloves.
I was so relieved when the costume was well-received at the con. Felicia is a hard character to nail, and I hope that in the end I did her justice, even with some deliberate changes made.

Photo by: Geoffrey Nichols

Oruha - Clover
Construction notes:
I chose Oriha's signature black stage outfit with the vine tattoos, because that is her most memorable image to me. I made the corset, skirt, garter and arm warmers with PVC vinyl, but looking at the artwork her billowy overskirt seemed matte to me so I used matte bridal satin with a underlayer of organza for it. I made a mini hoop skirt to go under the satin skirt, and the corset has steel boning in it which help hold the wings on yay.
The wings are alright for being made in such a hurry - I cut out the "blades" in vinyl sheets and sprayed them black, and made a wire frame covered in Wonderflex. I used Barb's Suu wings as a loose size and design reference since I wanted my very very different outfit to match hers in some small ways. The wings separate and fold together and I especially made them small enough to fit inside my suitcase for the plane trip.The wing breast covers are heat formed plastic sheets cut out and glued together, and they velcro onto the corset. For the first time I wore this costume, I spent over an hour agonizingly drawing the tattoo on myself, a task that Barb completed for me in 20 minutes in Mexico (thank Goodness).
The beautiful microphone was made by Brian of Bountyhardware.com as a birthday gift. I told him he could pick between the wings or the microphone lol. I am not sure how he made the mic, but it definitely included sculpting, molding and casting and butchering some found parts. The whole thing is plastic and metal, and the base/rod swivels!

Photo by: Geoffrey Nichols