Miyako Todaiji (Art Book Variation)
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne

Inspiration: Meru introduced me to this series back in 2008 and we decided to make costumes from it for a future costume contest. A year later Samu-chan joined in as our Finn and thus our KKJ group was formed. I picked Miyako because she was such a supportive and giving friend to the main character, yet there was also this irony that Miyako was obsessed with hunting down Jeanne who was just her friend in disguise.

Materials/Construction Details: I based this costume off of a single image in an art book, so I gave myself some creative liberties with it. The costume was being entered into AWA’s costume contest in the Masters division so I had to be very precise and careful with the construction. The top was made out of dark purple suede that had a subtle shine to it. The pattern was hand drafted and the final product included boning, hand-made piping, and flower-shaped eyelets up both sides. The most time consuming part of this costume was making the trim, which was on the outside and inside of the flaps. The trim was made out of gold brocade with a ¼” inch border around it made out of a deep gold silk. A total of 32 corners had to be carefully measured, cut, and sewn to complete the trim.

The white leggings were made out of a sport’s lycra material with the purple beads sewn in place so they wouldn’t slide around. I hand painted the flowers on as an extra flourish because I thought the leggings were looking a little plain. The flower design was based off flowers in the background of the art book image and is also featured on the white beads around the waist and on the boots in my personal design. Miyako’s boots weren’t even pictured in the art, so I got to design these myself. I bought some white scrunchy boots and added a purple ribbon and bow around the top along with two small, maroon flowers to each side of the boot.

The white shrug was made out of the same material as the leggings. To make the arm wraps, I tie-dyed lavender cotton purple before cutting it into strips, sewing them into tubes, and ironing them flat. The tiara was made out of various small white flowers arranged and glued together on a metal band.

Wig: The wig started out as a clover from cosworx in purple. I had to cut quite a few inches off to make it just under chin length and trim the bangs as well. This was my first time cutting a wig and I was a bit nervous, but using a hair razor helped even out my original cuts and made it look more natural. Since her hair is partially pulled back, I had to sew in several wefts so that no netting would show. I then clipped the hair up in the back and used hair spray to make it spiky.

Prop: I was hoping to make a couple shuriken to hold, but I ran out of time before AWA. My husband quickly cut some out of craft foam, which worked well for pictures, but I hope to have some more professionally made props when I wear this costume again.

Awards: Best in Show Masters at AWA along with Meru’s Jeanne and Samu-chan’s Finn.