What is Cosplay Flashback? Cosplay Flashback is a blog series where I’ll revisit my older costumes and discuss how I made them and how I would make them differently if I was making them today. I’ve been cosplaying over 10 years and I’ve learned a lot in that time. It’s fun to go back and revisit older costumes with new knowledge. I hope you enjoy!
Stats
Series: Yu Yu Hakusho
Version: School Uniform
Debut: Anime Fest 2008
Construction
I think this might have been my first time making a Japanese school uniform from scratch. I had cosplayed as school girls before, but I had thrifted together their outfits. I had to make this classic fuku all by myself though, and boy howdy did I mess it up. This was before I had learned that mock ups were cool and useful. It fit horribly because of that. I remember making the top and then realizing it wasn’t big enough in the bust to accommodate me…so I wore a sports bra and prayed. I remember that I didn’t buy enough fabric for the skirt…so instead of buying more I just made the poor pleats a mere half inch deep. It was not a well made costume. To top all that off I used a really poor quality wig that I decided to cut and style that ended up having a huge bald spot in the center. I had to go back in and sew wefts into the wig to even make it useable. This was before it was really easy to buy wigs and have them in less than a week so I felt like I had to work with what I had on hand.
But Why?
I love Yu Yu Hakusho, thats why. I might have also been enticed by the fact that for whatever reason in 2008 I knew a lot of people that decided to cosplay from Yu Yu Hakusho. Its fun to cosplay from a series you love but its even better to do it with other people.
What Would I Do Now?
The obvious answer is that I would make a damn mock up. Then maybe this costume would have fit me. I probably would have also opted to use a princess seam pattern for the top, but this was before I had learned that princess seamed patterns are hands down the most flattering thing on my body no matter what I’m making. I also would have made sure I knew how to buy the appropriate amount of fabric for the project. I say this, but even after 10 years it’s still a struggle I have. At least now I’ve learned to make mock ups, then estimate fabric. At least then you’ve got that baseline. I also would buy a wig that doesn’t suck second hand off of cosplay.com. Despite how ill fitting this thing was it was still a costume I look back fondly on because of the people I was able to cosplay with.