The design of Makoto’s Floral costume has always fascinated me. Its unique shape made me determined to find out how it would look and be constructed as an actual garment. After a few attempts at making it using leftover scraps of fabric, I was happy to find that it was something that I could realize as an actual costume. I went with the Morpho Hydrangea variation because it is used for the video of Meisou Mind, my favorite Makoto song, in Shiny Festa. Well, that, and I wanted to sparkle!

From those original prototypes to the final costume, this was nearly a year-long project, but it spent a lot of that time waiting on the side while I worked on other things. It took some time to find a sequin fabric that I liked, especially since I needed to match two shades of blue. In the in-game design, the dress is actually a gradient, with a darker blue at the bottom. I could not replicate this perfectly, but I did want to make the lower layer of the skirt from a darker fabric than the rest of the dress.

This dress was possibly the most fun I’ve ever had while making costumes. I started from no pattern, having never made anything like it before, but it came out better than I could have possibly imagined. The black under layer of the dress, which you can see through the opening on the chest, on the back, and as the tight skirt under the main two-layered skirt, I made from nylon spandex. The ruffle around the top and the trim of the layered skirt are a matte satin, and that trim conceals a wire which gives the skirt its shape.

I cut up a pair of boots to make them the right shape. I made the flower part from the same sequin fabrics as the dress with a big button in the middle. The flower ties into a bow in the back to tighten the boot. I glued some acrylic gems for the blue buttons on the front. The wristband is constructed from the same spandex as the under layer of the dress accented by the lighter of the blue sequin fabrics.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t all be fun and games, and I eventually had to make the jewelry. I was lucky to find a belt that was the perfect size and had a close enough design, so I only needed to attach the pom-pom for that. The chains for my upper arm and thigh were more problematic. I bought a few inexpensive plastic necklaces and some 8mm rings to connect them. They were difficult to size, and I couldn’t find a satisfactory way of getting them to stay in place. I ended up using some transparent elastic hair ties to hold them up, but they were uncomfortably tight and kept breaking, so I after a couple of hours in costume, I ended up ditching the chains entirely. The elastic that was holding up the chains on my thigh was actually broken at the time this photo was taken, so those chains are pushed up higher than they would be normally so that they would stay on during the shoot.

This was my first time really styling a wig. I had done some basic styling with hairspray for Yukari and Utena, and I have trimmed bangs for many of my wigs, but I did this one completely from the ground up. While the outcome is far from perfect, it was a great learning experience. My hair is being tossed a bit by the wind in this photo, so it isn’t necessarily the best indication. I am really proud of the two ahoge, which stayed up and looked great the whole time I wore it.

All and all, I am extremely happy with this costume. I was a little nervous about wearing something so much flashier and more revealing than usual, but I felt confident and powerful the whole time I had it on. The chains were certainly annoying, but the costume was otherwise very comfortable and easy to move around in. Coincidentally, I debuted this costume the same weekend as M@sters of Idol World 2015 (10th Live), and, while I couldn’t be in Japan for the show, I was glad to be able to celebrate The Idolm@ster anyway.