This was definitely my most challenging costume so far. It was my first time making armor, and I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I wanted to take the design from the anime and reinterpret it as a richly embellished and kingly design, rather than something that looked 2-dimensional and animated. I started with a giant petticoat to give the skirt fullness (the bottom hem is 40 yards of fabric - yikes!), and then made the white under dress with scalloped lace trim on the bottom and gold lace bridal appliques. The blue over dress is cotton velveteen with gold trim, and I padded out the shoulders with boning and pillow batting. The armor is entirely made from Worbla, which was fantastic to work with, but exceedingly time-consuming. The breastplate and side plates were drafted flat and then heat-formed, the gauntlets and boots were shaped onto me through a lot of trial and error. I debuted the costume along with my Fate/Stay night group at Anime Boston 2014. Even though I still see things I'd like to tweak and change, I'm very happy with the finished result.