Materials: Linen, silk, embroidery thread, fabric paint, craft foam, cardboard, bamboo, stretch satin, long black wig, and a lot of hairspray.
Cost: working on estimates
Estimated Time: 180 hours.
This is one of my dream costumes. Finally finished! Princess Mononoke is a favorite of mine. I instantly loved Lady Eboshi’s look when I first saw the movie a decade ago. And I finally felt confidant enough in my abilities to make this costume.
The costume works on 2 planes: visual accuracy and historical accuracy. As such, all of the materials used for the clothing would have been widely used during the Muromachi era.
Hat – Combo of an Amigasa and Sugegasa. The base is made of bamboo which I cut and sliced myself. It was weaved into a basket pattern with 2 primary strips for support. It was then cut into the hat shape. The matte side of stretch satin was used as the top to keep a clean line. Black stretch silk was used to make the straps.
Wig – 27 inch long black wig with long bangs. I had to cut back the front wefts and some of the lace cap to give a high forehead look. And the wig was styled and inter-weaved at that point.
Cape – Circle cape modified in length. The collar was attached separately and it’s made of a silk-linen blend with silk lining.
Kosode – First layer is linen with a silk lining, and silk collar with cuffs. Second layer is also made of linen with a silk lining. The length stops just above the knee.
Fans – Unfortunately the movie has the fans moving quite a bit, so it was hard to get an accurate number. I based the amount off of a statue released by the studio. I created a fan pattern out of freezer paper and ironed them onto the kosode as a stencil. With fabric paint as the base, I hand embroidered every fan, including the ones that can’t be seen. It took at least 10 hours for each fan.
Hakima – Linen with silk lining. These do drape to the floor with 2 pleats in the front. I made 2 clasps that attach to the hakima so that they can be hiked up to the knee for battle-wear.
Tabi – Eboshi’s tabi boots are kind of a boot/sock mix. I made the soles of the shoe out of bamboo. Then I covered the whole thing with stretch silk as a boot cover.
Ishibiya – (fire gun). Made out of large pieces of cardboard and craft foam. The gun powder and bullet compartment does open and replicates the inner-chamber of a real Ishibiya, but made out of craft foam.
Kaiken – (dagger). Made out of cardboard tube and cotton handle. The cardboard was wrapped tightly and cut to mimic the same length as a kaiken.
Kodama – Made from scraps of satin, matte side out. This only took me about 30 minutes to make.
Update: Finished her Kimono for her "town" look. Used a blue that was a shade lighter from the hakima, and it's fully lined with silk. The bottom pattern was hand painted on.
Awards
1st Place Master Class - AnimeFest Dallas, 2011.
