Let's Save the World

Yep, here's the costumes we've been working on since last March! lol

BEADS. SO MANY. I got the idea to make an elegant, Amano-inspired with my own elements Rosa after I started playing the DS remake, and realized the new CG version just did not do proper justice to the beauty of her original design. I started collecting fabrics, beads, and patterns 8 months prior to the finished product, and when I voiced wanting an extended deadline to better do all the little details, Yunie kindly joined in to be my beautiful (shrub) Rydia

This is probably the most detailed costume I've ever done, and that's saying a lot considering Alexiel's wings are over 900 hand trimmed feathers lol There's so many freaking little bead work details on this that I couldn't begin to describe, when over 40 hours of beading were put into the corset, crown, and drapery. Much of the crown and front corset panels are Swarovski, Czech beads, and glass fire polished Precioso, with loose Swarovski beads glued to each little flower on the cape (which never shows up lol). The corset was made from an altered pattern with complimenting panels that took forever to find and match, with a gorgeous creme organza connecting from the back to lace-up wrist bands (also all beaded). The cups were lined with wire to keep the shape, the shirt self patterned and overlaid with sheer fabric, and decorated with freshwater pearls, glass beads, and Czech beads. The crown was the most fun to bead, as I found Swarovski beads in all types of colors at BOGO 1/2, meaning I could go crazy with the designs following the fabric embroidery; it's set on a wire headband that holds the shape and looks great, but hurts to wear after a while.

The panties were a pain to make, having to hand sew to stop the fabric from puckering, and laying three layers of lace to get the right depth in design, since I found the perfect fabric to match Amano's art. My armor was a toughie, having to use polyunthane and craft foam for the knees (accented with "phoenix downs" lol and lined in glass seed beads), and polyunthane, plaster, linen, and a silky satin for the shoulders. This made the plates more bendable, but that way I could accent the fabric with beads, and I always imagined white mages to be in leather armor rather than metal anyway. The wig was ordered from Cyperous by Makoto and Ringo, and while I thought it would be a more golden/yellow shade, the rather honey-colored hue worked much better than I thought.

Additionally, Yunie and I exchanged progress photos and beads for months, all while making these costumes nearly 600 miles apart XD

Characters: Amano Rosa [link] and Amano Rydia [link] from
Series: Final Fantasy IV
as Rydia
as Rosa
as the incredible photographer at Nan Desu Kan 2009
Makeup by

[EDIT] I uploaded a revised version of the same image, with a different color calibration (it felt too pink), and touched up skin tones (my poor Rydia looked flushed!)