OS Gwen: Where I Fear to Tread

Odin Sphere Gwendolyn (Ballgown Version), Studio Shoot with Elias Lopez and Neil Creek.

Gosh, this girl is hard to choose poses for! >_<

2009 was my first year going to Amaranth, so I needed a ballgown. I started playing Odin Sphere when randomly mentioned it (and Persona 4, coincidentally) sometime, and totally fell in love with the artwork. Originally, and and I were going to do an Odin Sphere group for Manifest (Velvet and Battle Gwendolyn, respectively), but that collapsed, and I wound up cosplaying Naoto instead. Y'all know how much I love Nao-chan, so I'm actually really happy with how that turned out!

The fabrics were all silk gorgette, bought from the Sydney Road fabric district. The headpieces were craft foam, safety-pinned to the wig. The wig was my old Suigintou wig, which took me three days to untangle (before Amaranth). Neil kindly did a "trash the wig" for me while we were playing Bohemian Rhapsody (what else). I'll upload the video sometime XD

My favourite prop for this shoot was, of course, my actual white gold engagement ring. I toyed with the idea of making a ring (ala Paradise Kiss), but nothing shines better than a real diamond!

Construction Notes:

• Dress, sleeves and headpiece made by myself, using a modified ballgown pattern. The bodice has light plastic boning to help shape it.
  
• The crinoline is a 2 hoop bridal crinoline, with one of my lolita petticoats over the top for a bit more poof. The bottom circumference of the crinoline was 1 metre.
  
• Makeup done by myself, unfortunately, I didn't have time to do my nails, and the other two costumes I had for the shoot had gloves anyway XD
  
• Estimated cost of the costume: ~$50ish (it helps when your fabric only costs $3/m!)
  
• Estimated time to make the costume: Several weeks, again, procrastination struck, and I wanted to work on Naoto more.
  
• Firsts for this costume:
  
  
  
  • First ballgown
    
  • First use of boning in a piece of clothing
    
  • First re-use of a wig!
    
  • First time wearing a full crinoline
    
  • First professional studio shoot
    
  
  
  
  Photo credit: Elias Lopez
  Rest of shoot: Elias Lopez's Gallery