Sophy

Sophy Hojo (Holic Trick Cyalume) from PriPara (PuriPara).

Costume made and worn by me. Photo taken at Naka-Kon 2015.

First off, if you haven't seen PriPara, please check it out. It's a really fun and adorable show with all of the best elements of idol and magical girl anime. I pretty much knew from the first episode that it was something that I would want to cosplay. I started the series thinking that I might cosplay Laala, the protagonist. Since it's not a very well-known series I thought that the main character would be a good choice as she would give me the best chance of being recognized. As I watched more of the show, though, Sophy quickly became my favorite, and it was clear that she was the right character for me. Though I'm extremely proud of how the costume came out, it ended up being a lot more trouble than I expected when I made that decision!

The skirt was the piece that I made first since it seemed like the most intensive part. It's made up of twenty-five red/black wedges, four layers of red/black ruffle in the front, a white ruffle along the bottom, and a white top skirt. Figuring out the size of all of those pieces was difficult, and I ended up with a skirt that had greater weight and volume that I predicted. I think I was able to compensate for that by adding a hoop and additional layers to the petticoat, but, if I was to make a costume like this again, I wouldn't make the skirt quite so full. The heart pattern on the white top skirt is drawn with gold marker. The animation is inconsistent with how detailed its design is (if it's drawn at all), so I went with the simpler version.

The boots were a fun challenge, as I had never made boot covers or anything similar before. They use a simple pair of pumps as a base, but the leg of the boot I made myself from nylon spandex. The laces, if you can't tell, are not real. They are crosses that I cut from felt and sewed to the boot. This was partly because I thought it would be easier than putting in eyelets and using real laces, but I also think it better matches how they look in the animation this way. I think that's an interesting dilemma that comes up in cosplay: should you make something to match its realistic function or to match how it actually appears in the source material?

The lace in the front of the corset is also nonfunctional. Sophy's concept art actually shows two crosses there, but usually only one appears in the animation. I tried both ways and decided that I liked how one looked better. The corset isn't boned, but it gets its stiffness from a layer of vinyl under the fabric. The rear bow (the one with the long, gold-tipped tails that you can see below the skirt) is attached to the back of the corset for convenience and support.

The hat is a piece that I would consider remaking if I had more time. It has a cardboard skeleton, which turned out fine, but I underestimated how hard it would be to cover that frame in fabric without it looking slipshod. Fortunately, it looks fine at a distance and in most of my photos. Everyone who I talked to while working on this project funnily seemed to find the hat to be the most interesting part of the costume, so I hope it managed to live up to everyone's expectations.

The rest of the costume is fairly straightforward. The sleeves and the fringe along the top of the bodice are made from a striped fabric that I custom ordered from Spoonflower. It saved me a lot of time over sewing the stripes individually, but it did come at a bit of a cost since the striped fabric didn't perfectly match the color or texture of the rest of the costume. Still, I was impressed with Spoonflower's product and would use them again.

This costume was great to wear. The boots were unfortunately a bit tight on my toes, which kept me from wearing it all day, but the wig and the rest of the costume gave me very little to complain about. I don't think that anyone at Naka-Kon recognized the character, but people seemed to appreciate my costume regardless, and I was just happy to portray a character who I so adore. Pshu~