Making The Order of the Zodiac

For the last few years my bestie and I have had tons of fun attending the local comicon.  We're not champion cosplayers, but we have a blast nonetheless.  Last year I pulled together a couple steampunk dresses from thrift store finds, but this year I wanted to try for actual anime characters.  Luckily I have a friend who is game for anything and a husband who is easily persuaded.

       

I am a huge Gundam Wing nerd, my friend and husband far less so, and I was thrilled they put up with me dressing them up like that.  The real fun for me though is always the making, not the wearing.

I started with a trio of coats from the thrift store.

                   

Lady Une's was easy, there are tons of tunic length red coats for women at the thrift store.  Zechs' was also fairly straightforward; ankle length red coats are also very common.  My husband's coat was the most challenging.  Finding a blue suit coat to fit him was the first hurdle, and I only found it about a week before the event.  It also needed the most alteration, to add the white front and rear tails.  After those major alterations, it's all embellishment.

My supplies of gold fabric and trim ready to be applied, and my 'assistant' on paw to 'help.'  He's especially good at holding things down.  I used thrifted black sweaters to make the under shirts for Une and Zechs; a faux leather pouch purse became their gun holsters, and a couple of vintage hankies transformed into lacy collars.

                        

With nearly 30 sticks of hot glue, large scrap fabric reserves and a heaping helping of cheerful perseverance, three full costumes can indeed come together in less than three weeks.  

And in case you were wondering how much gold trim these costumes used.  All theses spools were full when I started.