_________Kotaro
_________Costume Stats
Character Name: Kotaro
_________Reference
Series: Papuwa
Specifics: main outfit
Cost: $60
Time: ~15 hours
Started: August 2006
Completed: August 2006
Debuted: CN Anime 2006
_________Information
I'm going to be honest. At the time I made this costume, I hadn't seen Papuwa. I was inspired to make this costume after seeing a little ad for the manga at a local anime store. I fell in love with Kotaro's outfit and so this costume was born.
_________Misc
This was a fairly straight-forward costume. I made the blue part by tracing the pattern I used for my Renamon costume and altering it a bit. I wanted to add darts to it, but since Kotaro is a boy, I decided against it.
The red detailing on the blue was arguably the most difficult and time-consuming part. For one, it took me forever to find reference images for the back. When I finally found them, I discovered that the red pattern on the front and back are exactly the same. I made it by tracing a pattern I made for it onto red polar fleece and hand-sewing it to the blue fabric. It took a long time, but I really liked the result. It "pops" out nicely.
The "attachments" for the straps were tricky, but fun. They came out looking like the reference, so I'm not complaining. The belts and the attachments are made of left over fabric from my cosplay group's Naruto pouches. The belt buckle was made of model magic.
The shoes are just black shoes I added a yellow strip and buckle to. I made the buckle out of model magic. Since they're on the shoes and get beaten up a lot, I should've gone for a stronger material.
I bought the pants at a local thrift store. I cut off one of the pant legs and used the material from it to make the armbands and collar, so they all match. I re-used the patterns I made for my Husky and Pharaoh Atemu costumes for them.
As for the wig, I bought a light blond bob and hacked at it until it looked like his hair.
And that's about it. All and all, this is one of the most painless costumes I've ever made, and I love the way it came out~
I wore this costume on the Saturday of CN Anime. Only two people knew who I was dressed as. I also joined a Mariachi Band.
_________Images
CN Anime 2006
