Black Water Sinking Ships, He Xuan - Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official's Blessing)

Andy

Made In: 2021

Status: active

Notes

This was a fun costume, because He Xuan still doesn't have any real canonical depictions in any of the TGCF adaptations (sort of, is a bit complicated). This meant I got to make a lot of decisions myself and play around with fabrics and textures. Black on black on black can be a challenge, so I tried my best to differentiate all the layers from each other. All of the garments for this costume were drafted using the same book as I used to make Xie Lian.

Components

Under Robe

This is the base layer for the costume. It's made of black muslin fabric, with fitted sleeves and a collar made from black sanded satin.

Robe

This layer was made using the same pattern as the base robe, but it's made of a fabric with a woven wave pattern all over it, and a collar made from a polyester georgette.

Over Robe

Made from a black polyester georgette, this robe is semi-sheer, which allows the pattern on the other robe to show through. It also has a wave embroidery on the hems of the robe and, as of 2023, also along the edges of both sleeves. This was done using silver silk floss in a sashiko-style stich. The collar is again made of sanded satin.

Pants

Made of black raw silk from Dharma trading, these were recycled from a steampunk costume. A waistband and cuffs were added using the same sanded satin as the collars on the robes.

Wrap Skirt

This is worn over the pants and two layers of robes. It's made of a sheer fabric with a treated surface that has a sort of wet-look to it. The waistband is once again the sanded satin.

Fan

A fabric fan painted with the character for 'water' on one side, a wave pattern on the other, and covered in fake blood. If you know, you know.