Howl - Howl's Moving Castle [Book Series]
Andy
Made In: 2014
Status: active
Notes
I love both the book and movie versions of Howl's Moving Castle, although they do differ quite a bit. But everyone who cosplays Howl goes for the Miazaki version (with good reason, they get recognized!) and I wanted to do something different. Especially for CostumeCon, which is a bit more about process than the average anime convention. Thus, my insane quest to build a costume off of extremely vague descriptions ('elaborate' hair? What does that mean?') It was also my first attempt at quilting anything, because why not make something ambitious even harder? It's a fun costume to wear, even when no one knows who I'm meant to be.
Components
Jacket
This jacket is the height of franken-patterning. The body block was pulled from a Korean War era Military Jacket I own, because I liked the shape. I then drew out the design I wanted to quilt onto the pattern, so I could figure out how many pieces I needed to sew together to get enough finished fabric to actually construct the coat. The sleeves were taken from a 'this is totally not Lord of the Rings' costume pattern, and then I had to add scalloped edges, because that was one of the only details included, besides the color. They were a pain in the butt to line, but I love how it turned out. Everything was then sewed together and lined. Outer fabric is brocade from Joann Fabrics, which luckily came in both silver and blue.
Shirt
The shirt I patterned from scratch. It's basically all just rectangles sewn together. The back has a yolk, and a pleat to add a little more fullness to the body of the shirt. It's more or less 'historical' in construction, though I didn't use any gussets in the sleeves. The trim is a Venetian lace from Joann Fabrics, the shirt fabric is rayon that was a lucky find in the clearance bin.
Other
The pants were something I already owned, the boots came from Amazon, and the wig is a Hestia in (I think) Natural Blond from Epic Cosplay,
