Bubble Tea Cosplay: From Princess Mononoke, San Cosplay

I’m so happy to be doing a new blog. Originally, my goal is a new costume for every convention, and so far, I’m sticking to it. I love all of the Ghibli movies, but Princess Mononoke was my first movie I watched by Ghibli haha. I remember thinking how awesome it was to be watching a PG-13 cartoon movie (I was pretty young at the time).San was a perfect character for me to cosplay! She’s a badass, grimy, and dirty warrior. She’s also very outspoken and emotional. Agh! I just love her! Anyways, I’m new to cosplay, I’ve been picking characters that can play on my strengths and weaknesses. I’ve been sewing about 3 months, so I’ve been trying to cosplay characters that have basic costume patterns. I have experience with working with different types of clays and resins. For example, her mask is a very big accent piece. Going into this, I didn’t want it to look like a costume; I wanted to look like San. I must say, I didn’t run into any major problems with this costume. It was a very smooth process. OK, now onto the mini-tutorial.

Outfit:

Fabric pieces: The dress was made from a pattern that I found from JoAnn’s for $1. I just altered the dress to make it a lower cut by just hacking away with my scissors. The same goes for piece of fabric over it. It’s the same pattern, just sewn with a little piece of fabric at the side. I kept measuring a cutting to make sure it had the right look. Honestly, it doesn’t have to be perfect because San lives outside; her costume isn’t going to look clean. I cut the armbands and headband out of the same dress material. I cast the gems out of resin mixed with Golden Brand Pearl Iridescent paint (acrylic). The dress is a stretch cotton, and the over piece is a thin canvas material.

Shoes: I made myself with the help from a how to Wiki. I wasn’t patient enough to follow it exactly, but basically I took a measurement of a flip-flop and went from there. I measured my calf and height of the boots. In the end, it all came together. They are made out of a tan, leathery velvet.

Props and Accent Pieces:

Earrings: They are craft foam, covered with Wonderflex. I applied about 5 layers of gesso, then sanded until I got a smooth look. I painted them with the same pearl iridescent paint I used for the gems.

Necklace: The entire neck piece is made out of polymer clay (Sculpey). First, I made the teeth, which are a combination of the White and Tan Sculpey. Then, I popped them in the oven for about 10 min. Don’t forget to wire them before you put them in the oven. I had to remake all of them, because I skipped this step. It’s extremely hard, and will crack your clay if you try to wire after. I used different types of browns, yellows, and whites for the coloring. I also took a knife to make scratches. It’s better if your paint is watered down as well. I would also smudge it with a sponge and my fingers, until I received my desired result. I took inspiration for the color from some fake deer antlers at Hobby Lobby haha! The black beads are made from black polymer clay. I used wire instead of thread that way the necklace wouldn’t have a saggy look.

Staff: It’s made from Craft Foam, Wonderflex, and Paper Clay. Firstly, I bought a wooden stick from Lowe’s, painted, and wore it down by carving into it. I used a black paint wash, then came over it with a watered down brown. For the knife part, I covered Craft Foam with Wonderflex. I didn’t like how thin and breakable it looked. I decided to cover the entire thing with Paper Clay. Once dry, I sanded it down quite a bit to give it a sharper look. I used the same painting technique I used for the teeth, just a bit lighter. The red accent pieces were just polymer clay. The tape is painters tape, just painted red.

Mask and Cape: By far my favorite piece of the cosplay. It was so fun to do! The base of the mask started with a 12 in hollow foam half-circle. I took an entire pack of paper clay, then applied it to the dome (it won’t cover the entire dome). Use water to smooth out the lumps. Also, if it begins to crack, just fill it in with more paper clay. Once dry, it popped off of it pretty easily. You can also cut it down now to the desired size; my mask was about 9in. To add some stability, I came back and added about 3 layers of paper mache. I then, added about half a pack of paper clay. I sanded it until smooth. I took an Xacto knife, and began to carve curved scratches into it. I came back with a very watered down black,acrylic paint and painted the entire mask. I didn’t let it dry before I started painting it of red (2 coats). This gave such a good weathered look! I took inspiration from Meagan Marie, even though I used clay. I would not recommend using Sculpey because it is way too heavy, and it will crack.

The rings are wooden, bed rings I found at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They were the biggest ones they had. I just untwisted the screws out of them. The curvy pieces are made out of a pale yellow Sculpey. I carved with a knife little scratches. I took a brown paint wash, and then painted over it with a yellow. I attached the mask to the fur hood with glue and tacks. I then attached a brown elastic band using the same method. The cape I just sewed together and stuffed to make it look fuller.

Extra:

I used acrylic paint for my face paint. It came of quite easily with makeup remover. For my makeup, I used earthy tones from Urban Decay’s Naked palette. I used a combination of shimmer browns. I created a point at the end of my eyeliner as well, using Mac’s liquid liner. I created a little definition to my jaw bone by using a tan, matte shadow. The wig I cut and styled myself and is from Arda Wigs (Magnum Long in Spanish Brown). I bought all fabric from JoAnn's.

Completed Cosplay Photos: