SHOW BY ROCK Criticrista cosplay - Holmy WIP

A friend asked me to cosplay a member of Criticrista (from the anime/game SHOW BY ROCK) for Hyper Japan with her. I had very limited time to make this, and its also just the second time I make a cosplay and wear it! I drew the patterns myself and most of the sewing was finished in a crazy all nighter just before the event, so there are a few things that could have been done better ^^; Also I apologies for the terrible picture quality I was in a hurry ;_;





Holmy cosplay breakdown:

• Cow headband (brown and pink felt, red plastic jewel)
• Brown wig
• Sailor collar (white fabric, blue grosgrain ribbon, gold fabric paint, hemming bond)
• Crop top (white fabric, yellow chiffon fabric, red grosgrain ribbon, white bias)
• Pleated skirt + suspenders (red satin fabric, white ribbon, zip)
• Boot covers (white otk socks, plain heels - preferably red)
• Bass guitar prop (foam board, primer, paint - yellow, gold, brown and red, gold glitter paint, red plastic jewel, thread, short plastic nail anchors, E6000 or similar glue)

 

1) Cow headband

I used craft brown and pink felt for the ears and a tear shaped jewel. Holmy's earring is actually diamond shaped but unfortunately I couldn't find anything closer than this!



I attached the ears to a red plastic headband and pushed the top 'tip' downwards to create a fold.

2) Sailor collar

• White plain fabric
• Blue grosgrain ribbon
• Gold fabric paint (I used 3D glue paint for dimension)
• Chalk + Ruler (for drawing)
• Iron! for pressing
  

I followed the sailor fuku tutorial that I've written about before here. First I drew the original pattern and then extended the sides to form the "wings". As you can see I did them straight in the beginning and then decided that wouldn't work, so I separated both wings diagonally. I also drew the gold symbol on the bottom of each wing in chalk.



This gold paint was a pain in the ass. I was pretty tired and mess the design so had to wipe it off and draw again which made it look slightly messy close-up. Then it turned out I drew the design on the wrong side of the wings... they are meant to be under!



The ribbon is attached with hemming web. Its the quickest way I could think of and it worked perfectly.

2) Pleated Skirt

I chose a thick, satin type fabric (NOT costume satin). It was quite stiff so pleated really well and had a very elegant shine to it. You need two rectangles approximately three times the your waist (in this case, I rounded mine down to two metres). I drew a straight line as a reference for the hem and bonded it, and also bonded the white ribbon along the bottom (shortcuts, shortcuts).




Pleating! My favourite part. I always draw my pleats so I can know exactly what I'm doing, as shown in a previous tutorial (here). Pressing and pinning them down is super important!



3) Bass guitar prop

• Foam board
• Primer (white)
• Acrylic paint (yellow, red, brown, gold and glitter)
• String (I used plain thread)
• Large nail anchors
• Plastic craft jewels

This is the first time I have ever made a prop, so I was pretty happy with the results, considering. I am not sure what kind of foam this is as my fellow cosplayer gave me what was left over from her prop. All I know is that it was a bitch to clean the residue from cutting xD A tip if you are a noob such as myself: MAKE SURE YOUR PRIMER DOESN'T EAT UP THE FOAM. You are welcome.



As you can see I messed up the shape a little. Next time I am definitely drawing out what I'm doing before cutting instead of just freehanding.


I used the nail anchors as the bass guitar pegs and 'dials'. I guess there are other ways of doing this but it was super fast to set these in the foam base by pressing them down. Voilà!


The prop in all its glory. Phew

I was running out of time by now, so the rest of the cosplay was even more rushed. I made the top by laying a summer top on top of the fabric and following the pattern. The modesty panel is diamond shaped and attached by clasp buttons to the top and the sailor collar.


The boot covers were meant to be two pairs of over the knee stockings, with the diamond design painted on with fabric paint and pulled over my heels. Unfortunately the eBay shop sent me socks instead, so they were the wrong texture, but anyway I wasn't feeling picky by now! My heels are black so I glued red felt along the soles and edges (for grip) but when I remake this costume I will buy some second hand shoes and paint them instead.


I forgot to push the tips of the ears down until halfway through the day, so I do look a bit like Gizmo :3