Juhani

Juhani is from the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The game story absolutely captured me, so I wanted to do one of the main characters. I was also in a mood for challenging myself, so the idea for this costume was hatched. It was a lot of firsts, and most of it was hard to do.

The unitard is made of stretch microsuede and took me two attempts and three mock-ups to get it right (this is the last time I use a Japanese pattern and assume it fits American me). The vest, boot covers, spats, and wrist guards are made of leather: doe skin, pig suede, and cow hide. I had to stain the cow hide myself. With all that, it was one grand adventure in leatherworking with a sewing machine that didn't like leather. I made the cute little hip pouch myself as well.

As to ascessories, the belt started as a standard belt, but I got a brass millitary web belt buckle and glued a metallic rhinestone in the center for the appropriate buckle look. The clasps up the front of the vest are small silver caribiners. I made my own lightsaber using pieces from the Custom Saber Shop. Thankfully, my dad had the drills and tapping tools I needed and the know-how to use them, and my brother had just been learning how to sauder electronics.

Getting the correct effect for Juhani's head was definitely one of the hardest parts. First off, I braided synthetic wig fibers into a ponytail and ended each braid with one antique gold bead. I wrapped the base of the ponytail with gold cording. To mount it on my head, I folded up a small square of tulle and secured three metal snap hair clips underneath it. From there, I ran a long strip of tulle and secured it with two more clips at the front center of my head. As it turns out, bald caps are meant for people with very little hair to begin with. To smoothly hide both my hair and the ponytail mounting system, I used one nylon wig cap (which also had to be hidden), and two bald caps, one cheap thicker one and one professional quality thinner one that took makeup more nicely. I cut a hole in each cap so I could secure the ponytail directly to my own hair. To give the clips some resistance in my fine, fine hair, as well as to keep my hair from pooling in a bulge at the bottom of the wig cap, I clipped my hair vertically to the back of my head and sprayed it with lots of hairspray. When it came time to get dressed, I removed the clips, and my hair stayed smoothly against the back of my head without pooling. I then applied each cap one at a time, and went over the collective edges (as well as the elf ears) with liquid latex. From there, I applied makeup and put on the fur stripes, which are made of crepe wool.

This costume takes around four hours to get into, and most of that is bald caps, which is something I need a set of extra hands for.

I entered it in the CONvergence 2009 masquerade and won Best Craftsmanship Honorable Mention.