Welcome to the WIP page for my Kyoko Kirigiri cosplay! I loved the Danganronpa series so much, and Kyoko immediately stole my interest. I'm in love with her as a character and absolutely had to channel her in a cosplay. This page will update with current progress when milestones of its completion are met. Much of the process will be streamed, however due to a variety of factors the streams will not be able to be archived on YouTube.

My goal for this cosplay is to find pieces I can convert rather than sewing it from scratch, particularly the blazer. Frankly put, sleeves just aren't my thing. I have an awful time executing them, so if I can avoid making them I absolutely will. I feel like I should be able to find a blazer that is a good base where I can alter the sleeves and change out buttons.

The skirt would be easy to make, so I likely won't spend much time looking for one to source and will just make that myself. Honestly, the boots are what I am the most nervous about. Ideally I would find actual boots like hers (because let's be honest they're awesome and I want to wear them all the time anyway), but I'm pretty sure I will have to make boot covers like I did for Sailor Jupiter.

The wig is Arda's Venus in Lilac. The plan is to sew in extra wefts on the left side to form the braid (and cover bald spots it creates). This cos-test picture is with no modifications to the wig; as you can see, it's a great base to be starting with! I will not only have to trim the bangs, but the overall length of the wig as well. I will also be creating the same chunky looks to her bangs as she has in all of her appearances, but will not be doing that to the rest of the wig. It's not only not practical, but I tend to prefer cosplaying as more life-like versions of characters rather than pure facsimiles.

I am sourcing colored circle lens contacts, and will practice my eyeliner game to fake having the right eye shape. Beyond that, makeup and styling should be pretty simple. Some creative hairspray usage will create the separation I need in the bangs and the front sections of hair, but the rest of the hair will be left to flow naturally. I'm a pale person as it is, so just some light blush and a nude lip will be all that I need to round out that part of the look.

UPDATE 7/20/17: The wefting of the wig is complete! I used half of a weft pack from Arda to add enough hair to the left side to create the thickness of braid that I wanted as well as cover areas that would usually be made too thin by pulling the hair together for said braid. The hair was parted at an angle to help combat that as well. The braid will be redone to have it start higher up on her head than it does in this test picture, but this braid at least shows proof of concept and that I have enough hair in place to do what I want and need to do. In addition to sectioning the hair left and right I will also need to do it vertically to get it higher up. It'll essentially be a weird hybrid between a regular braid and french braid.

A recent adventure to a thrift store landed me a dress shirt and blazer I believe I can use. The blazer will need some modifications to have more pointed and stiff lapels as well as the zipper sleeve detail. The addition of the bronze buttons will be super easy as soon as I get my hands on them. The only modification I need to make to the dress shirt is the addition of the emblem that appears just above the skirt waistline. Considering how small it is, I will likely embroider it in place rather than cheating it with paint. Not only do I think it will look more authentic, but then I don't have to worry about paint bleed ruining the thin detailing!