Let's make a plan for this costume

06 Oct 2024

So I realized earlier this week I messed up last Tuesday. Despite saying in the post that I needed weekly goals and to assess them weekly, I then proceeded to not write the goals I had in mind for this week down. Which like… Oops? At the very least, I can say that I did have internally set goals for this week, which were to lock in who the character is, what the priority parts are, and build out a rough outline for when/how to build each part of the costume. So let’s get into it:

The Who

I want to make a costume of Senshi from Dungeon Meshi. This dwarven adventurer is one of the most important characters of the manga and anime, being the primary chef of the party, making meals out of the hunted monsters within the eponymous dungeon. He’s deeply concerned with making sure the people around him are eating adequate meals that fit their nutritional needs, he’s inventive when things are dire, and he has a great beard. All this to say: He’s Literally Me.

Now, this is his design for when he’s in the upper levels of the dungeon. There are points in the story where they go to deeper, and colder places, and given that it’s gonna be cold in End of October, I’m likely gonna wanna use the version that’s a little more covered up. The other issue is that his beard covers up basically his entire upper half, so figuring out his shirt situation would be kind of a nightmare. Luckily for me, both of those birds are solved by the same stone: The Changeling circle episode.

In this episode, the party all step into a ring of changeling mushrooms, causing them to swap around which mythical species they are. Laios ends up becoming a dwarf, and thus borrows Senshi’s wintertime gear, without having a beard to cover it up. So Laios gives me an extremely clean look as to what the upper half looks like.

The Priorities and the Pain Points

Honestly, when I first thought of it, I was a little concerned, but looking again, he doesn’t seem like he’ll be too too hard. I’ll open this session with what I’m not doing: I’m not doing a wig or a fake beard, I find my real hair more than sufficient. The single biggest priority that I need to get right is the helmet. It’s easily his most iconic element. To get it right, I need the horns, the X mark in the forehead from damage, and the nick in the upper right of the visor. The gold standard for cosplay is, by my understanding, EVA foam. There’s a LARP/cosplay store nearish where I live, so within the week, I’ll visit them and look into that. In an ideal world, I’d also love to get the pot, but I recognize that that might be a bit trickier to do, and will likely get pushed towards an “if I have time” sort of situation. The upper body seems to be something of a Yukata, likely sleeveless attire in the upper floors, with a haori style overcoat on top for colder climates. Being realistic about the level of effort I’m putting in, as well as the fact that neither of those elements are particularly iconic in his design, and the fact that within this fantasy world, there is a part of the world that very specifically and intentionally takes on Japanese aesthetics that Senshi is not from, I feel comfortable omitting the specificity of some of the more Japanese aspects of the design. I’ll likely opt instead for a simple sleeveless shirt with an open covering above it. Next comes the skirt, which I’ll lump in with his bracers. These appear to be leather with a fur trim, with the skirt also having metallic plates. Now, I’ve never done any sort of leatherworking before. From some light research, it seems that bracers are actually considered a pretty good starting point, so I might look into making those myself, but the skirt is almost certainly more than I can handle. As for the metal plates, like the helmet, the play is very likely EVA foam, just like the helmet. I’ll see what I can learn about my options during the visit to the LARP store. And finally, around the legs. In the winter fit, he’s sporting what appear to be beige/neutral cloth pants (sweatpants?) with boots made of frog skin to cover up that his footwear is otherwise sandals. I’ll likely stick to more standard footwear, and will look into purchasing a simple pair of pants to work there, especially given that the other option is all metal greaves, which, while I likely could make from EVA foam, are liable to be a nightmare to actually keep attached to my legs, given that they are metal cylinders.

Schedule planning

Between now and next weekend, I need to visit the LARP store and, if I’m not purchasing EVA foam from there, order some. I’ve got ~3 and a half weeks between now and the end of the month, so I really need to buckle down. I’ll also likely start looking into youtube tutorials on working with EVA foam. Ideally, by next weekend, I have my materials sourced for the more complicated parts and can start working on them. Now, despite the helmet being the priority, I think the play is to start with the metal plates on the leather skirt, as that gives me the opportunity to practice working on EVA foam without risking screwing up the big one.

So that’s where I’m at as of now. Goals for next week is sourcing materials, and visiting that LARP shop.