Cost: $200
Time: around 40 hours
Debuted At: Metrocon 4 (2006)

Why I Made this Costume: I first heard of Alichino when another cosplayer did a cosplay of Myoubi. At the time, the manga hadn't come stateside, but I still went and found images on the internet. The art was mesmerizing, and the storyline seemed quite interesting. This costume of Myoubi's always interested me, and when I finally was able to read the manga, the decision was final. I had to make this costume!

How I Made this Costume: I'm not going to lie, this costume was downright evil at times to make. It started out simple enough, but as they say, the devil is in the details. One of my main concerns with making this costume was that, since it was all white, everything would just sort of melt together and I'd look like a white, winged blob. To help prevent this, I did a few things: first, I used a silver wig instead of white (Myoubi has silver hair in many artworks), I used different textured fabrics on all parts of the costume, and I broke the dress up into a bodice and skirt. For the bodice, I used a pattern for a Victorian era gown as a base. I made the skirt , underskirt, and petticoat all without a pattern. I was very concerned about getting the black/white design on her collar and boots just right. I had seen a couple of other people cosplay this particular costume, and neither even attempted the black/white design. I drew the design on the collar and boots with white pearlescent fabric paint. I used the same paint to decorate the "jewel" on the forehead and the sword. The sword was made out of markerboard, as it is a lightweight enough material to be allowed at most conventions. The wings have a coppertubing frame, and instead of real feathers have fabric feathers that I individually cut out and sewed. The upside to this is that the feathers don't get damaged at conventions. :)

My Thoughts on this Costume: I am very, very satisfied with the result. Some details are different/missing, but I wasn't aiming for accuracy with this costume, but rather a real-life interpretation. Some aspects of the costume, I thought, would look quite silly in real life so I simply altered them. I think I am most happy with my boots and wings. ^_^