COSTUME INFO: Amaterasu Okami (Okami)

Brief Bio: In the video game Okami, Amaterasu is the Japanese sun goddess in the form of a white wolf. While most can only see her as a plain white wolf, those with pure heart or divine powers can see her true form, complete with cloud-like fur on her legs and shoulders, and red markings on her face and back. Amaterasu wields the power of the Celestial Brush, giving her powers such as cutting through enemies, moving water, and creating wind. For a full biography, check out the Wikipedia Page for Okami.
(Note: The description provided here is of that of the character Amaterasu from the Okami video game, not that of the Japanese folklore of the goddess Amaterasu.)

Why?: I don't remember when exactly I chose to cosplay Amaterasu or how exactly the decision came about. However, I absolutely loved the video game, and my obsession continued through the seven-month process of creating this costume.

A lot of the inspiration for this costume came from Ouka of .hack// Legend of Twilight (the manga version). I love Ouka as well, but I knew that no one I knew would even dare to allow me to walk around half-naked, heh (image not mine).

I suppose I technically have two version of this costume. Version two is really more of an upgraded form of Version one though, so I still count them as one costume.

Construction: I built the feet & legs first, out of slip-on shoes bought at WalMart, foam, and of course white fake fur bought at JoAnn's. The bottoms of the feet are craft foam covered with generic sealant and Shoe Goo bought at Shoe Stop. I already owned the white shirt under the vest and the white tights (though I later bought a new pair). I found the vest at a thrift store and added the red swirls to the back. I bought jean shorts at a thrift store, covered them with fake fur and added a tail. The tail originally had wire in it, but people always thought it was fluff and squished it, so now it is filled with fluff. I bought the fan at a store called Daiso Japan, it already had the red "sun" symbol on it. I printed and cut out the image of Amaterasu, traced around it on the fan, then detailed it by hand.

Originally, the makeup was eyeliner from Hot Topic, but I later upgraded to a mask. I bought a half-mask (covers everything except the mouth and chin) at JoAnn's. The muzzle is paper mache, covered with short fake fur and colored with Sharpie. The nose itself is Scuplt It! clay painted black and sealed with generic sealant. The wig was bought at Party City and styled by me. The red streak of hair is two hair extensions I bought from Hot Topic. My first set of fangs were "Scarecrow" brand vampire fangs, and the second set is "Scarecrow" brand werewolf fangs, both bought at Hot Topic. The black lipstick was also bought at Hot Topic.

The ears were originally foam inside of fake fur, glued to hair clips. After I bought my wig, I sewed the ears to it. The fur tufts are fake fur over foam and sewn to the arm bands, which are just fake fur. The gloves were made by me with four-way stretch crushed velvet and black cotton, held together by a combination of sewing, Fray Check, and Heat 'n' Bond.

The shield is cardboard covered with green vinyl, and the flames are sheer fabric with Fray Check on the edges. The straps are four-way stretch crushed velvet (same as the gloves) with elastic on the inside. There are two straps of thicker elastic on the back as well so that it can be worn on my arm instead of my back. The top of the shield opens and it can be used as a backpack.

This costume is 99% complete.
Some padding needs to be added inside of the forehead of the mask, because it presses uncomfortably against my head.

Convention Info: I wore Amaterasu to Kiin-Yoobi '09, where I won 3rd in the cosplay contest, Holiday Anime Faire '09, where I won 1st in the "Hand-Made" Division of the cosplay contest, and Animation On Display (AOD) '10, where I won runner-up in the "Construction" division of the cosplay contest.

This is the only costume I really compete in, and the only one I take really seriously. It gets loads of attention, and always does well in competition. Unfortunately, it's madly uncomfortable, so I'm wanting to wear it less and less, especially if I'm not competing.