2nd December 2010: Sash This prob ended up more complex than it needed to be... I found a baby blue satin sash on ebay but when it arrived I realised it was a lot smaller than I first thought so I ordered two more and pondered how to get them together without obvious seams. In the end I used one sash for the main waistband which is held closed at the back with snap fasteners and then used the other two as the "trains" of the sash which attached to the waistband again using snap fasteners.

It looks a bit of a mess at the back where everything joins together but I hoped to cover this up by attaching a brooch I planned to make in a chibi wing design using fimo clay. I unfortunately ran out of time to do this so pinned a feathered comb (which I had bought for my hair because I thought it was a slide/clip not a comb) at the top instead.

I also ran out of time when it came to embroidering the feather design onto the trailing ends of the sash so I decided to carefully hand-sew white craft feathers onto it as a replacement, it still followed the design I wanted just in a different way.

I think the sash came out ok but I'm not entirely happy with it so will possibly remake it if I wear this costume again.

28th November 2010: Rings Although it's not exactly delicate wedding jewellery I shall wear Rinoa's chain and ring with Squall's Griever ring on it also. I believe Rinoa wouldn't be without this on her big day as it's an important symbol of her and Squall's relationship.

A note on Squall's ring:

"Squall's ring features a profile of Griever's head along with one wing along its side. Rinoa Heartilly expresses interest in this ring later on in the game and eventually ends up possessing it where she wears it next to her own ring through a chain around her neck. Eventually Squall allows her to keep it.

The ring, as a symbol, is a tangible manifestation of the circle; it represents infinity and eternity, divinity and life. The ring also represents power, dignity, sovereignty, and strength. Thus, to bestow a ring is to indicate a transference of power. As is exemplified by the traditional wedding ring, the object is also binding, as with husband and wife. "

26th November 2010: Sash design by Chibi Drawing/ design by Chibi.
http://www.cosplayisland.com/overview/Chibi

I had a good idea in my head of what I wanted to do with the sash and Chibi sketched a design for me based on this. This helped as normally things in my head don't turn out so well in reality plus I'm rubbish at designing lol

The sash is going to be made out of baby blue satin and the feathers shall be embroidered on (white thread). I could make the brooch from Fimo but my sculpting skills really are poor so I have a plain hair slide I can cover with feathers to use as a back-up.

22nd November 2010: Getting dress to stay up lol As mentioned in my first journal about the dress the top part is slightly too big for me as it seems to have been made for a lady with a more generous chest than mine ^^' I was worried it would be difficult to take in so went a different route. First I got a triple gel bra from La Senza to fill up the gap in the bust area. This bra requires the straps to fit properly but I had to remove them due to the dress being strapless so to stop the bra moving all over the place I used some double-sided body tape to keep it secure. The material of the bra and the lining of the dress slide against each other, there isn't any grip so the top of the dress still slipped down a bit. I just used more of the body tape to hold the dress in place just above the top of the bra.

And ta-da dress stays put and looks like it fits me nice and snug =) I made sure I did the "jump test" to make sure nothing slips down or falls out XD

14th November 2010: Wig styling I'm using the wig I use for my other Rinoa cosplays but I wanted to style it into some form of up-do for a more formal look. I was concerned about wefts showing or the wig being awkward in general but I managed to style it pretty easily. I left some feathering at the front to frame the face which includes 2 of her brown highlights and tied the rest of the hair into a ponytail at the base of the wig before clipping that up.

I won't be using the clip in the photos, I'm getting a plain white or cream/ivory barrette then adding some white feathers to it.

14th November 2010: Dress I bought an ivory wedding dress on ebay which is made/ designed by Antora Bridalwear. It's made of duchess satin and has a nice simple, plain design. The shop tag attached says it should be sold at £390 but I got it for £75! In general it fits well apart from at the bust where it slips down due to my lack of boobs >_< I'm either going to get a good bust-enhancing bra or get it taken in a little at the top.

I'm looking at getting a petticoat to poof out the skirt a little and a sash which I shall embroider a feather design onto to symbolise Rinoa.