Selphie Tilmitt - Final Fantasy VIII
| *This costume is now retired* Although Rinoa is my favourite character from FF8 I still have a large fondness for Selphie also. I really enjoy cosplaying her as I get to be cheerful and bouncy all day =D I want to find an Irvine cosplayer and steal his hat! "Selphie is a character like no other in Final Fantasy VIII; she possesses a unique balance of cuteness and independence that is rarely achieved by female game characters. Through war and loss, she adopts a laid-back attitude and always tries to light up the mood, often in rather hilarious, out of place ways. Selphie seems to hold no trace of negative feelings, appearing to be very innocent and silly; however, mess with her and you'll have a taste of her strong personality and honest mind. Although at first the player is led to think there's not much more to Selphie than meets the eye, she proves this belief wrong plenty of times throughout the game. All in all, she is a warm, fun person to be around, but also an achieved fighter with a saviour complex rather than a damsel one, which is a relieving break from the female character stereotype." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Please see my journals for more details on the construction of this costume as well as progress photos~ The dress was commissioned by Dream Angels. I lined the inside seams, added a label to the back and changed the zip. I made her shell-like looking zipper pull out of Sculpey oven bake clay and it has been remade twice as I suck at sculpting things. I bought a pair of brown knee high boots, painted the soles black and added the straps and buckles around the top. I commissioned the wig from Seph Noir. I bought a small silver flower necklace from Claire's Accessories. And lastly for her wrist accessory I bought some blue ribbon and used sock glue to keep it on my wrist in the criss-cross pattern. *2009 AYA UPDATE* I now have bright green contacts =3 *2010 AME UPDATE* New zip, zipper pull and I hand-made her Flail weapon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wore this costume on the Sunday 26th October 2008 at the London MCM Expo. I received many compliments on my outfit, in particular the wig so I made sure to mention that Seph made it for me ^-^ I was asked for loads of photos and it was nice to see my efforts of minor details are appreciated. I may buy a certain amount of my outfit but I spend a lot of time and effort to make sure it's to a standard of accuracy I approve off, if not I find a way to edit it. Therefore I am proud of my costumes and pleased when people have positive comments about them. Even if some people may sneer that I didn't make it completely myself I would rather pay someone else and look the part than make a terrible job by myself and go out and have people wonder why I even bothered as I look nothing like the character. But obviously anyone who is willing to put time and effort into something themselves deserves some praise. I had a lot of fun Selphie at Expo and look forward to bouncing around as her again soon. Re-wore this costume to Ayacon 2009, my first proper convention. Sadly I didn't get the nunchaku done in time but I'm sure this isn't the last time I will be wearing Selphie, especially as I want to do her Garden uniform one day. I got a good reception with Selphie again and in particular people liked the added contacts, they look very bright and natural I've been told =3 Selphie made another appearance at Amecon 2010. The wig was re-styled by myself recently but it's not as good as Liz's work so I was a little self-conscience about it but I shall be sending it to her soon so she can re-work her magic! The nunchaku were in general a success, people complimented me on them and I really enjoyed having something to pose with. The only downside was I swung them about too much during the masquerade so the chain got yanked out one of the sticks/poles >_< It's easily fixable but such a bad time for it to happen. I tried to stay bouncy and cheerful during the masq but inside my head I was swearing haha! |
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Seam lining
The inside of the dress was fraying like mad so I brought some white cotton tape (about an inch wide) which I sewed over the fraying seams as a sort of lining to protect the dress fabric from wasting away on the inside. I did this on and off for nearly 2 years... On the train to Amecon I finally finished- about time! Better late than never eh?
Nunchaku complete
I bought a black chain from B&Q which they cut to my desired length (30") and attached this to the wooden poles using wire staples which had been painted black to match the chain. My mum's partner helped me to hammer the staples in as I would prob end up splitting the wood... And so now I have Selphie's Flail! I'm really pleased with how this prop turned out and it was quite simple to do. I have a lot more scope for posing now =)
Nunchaku progress
The nunchaku are nearly done, I just need to add the black chain. I'm wondering if they might be slightly too short in length... but I'm sure it'll look okay. I can always re-make them otherwise. I started off with a long wooden dowel which was sawn in half then the ends were sanded to neaten them. I put on a couple of layers of red craft spray then the black detailing was done using electrical tape to give it a neater finish. If I hand-painted it I would prob end up with un-even rings ^^' I'm finding electrical tape to be pretty useful for props lately lol
New zipper pull
I'm still not entirely happy with it as I think I'm rubbish at sculpting clay lol but at least it looks better than my last two attempts. After re-checking the references (fully animated ones being limited and blurry at times) I noticed the zipper pull is attached to the top of the zip on a little metal loop/ oval. I originally had mine stuck onto the top of the zip (which caused some issues... see info box) so now I wanted to attach it differently. I got some thin silver head pins and pushed one through the top of the zipper pull to make a hole before I baked it. Once the clay was hard I put the pin back through the hole and used pliers to shape it into the loop (a rather wonky one). With some help from my mum's partner we got the old zipper pull off the zip so I could put the loop and new zipper in it's place. It's not great but it does the job and looks better than before so yay =)
New zip
I finally got around to getting a new zip in the dress that is actually long enough, no more annoying gap at the bottom horray! I first tried to hand-sew it in myself but I messed it up >_< So my grandma un-stitched it and put it through the machine for me. I need to make a new zipper as my old one broke (and it wasn't that good anyway..) and I STILL haven't finished sorting out the fraying seams on the inside of the dress oops. I have no plans currently to wear this costume again but I like to make sure my cosplays are kept in good condition and up to date.
Necklace
There is no close-up image or an official detailed description of her necklace. Some say it's a flower, others a shell, someone else said a four leaf clover... who knows. I guess you can use a bit of artistic license with this one so I just brought a small silver flower necklace from Claire's Accessories that looked suitable. A lot of people say it's the same as her zipper pull but from studying (squinting) at the images I highly doubt this.
Boots
I bought a pair of brown knee high boots and painted the soles black. I spent ages looking for just the right buckle and straps to put around the top of the boot. Strappy boots are in fashion at the moment but couldn't find anything suitable or cheap... Slim brown belts don't even seem to exist where I can buy two. In the end found some suede (would have preferred leather-look but ah well)brown boots with buckle and straps on ebay and just cut the straps off them and glued them to mine. Seems a lot of money to spend and waste of a pair of boots but hey that's the price for being picky. My sister can have the boots once her feet grow a bit more anyway. I cut off the tabs used to pull on the boots and re-used them as the strap loops.
Zipper pull
I made her shell-like looking zipper pull out of Sculpey oven bake clay. I have decided that I don't like making things with clay and I'm not very good at it lol Oh well. When gluing my "creation" to the normal zipper pull I tried to avoid getting glue on the zip itself as I still need it to open. Unfortunately I failed and the zip is now stuck. Bugger. I can pull the dress over my head for now but kinda need to sort this out... EDIT- Issue has been sorted, see more recent journals.
Dress
The dress was commissioned by Dream Angels who did excellent work with my Rinoa duster and arm-warmers. The general length, fit, design and colour are perfect but I was disappointed to find the zip doesn't reach the bottom of the dress and the bust is slightly baggy (I found this with my Rinoa duster actually). I might see if it can be adjusted one day but for now I just wear a padded bra underneath so it's not too bad.
You've got to do this! Selphie is sooo cute and I could see you really suiting her! "Everyone! Love! And! Peace!"
YAY another FF8 cosplayer xDD Im the one going as Rinoa on the sunday of the expo would love to have some photos with you ^^ if thats ok x
the wig is fantastic well done!!!
Love the wig ^^ can't wait to see this now!! x
Yay I'm so pleased you like the wig! I'm going to have to come get some pics of you in it. ^^
OH MY GOD. You look adorkable!! I just want to hug you!! I so can't wait to see you in this! Photos are going to be uber fun!! <3
looking great, can't wait to see this in oct
this is looking so awesome, which day are you wearing it leonie?
Wow, I love the wig!:D
Wow! You look perfect! Seph did a great job on the wig. ^^
your looking cute, nicely done ^^
You look so great Leonie! I'm going to have to grab that photo your mum took for my site. :3 *Huggles MoonLily*
Wow, your Selphie cosplay look so cute. ^o^oo
I LOVE THAT WIG! You suit Selphie so well! Okay. NOW I'm excited for the Expo. I cannot wait to get photos of this! SQUEE.
awww cuteness!! i loves the wig :3
it looks really awesome leonie ^_^ You really suit her! can't wait to get some nice rinoa & selphie pics with you!! xDD
WOW!!! your wig is PERFECT!
yay! That wig looks so good! It really suits you :D
as much as I dislike Selphie you look wonderful! great costume! <3
Heya, remember me, I am the Man Misa and Man Amy from Expo, just like to say again that your wig is grrreat and suits yer very well^___^ your wig is better than my Amy wig lol
Very nice piece, if quite daring thanks to the small size of it. And I have to agree on buying items, its not a bad thing having to buy costumes or pieces to the costume if it makes it looks better.
This is really cute n_n I'm impressed!
Love this! You really suit Selphie, and I especially like how you paid attention to all the little details, like that zip pull, the label, and the straps on the boots. The wig is totally adorable too! You should be very pleased at how nice the commissioned pieces are; definitely worth the cost.
Thank you for all the lovely comments ^-^
Your Selphie costume is so cute, the detail on it is great :D, love the boots! Struggling to find an accurate pair at the moment :S
Those new contacts look bloomin fantastic with your wig! <3
Seeing the thumbnail in the random photos slot I thought you were a figurine, just so perfect!!! (I don't mean the avatar by the way XD I'm THAT dumb)
You look awesome! So cute and really suits you! =D
Thank you ^^
Adorable! Your costume is so accurate!
you make such a good Selphie Leonie!
You make such an epic and adorable selphie, lovely work ^^ and perfect detailing!!
Thanks everyone =)
A very cute Selphie ^_^
Thankies ^-^
Fabulous Selphie ^_^
Nice Selphie :) Irvine approves lol