Becoming Toralei - Visual Comparison

 

Final Questions to Consider

How did you choose the character you would be cosplaying?

What makes cosplaying different than just wearing a costume? (performance)

What are your personal goals participating in Cosplay?

What materials did you use?

What constructions methods did you use?

How long did the project take? (hours, start to stop date)

How much did the project cost?

In order to Cosplay the character, did you adopt any of their traits or characteristics?

How does being costumed as the character make you feel?

->Reactions from others?

->Have you succeeded?

Becoming Toralei Cosplay - Performing Under a Gaze

Becoming Toralei - Self-Portraits

Yesterday I was able to finally finish my costume. The next step was becoming Toralei myself. I started with putting the wig cap on and trying on the wig. I snipped a few wayward strands of hair and decided it looked just like I wanted it to. I took it off again because it would be the last thing I put on when I was finished.

Next was the facial prosthetic. I had two options, in the cartoon Toralei has a cat nose but on the doll she just had a normal humanoid face. I wanted to challenge myself and as I had never used a facial prosthetic like this it seemed like a good opportunity to do so. I cut it to fit and used spirit gum to adhere it to my face. I then used liquid latex to smooth the edges out so they blended into my face better. This took more than one try because the liquid latex would dry so fast that it would start sticking to my fingers and peeling off as I dabbed it. And if I tried to pull a section that got wrecked like this off, the entire thing would pull away from my face. I eventually just used quantity in order to work with it before it dried. The entire thing was not as smooth as I wanted but at that point there was nothing I could do about it. I started applying a base coat of white Mehron cream paint.

What was looking back at me was quite unsettling. I did actually sneak up on my partner while he was on the computer and when he turned to look at me caused him quite a scare! He said that I "looked real". He referenced Skyrim, a PC game he had been playing, which has a race of cat humanoid characters called Khajiit and we later looked at images from the game such as here: http://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/uploads/Khajiit-Faces-Skyrim.jpg

I taped a reference of Toralei's face to my mirror. The next stage was to paint half my face orange as seen in the web version of Toralei's face. I also drew an online for where I wanted my nose to be black. With black liquid makeup I painted my nose inside the lines I had drawn and painted my makeup. Orange eyebrows, pink, grey, and silver eye shadow, black eyeliner and mascara.

This is the last of the self-shot images.

"It doesn't become real until you put everything together.. including your own body."

Construction: Toralei's Leggings - TOTAL HOURS: (combined with others)

Web vs. Doll Differences noted:
-Cartoon version: Black tight-fitting capris, slash marks with yellow and red showing 
-Doll version (upcoming release): Black tight-fitting capris, slash marks with orange showing

I decided to use the doll version because it meant I could use fabric I already had for the orange slash mark lining. I started with leggings I had bought that were actually the right length. I turned them inside out and referenced a printout of Toralei's clothing to figure out where and what size slash marks I wanted to do. I cut out strips of orange spandex and sewed them on the inside of the pant legs. Once all those were done, I turned the pants right side out and then cut inside the stitching lines, carefully only to cut the top black layer and not the inside orange layer.

Construction: Toralei's Skin - TOTAL HOURS: (combined with others)

Web vs. Doll Differences noted:
-Cartoon version and Doll version (upcoming release) are very similar. Lighter orange base with darker orange stripes on right arm and left legs.

 For Toralei's arms and legs, I first found tights that were a color close to her skin tone. I cut out the stripe patterns seen on her arms and legs out of butcher's paper and after measuring out where they should go with tape, ironed them down. I created the color with various hues of paint and then painted inside the paper cut outs with a paint brush.

 

For the arms, I first screened the stripes then turned them inside out so I could mark where my fingers were. I then used my sewing machine to create gloves and hand sewed any holes that were left once I turned them right side out.

Construction: Toralei's Hair & Ears - TOTAL HOURS: (combined with others)

Web vs. Doll Differences noted:
-Cartoon version: Hair is short tapered looking cut, choppy/kind of wild, clear two tones->red and orange, black tiger stripes on right side. Ears are lighter skin color, right side has stud and additional hoop earring, also small cut on right ear. 
-Doll version (upcoming release): Hair is auburn, chin length, very flat and straight along edges. Right side is slightly lighter orange with a few black tiger stripes painted on. Ears are basically the same as the cartoon version but have silver studs on both side, additional hoop on right side and small cut on right ear.

I knew the wig was going to be complicated for this project. I am not a hairstylist by trade.. In fact cutting hair instills a fear in me. Perhaps this started in childhood when my mother lined up my sisters and I in the bathtub to cut our bangs in the dreaded bowl cut technique (with an actual bowl on our heads to make sure it was done straight. Maybe it was playing hairdresser with my siblings and many cousins for years, snipping off small pieces of their hair whenever they were over and then hiding it behind the TV stand in the family room. Not that persay, but the vocal scolding I received after my mother found a pile of hair the size of a cat after a few years of it going on. Or watching one of my sisters hysterically cry as if in pain whenever she was *forced* to get her butt-length hair cut (we did at times actually think she was being tortured).


Regardless, I was going to cut this wig and it was going to be GREAT. *pats self on head* Getting a wig I could use was actually very difficult. I think there was a red wig famine in Toronto this year. What made it more annoying is that I was searching unsuccessfully for a wig that was actually nearly identical to my own hair! Eventually I did find one that I could work with. I set it up on a wig head and then printed out some reference images of both the cartoon and doll versions. From there, I just started cutting away at the wig, reducing the length and changing the part in the front as to emulate side bangs.  

The next step was to figure out how to do the orange strips of color and the black tiger stripes. I considered using permanent marker on the hair for the black but after experimenting found the color bled like crazy. I found a great alternative, one I had never seen before! In the toy section at Walmart I found a toy by Barbie called "Designable Hair". I couldn't believe it! On the Barbie website provided with the kit, you are able to design a pattern and choose colors through a program online. Then you just load the paper with the hair extensions on it into an inkjet printer and print away! Unfortunately I was running low on ink so I added a bit of color to the back of my extensions to pump them up but overall it's a pretty awesome idea! I drew a pattern inspired by Toralei's hair in Adobe Illustrator and then uploaded it onto my Barbie template. After letting it dry, I tried using hair clips but in the end opted for just sewing the extensions straight into the wig cap.

The ears were created by taking apart some costume ears and using the plastic shape as the base for Toralei's ears. I covered them in flesh colored polar fleece and hand sewed them close. I then used the same hot fix studs as used on the shoes in order to emulate her stud earrings. The hoop was interesting. I wasn't sure what I was going to use but ended up finding some do-hickey (scientific word clearly) in my toolbox that I manipulated to look like an earring. I thought about sewing the ears directly into the wig but decided against it. Instead I attached hair extension clips with hand sewing and they were strong enough to keep the ears on the wig.