Introducing Lady Josephine

Cherette Montilyet of Antiva

City. Ambassador of the

Inquisition.

2015 Trinity

Treasures

Cosplay Cup

Entry –

Wellington Josephine Montilyet

Emma Simo

Basic Details

Contest: Wellington 2015

Division: Open

Solo/Group: Solo

Skit/No Skit: No Skit

Name/Group Name: Blue Rose Cosplay

Full Name:

Age:

Contact Email:

Character: Josephine Montilyet

Series: Dragon Age Inquisition

Entry Introduction

I got into cosplay to combine my loves of sewing and PC Gaming. This is my second

costume where I have taken the creation seriously and although it might not be as

visually impressive as some of the armoured costumes around I have poured a lot of

love and attention into attempting to create an accurate and high quality costume of

one of my favourite characters from Dragon Age Inquisition.

So without further ado; I introduce Lady Josephine Cherette Montilyet of Antiva City.

Ambassador of the Inquisition.

Reference Images

Method, Materials and Techniques

Aka how I did it; from top to bottom…

Hair and Makeup

Hair is braided and pinned up behind the head with wavy

strands left out to frame the face. I have chosen to use my

own hair rather than a wig, as:

a) Styling a wig in such a formal updo would likely

look unnatural, especially at the back, behind the

ears, and in the front part.

b) My own hair although lighter in colour from

Josephine’s is not significantly different, and the

lighter colour is preferable as my skin tone is also

lighter. Very dark hair would have too much

contrast with my skin.

For makeup I have applied a nude lip, dark brown smoky

eye shadow, a little eyebrow

shaping with tweezers, some

contouring to enhance the cheekbones and a little bronzer to

darken my skin tone a little. My aim with the bronzer was to

get closer to the skin tone I have with a summer tan. I did not

wish to go any darker for fear of crossing the line between a

fake tan and blackface. It is important to me that I do not

needlessly cause offence so I am happy to sacrifice a little

accuracy in skin and hair colour.

Necklace

Perhaps the most complex part of this cosplay the necklace is sculpted from Fimo

clay and painted with a brilliant shine gold spray paint. Each link is modelled

separately and interlocks so that the necklace moves as I do in a natural way. To

prevent it from shifting out of place I have attached broach backs to two of the links

which are pinned to the coat at the shoulders. The Fimo was used because it was

readily available, inexpensive (i.e. on sale) and both flexible enough and strong

enough that the links wouldn’t break at the joining loops. I added detail with acrylic

paints, glass beads, and a glass cabochon painted on the underside with red nail

polish.

In creating this piece I encountered the first major hurdle when I found that the gold

spray paint was remaining tacky days after I had applied the first coat. After some

research I discovered that solvent based paints such as spray paint react with the

Fimo and therefore should not be used. But water based paints wouldn’t give the

shiny metallic finish I wanted. My solution was to seal the pieces with water based

PVA glue before spray painting. This worked for the necklace pieces and when I used

the same materials for the clipboard I added a few initial layers of acrylic paint before

the glue and spray paint which did an excellent job of preparing the surface.

Shirt, Scarf and Sash

The shirt, Scarf and sash are made from the same gold satin backed crepe fabric. This

fabric has the stain sheen to match the in game fabric but is not as shiny as other

satins so looks better under harsh artificial light and flash photography. I also found it

slightly stiffer than other satins which helped to hold the structure of the shirt.

The scarf pattern is a simple rectangle doubled over and sewn to hide the wrong side

of the satin. The sash also made from rectangles sewn the same way; a central

rectangle which is folded diagonally and secured with ties attached to opposite

corners. The ties are an example of the level of attention to detail I paid to this

costume, if I kept the sash as a single rectangle the tails of the securing knot would

be pointed, but this way they are squared as in the reference art and the knot hides

the join between the ties and the main part of the sash.

The shirt bodice was patterned from a plain fitted shirt of mine and tailored. It has

four long shaping darts running upwards from the bottom of the bodice and two

darts running inwards from just below the armpits to add shape around the bust. This

is not strictly necessary as the shirt bodice is largely hidden but it is another bit of

attention to detail and quality that I paid to the costume. I created the sleeve

patterns from scratch. Due to the extreme puffiness of the top segment of the

sleeves (it is close to double the width of the rest of the sleeve) I split the sleeve

pattern into two segments, the top part which is a vaguely oval shape to allow the

sleeve to puff away from the body without having the same puff towards the body,

and the lower part which had ruffles evenly spread around the arm. The top segment

of the sleeve is lined, iron on interfacing used to help define the shape better, and

stuffed with cushion padding to hold the distinctive almost triangular profile of this

portion of sleeve. The lower part of the sleeve is gathered by sewing channels into

the sleeve and filling these with elastic which eliminates the need for visible stitching

lines. The white cuffs were attached to the ends of the sleeves and I used the gold

thread as a decorative accent for topstitching these which visually ties them to the

rest of the shirt. A collar was also added and white buttons which match the ones

visible at the neck of the shirt in a few reference images. All my seams were

overlocked to prevent fraying and keep the shirt looking professional and neat both

inside and out.

Coat

The fabric used for the coat is a denim with a raised velvety design woven into it. The

denim is heavy and gives the coat an appropriate stiffness and is patterned in such a

way that it is only noticeable as denim close up. I was unable to find fabric which

exactly matched Josephine’s coat but this matched both in texture and in the style of

the pattern. The coat has pockets and is fully lined, and it fastens at the front with a

single button, chosen to match the style of the overall outfit even though it is also

not visible when the costume is worn.

I based the design on the McCall’s pattern M6844, although I made significant

alterations to it and the end result is not recognisable as coming from this pattern. I

widened the collar and shortened it so that it ended at waist level, removed the

sleeves and widened the armholes, and practically redrafted the lower half of the

coat from scratch adding more flare and length. I also added two rectangular

pockets, one on each side with closing flaps that do not fasten. These were created

separately and hand stitched to the coat. Facings were added to the armholes and

edges of the lower half and I sewed the lining together and hand stitched it to the

coat. All seams are overlocked as with the shirt and hidden by the lining where

possible.

Clipboard

The clipboard is a modified file master clipboard with extra pieces of board added for

a little more length above the clip and for the top platform holding the inkwell. The

curved scroll like top end is created from craft foam stiffened with hot glue and

Knead-It repair compound. I used a coping saw to cut the hole for the inkwell, Fimo

to sculpt the detail at the base and handle of the clipboard, and Knead-It to add more

detail and join all the pieces together. It is sealed with two layers of black acrylic

paint, one layer of PVA glue, and painted with gold spray paint. The inkwell is

pepakura cardboard painted with acrylics and a Fimo and pepakura lid sealed and

painted with gold spray paint. The candle is real secured in place with an upturned

thumbtack and melted wax. I might find a better way of securing the candle before

Armageddon if I find it is still too loose, I am considering using a small nail or screw

instead of the thumbtack for more stability.

Other details include the papers which include a decorative cover page, several pages

for writing and a page of handmade cosplay cards (decorative page and cosplay cards

are yet to be printed) which I can tear off to hand out. These are tea-stained to give a

rougher appearance closer to the in game art. The clip on the clipboard has not been

trimmed down to exactly match the reference images as I wanted the full width of

the clip to ensure the papers were held securely, but I did add a craft foam half-oval

to hide the file master logo and create some appearance of the smaller curved clip

from the reference images.

Waist Wrap, Belts

The waist wrap is made in one piece from vinyl curved to fit to my waist with minimal

wrinkling, and secured with Velcro. I have used bias binding for the edging, machine

stitching the binding to the top side and then hand stitching it flat on the underside in

such a way that there is no visible stitching as the reference art does not show

stitching on the waist wrap. The Velcro is glued to the underside of the wrap with

Ados contact adhesive, also to avoid visible stitching when the wrap is fastened. I also

added belt loops to the back made from leather straps and attached with rivets.

The belts are bought, but spray painted a darker brown and the silver buckles they

came with removed and replaced with gold buckles. One of the buckles has had Fimo

detail added and painted to create a point to match the reference pictures. I also

needed to punch extra holes in the belts so that I could buckle them at the correct

lengths.

Trousers and Shoes

The trousers were created using a very old high-waisted shorts pattern which I

lengthened and widened the legs of. The high waist allows me to tuck the shirt in and

not have any gold showing in the slits of the coat below the waist wrap. It has a zip fly

and button is made from cotton poplin and was dyed darker (using black dye) when

the first photos of the costume in the sun showed the trousers and shoes showing up

as lighter colours than the coat when they should be close to black. I hand stitched

some loops into the legs just above the hem to thread cords through which tie the

trousers closed below the knee. All seams are overlocked and the trousers are

finished to a level that you would expect from store-brought clothes.

I used the same fabric as the trousers to cover a pair of flats for Josephine’s shoes.

The fabric was cut and edges turned over and finished to extend the tongue over the

foot a little more and make the heel a little higher and then glued to the base shoe

using contact adhesive. This was very fiddly work and I found it very difficult to keep

visible surfaces clear of the contact adhesive. Where the contact adhesive did not

hold the joins completely flat I added hand stitches to hold the covers in place neatly.

Stockings

The stockings are made from a stretch pleather material sewn into a boot shape. The

boot shape with a sole or sorts should be more comfortable as it does not place any

seams directly underfoot. I created the pattern using paper and chalk to draw seam

lines on stockinged feet. Extra elastic will be sewn into the tops of the stockings to

hold them up more securely although they currently do stay up reasonably well.

Seams are trimmed short for tidiness.

Summary

Overall the costume fits together wonderfully. It is easy to put on and take off

without needing any help, and in fact is barely any more complicated than getting

dressed in the morning. Thanks to the puffy sleeves and warm coat it is very warm to

wear, perfectly suited for windy Wellington. It is also very comfortable, it does not

hinder my mobility at all (except for when I bump the sleeves into doorways) and I

never feel like anything might break off if I move a certain way.

I am particularly proud of the accuracy of the details in this costume. From the

necklace design, to the shape of the shirt sleeves to tiny details such as shirt buttons I

have ensured that it matches Bioware’s design wherever possible. I think I have

succeeded in bringing Josephine to life.

Other Questions

Did anyone help you with your costumes and/or props?

No

How did they help you?

N/A

If you are performing a skit, who was involved in creating the script and recording the

file etc? (Please include a written copy and digital file of your skit)

I am not performing a skit.

Have you previously won any awards for costumes, props or performance in any

contest? If so what were they?

Best novice at the Christchurch Trinity Treasures Cosplay Cup 2015

Have you worked in or are you currently employed in any prop/costume related field?

Please describe here:

No

Do you have any qualifications or are you currently in any costume related study? Please

describe here:

No

If you have any special requirements please describe them here:

No special requirements.

Have you fully read the rules and understood them?

Yes