Game: Xenosaga III
Worn to: Anime Iowa 08, Fanime 09
Status: Retired
Difficulty:  3/5

I first came across Shion's Episode III design sometime a couple of years ago, at which point I thought, "Hey, she looks really cool." Although her costume was well beyond my skill level at the time, I finally decided to make Shion in 2008 to go with my friend Megan's KOS-MOS costume.

I started off by making my favorite part of the costume: the shoes! I used a chunky platform sandal (to give me a little extra height) and covered them in fabric and craftfoam to create the illusion of a large sneaker. I cut designs out of black craft foam and glued each piece to the shoe to create a webbing effect. The blue gems are model magic. The back of the shoes say "XENO" and "SAGA" - just a cute little detail.

The shorts were fairly easy and were made using a pattern for pajama pants, fabric, craft foam and a little imagination. They ended up being really comfortable and I'm really happy with them! The bodysuit was a lot of guess work and I had a little problem fitting the top but it turned out alright in the end. The jacket was troublesome because I am not very experienced in making my own patterns so it was a challenge for me. The base jacket was simple enough but the sleeves gave me a lot of problems. Shion's jacket has a distinct, square "puff" in each sleeve which do not translate well into real life. Because of these puffs, the jacket fits very awkwardly and is probably my least favorite part of the costume.

The wig is not what I envisioned but it works alright. I made the shield at work one day out of FedEx boxes - it was probably the most productive day at work I've ever had. The shield was based on several screen caps but kind of took on a life of its own and ended up looking like an upside down No-Face.

I like certain aspects of this costume and I LOVE the photos I got! However, it is not one of my favorites simply because it's uncomfortable.