Fancy Navi - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Worn:
GAnime 2016 (Gatineau, QC)
Status: Hiatus for repairs
Why Fancy Navi?
I started to fall in love with fancy designs before I started working on this costume. I designed this with sparkles and light in mind. I also debuted her for competition.
I spent way too much time and money on this costume, but I'm happy with how it turned out. This was my own design inspired by Navi the fairy, who is actually my favourite character in Ocarina of Time.
First thing I worked on was the petticoat, which you only see if I lift up the skirt of the dress. It's very simply made, just being multiple layers of tulle sewn together. The waistband is cotton with elastic inside. I had to hand sew the tulle to the cotton. There's a mix of rainbow tulle and glitter tulle for making this.
Second, the skirt..... which took a lot more time than I ever thought it would. I used bridal satin in royal blue, and the skirt is fully lined. Before I did the lining, I hand sewed two strings of LED Christmas lights to the bottom of the dress, and covered it in beads. So... many.... beads. Somewhere around 200 in total (placed randomly across the skirt). The purpose of the beads was to help draw more sparkle and shine from the lights up the dress. The TriForce in front is hand embroidered. Once everything was done, I put the lining in and made a pocket out of cotton from a past project for the battery packs. The overlay of the skirt is made with organza, and I used the same pattern for the overlay as I did the skirt with a couple of modifications.
The tabard. I made the pattern for it and cut it out of Princess Satin in Cornflower Blue (same as the bodice). The tabard is fully lined. Before I sewed the top end shut, I hand painted the Kokiri symbol, Navi, and the TriForce onto it - I put paper between the two layers of the tabard to prevent bleed through, and removed them once dry. I sewed up the top and then soon after put the beaded lace trim across the top, and sewed two loops on so it would hang off the twisted cord. I hand glued strips of rhinestone stickers down the sides and a few beneath Navi to create her sparkle trail we see in the game. To finish it off I glued two tear drop gems to the top and then a circular one at the bottom. As a security measure to make sure that the tabard stayed in the same place as I walked, I sewed the loops in place on the twisted cord (which is hand sewn to layers of the overlay of the skirt.
The bodice was the biggest challenge. This is a custom designed one where I spent about three hours just making the pattern and figuring out how everything would fit and work on me. It's fully lined like the skirt and I put grommets in the back with my dad's help to make it a lace up back. The shoulder part of the bodice is also a custom pattern, and again lined. I hand sewed the ends of the shoulder piece closed, and then sewed it onto the dress itself with the machine. The top of the bodice closes with hooks & eyes, while the main body of it is lace up. The skirt was hand sewn to the bodice. I even attached two gems to the ends of the ribbon for added sparkle. I also put rhinestone gems in random locations on the bodice.
The train is three pieces of organza sewn together. It secures to the back of the dress on the inside using two dome snap fasteners. It trails behind me by about 4-6 feet.
The wings (not seen in photos from GAnime) are made of wire wrapped in blue electrical tape and covered in soft crinoline. They secure into the grommets in the back.
The bracelet was the easiest and fastest part of the costume. I used a cardboard ring that I got at work as the base of it and covered the outer part of it with two layers of craft foam and then spray painted it silver.
The hair accessory seems to be the favourite part of the costume for everyone. I took a barette and covered the metal of it in foam. I cut the wings out of craft foam, glued them to the centre of the barette and then put the jewel on top. I put rhinestone stickers onto the sides. For added sparkle I took four pieces of fishing line and secured beads onto them with glue.
Finally the wig. I bought a Delilah from Arda Wigs. First thing I did was style the bangs, using Got2Be Blasting Freeze Spray and a hair dryer I styled the bangs to be a mix of adult Link's hair in OoT and Sheik. The next part was doing the brades on the sides. I did two small braids, and had them meet in the middle and are secured with the hair accessory. The pieces in front are separated from the rest and trimmed. And the back braid was the final part that I did.
Finishing touch was the low heels in sky blue.
I did enter the masquerade for GAnime, and didn't win anything, but the reactions to this costume from everyone and me being happy with the final product is what's important.
Photography:
Hall/stage: Mr JechGo Photo
Green Room: Katya Perin Photography
GAnime 2016 (Gatineau, QC)
Status: Hiatus for repairs
Why Fancy Navi?
I started to fall in love with fancy designs before I started working on this costume. I designed this with sparkles and light in mind. I also debuted her for competition.
I spent way too much time and money on this costume, but I'm happy with how it turned out. This was my own design inspired by Navi the fairy, who is actually my favourite character in Ocarina of Time.
First thing I worked on was the petticoat, which you only see if I lift up the skirt of the dress. It's very simply made, just being multiple layers of tulle sewn together. The waistband is cotton with elastic inside. I had to hand sew the tulle to the cotton. There's a mix of rainbow tulle and glitter tulle for making this.
Second, the skirt..... which took a lot more time than I ever thought it would. I used bridal satin in royal blue, and the skirt is fully lined. Before I did the lining, I hand sewed two strings of LED Christmas lights to the bottom of the dress, and covered it in beads. So... many.... beads. Somewhere around 200 in total (placed randomly across the skirt). The purpose of the beads was to help draw more sparkle and shine from the lights up the dress. The TriForce in front is hand embroidered. Once everything was done, I put the lining in and made a pocket out of cotton from a past project for the battery packs. The overlay of the skirt is made with organza, and I used the same pattern for the overlay as I did the skirt with a couple of modifications.
The tabard. I made the pattern for it and cut it out of Princess Satin in Cornflower Blue (same as the bodice). The tabard is fully lined. Before I sewed the top end shut, I hand painted the Kokiri symbol, Navi, and the TriForce onto it - I put paper between the two layers of the tabard to prevent bleed through, and removed them once dry. I sewed up the top and then soon after put the beaded lace trim across the top, and sewed two loops on so it would hang off the twisted cord. I hand glued strips of rhinestone stickers down the sides and a few beneath Navi to create her sparkle trail we see in the game. To finish it off I glued two tear drop gems to the top and then a circular one at the bottom. As a security measure to make sure that the tabard stayed in the same place as I walked, I sewed the loops in place on the twisted cord (which is hand sewn to layers of the overlay of the skirt.
The bodice was the biggest challenge. This is a custom designed one where I spent about three hours just making the pattern and figuring out how everything would fit and work on me. It's fully lined like the skirt and I put grommets in the back with my dad's help to make it a lace up back. The shoulder part of the bodice is also a custom pattern, and again lined. I hand sewed the ends of the shoulder piece closed, and then sewed it onto the dress itself with the machine. The top of the bodice closes with hooks & eyes, while the main body of it is lace up. The skirt was hand sewn to the bodice. I even attached two gems to the ends of the ribbon for added sparkle. I also put rhinestone gems in random locations on the bodice.
The train is three pieces of organza sewn together. It secures to the back of the dress on the inside using two dome snap fasteners. It trails behind me by about 4-6 feet.
The wings (not seen in photos from GAnime) are made of wire wrapped in blue electrical tape and covered in soft crinoline. They secure into the grommets in the back.
The bracelet was the easiest and fastest part of the costume. I used a cardboard ring that I got at work as the base of it and covered the outer part of it with two layers of craft foam and then spray painted it silver.
The hair accessory seems to be the favourite part of the costume for everyone. I took a barette and covered the metal of it in foam. I cut the wings out of craft foam, glued them to the centre of the barette and then put the jewel on top. I put rhinestone stickers onto the sides. For added sparkle I took four pieces of fishing line and secured beads onto them with glue.
Finally the wig. I bought a Delilah from Arda Wigs. First thing I did was style the bangs, using Got2Be Blasting Freeze Spray and a hair dryer I styled the bangs to be a mix of adult Link's hair in OoT and Sheik. The next part was doing the brades on the sides. I did two small braids, and had them meet in the middle and are secured with the hair accessory. The pieces in front are separated from the rest and trimmed. And the back braid was the final part that I did.
Finishing touch was the low heels in sky blue.
I did enter the masquerade for GAnime, and didn't win anything, but the reactions to this costume from everyone and me being happy with the final product is what's important.
Photography:
Hall/stage: Mr JechGo Photo
Green Room: Katya Perin Photography