Are you ready for a WALL 'O TEXT?? Because I am ready to write one.

Introduction: I set out to imitate the animegao kigurumi style of costume that hasn't seen a lot of execution in the furry community. My biggest inspiration was this costume: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szvcKmW5_E4 What I like about this style is the option to wear whatever clothes you want over top of your suit. I like the "person that just happens to also be an animal" type of character, and the smaller head and slim bodysuit is perfect. This is my second shot at Mirepoix. You can see how far I got in my first attempt over here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9709834/ I just wasn't happy with how it was turning out and chose to start over. I'm glad I did! She isn't quiiiite finished and has a lot of room for improvement, but she was done enough to wear to the convention.

Bodysuit: Made from matte milliskin in ivory and shiny milliskin in white from the same website. The shiny stuff is a little bit thicker and seems more durable. I am having a little bit of pulling around the fingertips, so I am thinking of painting some plasti-dip on my pads to protect them and give an animal-ish look. I also had the seams pop a little on the very top of the sleeve seam, but it's nothing I can't fix. Zipper up the back.

I don't lose a lot of dexterity from the Sculpey claws, but I don't really like being trapped in the gloves. However the seamless, graceful wrist got a lot of compliments, so I will keep it that way.

The website that I made my leotard block from (patternschool.com) has been down for a while. I. Am. So. Mad about that. Lucky for me I made my pattern before the domain lapsed, but I am keeping my eye out for other resources. I learned how to make gloves and the hood from http://www.stretchy.org/

You need both a serger and a regular sewing machine to sew bodysuits like this. Need. No, a zigzag stitch isn't enough, you will pop seams every time you put the thing on. I have a Brother 1034D for a serger.

Mask: Sculpted in clay, molded and cast myself. All Smooth-On products. (Rebound and Smooth Cast 65D). The biggest issue I have with the resin is that it when you start sanding it, you reveal a lot of bubbles that need filling in. Nothing that fiberglass filler and automotive primer can't fix. The orange bits are epoxy clay. The ears are Worbla around styrofoam. The horns are permanently affixed with wood screws and epoxy glue. A little bit of epoxy clay fills in the gaps around the base.

On the lower left picture, you can see the elastic strapping and a hunk of foam to bulk out my crown. The padding on the inside followed this tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvxo.....re&index=2 The whole mask is very heavy! Luckily it is all centered on the very top of my head, so it wasn't so bad.

Wig: I bought it from Cosplay.com's wig store a year ago along with a matching length of wefting. Man I'm just gonna say it: fuck wigs. I hate working with them. But! I am showing you how I attached this sucker just in case you are more patient than I am. This was a rush job, so the hairline is very plain. I wear a scarf to cover it up. You can see there how it snaps on. I had to make the wig larger, so I made some triangular gores to expand it around the crown. On the lower right picture you can see the result of poor planning: I ran out of wefting! She's got a couple of big 'ol bald spots, but you can't see them unless you look.

The wig snaps just behind my ears to the mask elastic. It was impossible to put the wig on myself with my clawed gloves, but my handler was very patient and helpful. Next time I will devise an easier system that I can do on my own. Maybe just sew the sucker on?

Paint: All of the green is Golden Fluid Acrylics mixed with the Golden Airbrushing Medium. Washfastness remains to be seen, but it hasn't rubbed off anywhere yet. I intended to use Jaquard dye-na-flow to paint my bodysuit, but that stuff doesn't adhere to non porous surfaces. I didn't have time to color match some acrylic paint, so I just used the Golden all over. The orange is some Createx mixed to match the orange vinyl. The vinyl is a redder shade of orange than I wanted, so I lightened it up a little. The eyebrows were super fun to paint.

Tail: Not much to say here. Carved foam that I covered in fleece, then spandex. The scales were hot glued on because I was low on time.

The future of this suit: There are a few little repairs to do, like touch up the horn tips and fix the popped sleeve seams. I did not have time to get to her arm or back scales in time for the convention, but I'll have those on eventually. I want to make some matching leggings for her so I can wear skirts and dresses with this suit. No plans for feet, but maybe some toe socks. I think sculpted feet would look very very silly considering how form fitting the suit is. I would also like to resolve the base of the tail. It just kinda flops around hanging off my belt right now. Perhaps belt it underneath my leotard, velcro it to my butt, then make clothing that accommodates for the tail?

Ok, all done. If anybody has any questions about my process, please don't hesitate to ask. I am still new at this, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. Always do your research! I am also open to critique and suggestions for improvement.