Kyoko Sakura
Of all the magical girls I’ve encountered in anime, Kyoko Sakura was one to whom I could instantly relate. I loved her fiery attitude, and her design definitely caught my eye! Like most magical girl outfits, it was deceptively challenging to recreate.
For Kyoko’s wig, I used a Jeannie from Arda Wigs in Maroon. I stubbed the base wig and styled the bangs. The ponytail clipped on to the base stub, then the black twill bow was attached to another ponytail clip that was attached between the base wig and the main ponytail.
I purchased my Soul Gem from ShoujoGems. To attach it to my chest, I applied a light coating of Pros-Aide, then adhered it directly to my skin.
I drafted the pattern for my dress from scratch. The front of the dress was all one piece with the center cut on the fold; the back was two panels with a zipper in the center back. The lines of white trim on the armscyes and collar were created with bias tape. To create the white symbol around the keyhole opening, I used appliqué and satin stitching. The bottom hem of the dress had horsehair braid in it to help define the shape, allowing it to flare out on its own. For the bottom ruffles, I sewed a long rectangle of white fabric, then gathered it by hand and top-stitched it to the hem of the dress. For the ruffles along the front of the dress, each “tier” was created separately, gathering them by hand and sandwiching them within the tier above.
My corset used black twill for both the shell and the lining fabric. Each panel was sewn separately by serging the shell and lining pieces together, then I assembled them all at once and top-stitched the seam allowance down to make sure each seam lay flat. After that, I attached the white bias tape to the bottom hem, created the swirly shapes using appliqué, and installed a separating zipper in the back of the corset.
My sleeves were made from matte spandex milliskin. The cuffs were made from black twill. My skirt was made from pink cotton stretch twill. For her boots, I found a pair of black knee-high boots on eBay, then I painted them with Melatonian Nu-Life Color Spray in Maroon. Details were added with bias tape, craft foam, and cuffs made of cotton sateen.
The head of my spear was made from MDF wood board. The staff part was comprised of three separating sections of PVC pipe that connected using dowel rods. To make the diamond “gem” in the center of the spear, I left that opening hollow and filled it with EasyCast resin, which I had added red ink to in order to tint it.
(Featured photo by Elemental Photography.)