Background Of Costume

So I won't ruin the end of the game for you but in the sequel it's now two years from defeating Sin and the new story is through Yuna's eyes. She's on a mission to find the man she loves. This new journey is taking place because Rikku (her younger cousin and guardian from FFX) shows her a sphere of what looks like Tidus. Yuna is determined to find him and sets out with the Gullwings (her and Rikku's sphere hunting team).

How To Do It

So what pieces are there to Yuna's new look?

 § Arm Bands
 § Belt
 § Boots
 § Bracelet
 § Earring
 § Hood
 § Necklace
 § Ponytail
 § Shorts
 § Side Skirt
 § Top

		Arm Bands These are what Yuna wears around her arms (d'uh!) They are yellow laced up with black... something, cord? string? whatever you want just make sure it's black and round. They are on both of Yuna's arms and rest about half way between her shoulders and elbows. For the black laces, they tie up like shoe laces and have 5 crosses on either band and have a nice little bow on the top to do them up. I'm not too sure what they are made of yet. A lot of cosplayers Insist that they are made outta pleather but I'm pretty sure they not. My best guess it is a nice sweat/active wear material. Like what sweat pants are made out of or even hoodies.
		Belt If there is my least favorite aspect of this costume it's her belt. Not because it's ugly or anything but because it's hard to find the materials and make it accurate. Well I can't offer any help on it at the moment because I haven't tried to make it yet.
		Boots Well I'm not too sure how to make the boots but the best is to go to Wal-Mart and buy a pair, I swear they have them. They are the closest your gonna get except for if your really good at making footwear. The only draw back is that these boots aren't kind to those who have thicker claves. Here are also some similar boots from Hot Topic.
		Bracelet Her bracelet was something that I never actually noticed at first. It's almost like a piece of leather wrapped around her wrist. Once I did see it though I thought of a very easy way to make it. I took on of my mom's old belt and cut of the buckle part and then wrapped it around my wrist marking and putting snap where necessary and voila! Cheap easy and it looks rather good.
		Earring Yuna's Earring is the exact same as it was in the first game. It's hard to tell how many holes Yuna actually has in her ear but I think it's around four. Her main earring is the one you notice though. It's about 5 inches long and very nicely decorated. I could explain the pattern step by step but it would just be easier to look at the picture. I made mine from doweling and wood and plastic beads. Be careful when drilling through small doweling. We all hurt our selves that night with the drill :(. After I just took acrylic paint and did the design. I used a cheap earring from a craft kit and embroidery threads for the tassel.
		Hood Yuna's hood is slightly off hot pink and it made out of some sort of knit. I used polar fleece since it felt nice against the skin and was on for a good deal. Her hood some how holds her shirt up and hangs about half way down her back. I just traced the hood from my GAP sweater and did some adjustments so it would lay nicer.
		Necklace Her necklace (like her earring) Is the same from the first game. I remember reading somewhere that her necklace was tear drop shaped and had and aquamarine in the middle for her birth month. Don't quote me on the since I read it when FFX was first coming out. You can buy the official necklace from Square for �21,000($190 USD or 257 CND). I would suggest going to a cheap jewelry shop in the mall and finding something close since these prices are a bit steep.
		Ponytail I've had arguments over the past year or so about what's up with This girl's ponytail. Most people don't think her hair could have grown that much in two years and others say that two years in Spira could be different than our earth years and so on and so forth. To me I don't care I just want an accurate cosplay. I make long tube made from red broadcloth and am stuffing it with scraps of material that I have left over instead of throwing then out and buying stuffing. This is a cheap and easy solution. Less garbage and less money since you already paid for the material that is now scraps why not use it right? I haven't gotten this far but this is what I am going to do. I'm going to take a slightly different color red broad cloth and make two longer strips and wrapped them around the stuffed tube. Then at the bottom there is a white piece of cloth that has the same gradient as her sleeves from FFX. Around that is a black string and both of these are wrap around hair at the end of the ponytail.
		Shorts OK. I think this is one of the costume pieces that may turn off a lot of cosplayers from doing this costume... the booty shorts. Yes her but hangs out the bottom and if you wanna be that accurate then go ahead. All I did was take a pair of my most favorite jeans in the world (that had just recently gotten a hole in the inner thigh by the crotch) and took scissors to them. This was the best thing to do since I knew they fit and would be comfortable and again were free. Well almost free. I spent $2 on a box of navy blue die to die them darker since they were a very light shade of denim but it worked and the are soooo comfortable.
		Side Skirt This is my most favorite part of the costume and to this day I consider it my biggest cosplay accomplishment because it looks good, I didn't use a pattern and I got it right on my first try. Her 'skirt' is in three layers and each is graduated from blue to white or almost white. At the end of each section is a 'lace' finish (some cosplayers argue that this isn't lace but that's what I used and I think it look rather nice). The top section is in three parts, the belt, the middle section and the first part of the graduated section. I took the first part of the graduated section and put and elastic on it so that I had somewhat of that wave to it that Yuna's has. Her skirt doesn't lie flat. But how to graduate those sections? Well what I did is I used my mom's kitchen sink, it is stainless steel so just a little bleach and the slight stain came off but I recommend not making your mom mad and just ask her where a good place to you die would be. I took each section (not put together yet and without lace) and dip all but a bit into the dye slowly pulling more material up out of the die every few minutes so that the pigment would be heavier on those sections that had been in the dye longer. This worked almost exactly as I had planed except for a bit of bleeding of the die. One thing I suggest though is to make sure you use the same kind of material for the whole thing. I used two different types of broadcloth and the colors came out a tiny bit different but not so much of a biggie for me to have to redo the whole thing. So after you have the sections dyed and dried it's time to put them together. First put the laces on all bottoms of the sections, remember each lace is bigger as you go down the skirt. Once you have done this you can attach the sections. Each section is attached to the one above it just above the lace section so that the lace sort of slightly flares out from the skirt. Lastly are the strings hanging from the tie/belt of the skirt. I just used ribbon of a close color since it was the easiest thing I could think of and after having other attempts fail on me.
		Top Ah, last but not least the top. The cleavage bearing how the hell did she get into that and not 'fall out' is it taped to her? top. I can tell you that this top has tried and tested my patience sooo many times. To start lets break down the top. It is in three sections the first section is the cleavage baring part, the second is her midriff section and last is the pink lace like section. The top part of the shirt is in three sections. The first two are the front and the third is the back. The back part slopes down in the middle and at the very middle is only about 1 - 2 inches high. The front two panels are on either side of the blitzball symbol and are attached to the sides of the blitzball symbol. The middle section is a bit gathered or ribbed. is is simple a rectangular shaped piece of material that has lace semi circles on the bottom of it overlapping the pink lace. The last section is the pink part. It a pink sort of lace that has a large, small, large semi circle pattern at the bottom. There is also a yellow/gold piece of rope that wraps around her waist twice. The top is almost like a halter top except in some how is held in place by her hood and DOES NOT go around her neck. Most people put it around her neck though because it just work better that way and is pretty much accurate for the most part. The 'neck' part makes a triangle and strings the top part of the top together. The blitz symbol is attached at four points. Two tips on the neck string and two sides points on the two front panels. It is not attached at the bottom but if it is gives more comfort and gives it better support to keep the shirt closed and boobs from falling out. Some cosplayers put nylon material behind the symbol to keeps the shirt closed and to feel less skanky. This is also a good idea for bustier girls who HAVE to wear a bra. I still will never understand have Yuna's breasts stay in that shirt and don't fall out or move and still stay perky.

References Pictures