Pokemon Black and White: Touko/Hilda and N costumes
Media:
- Thrift store finds
- fabric & heat n’ bond for the white “wings on the shorts
- fabric paint for hats
- polymer clay for necklace
- Scrapbook gold paper for cube for N
Patterns used:
- Pattern for the white “wings” on the shorts here (and on DeviantArt)
- Stencil for pokeball here (and here)
Estimated duration: Thrift store hunting for months
Results/Details:
Touko
Main Clothing
Most of the clothing was easy to find. The white shirt fits me perfectly for my body type, so make sure it does for you too.
That vest took 4 months searching in thrift stores around the United States, to find. They just aren’t in style, I guess.
Shorts
Assuming that the white portion of the shorts is just a design, I ironed & stitched the white ovals and the flaring white wing-like portions onto existing shorts.
Hat
I used fabric paint in this one. I have a template I used to cut out a perfect pokemon shape, and then I just painted it.
Wristbands
Wristband details & a tutorial here
Hand-knitted, since I felt knitting was better in this case than sewing it on. I couldn’t think of a good way to sew a stripe on black fabric that gave it a clean finish. These were decently quick to make though, with basic knitting skills.
Boots
I reused black boots from a previous cosplay. I have been fielding questions about this, so here are some suggestions.
First, find black boots. You can find this in a military surplus store or in thrift stores. It may be difficult/easy to find these depending on the weather season you are at now.
You need pink, long shoelaces, so once you get the boots, you can measure how long your shoelaces need to be.
Now, as for the pink band and soles on the boots: Dome used pink acrylic paint. Others used pink masking/duct tape, which is great for reusability!
N
Main Clothing
It turns out that white button down-collared shirts, in either the mens or womens section, would work just fine. We got the sleeves right on this one. So if you plan to cosplay as N, you may find the perfect shirt in the mens or women’s section.
The turtleneck was hard to find, just because of the season and I didn’t want a thick material. Otherwise, N would just melt underneath the Los Angeles sun, and no one wants that.
Hat
See, I started with a white hat from the local crafts store, and had the perfect plan: Spray paint the black on, with masking tape covering the white part. Turns out the black paint still leaked, and I still needed to go over all the white parts with white. – . –
Accessories
Void Cube/Menger Sponge details & Void Cube Menger Sponge Tutorial here
The void cube didn’t take too long to make. We just needed the right materials for it, and N needed time t cut out the squares.
The pendant was made with polymer clay, and with some color-changing, metallic paints. The paints really gave it a nice shine. This piece seemed really popular.
Worn at: Anime Expo 2011, Tsubasacon 2012, 2013, and various other events.
References:
Touko/Hilda and N, respectively, images © Nintendo, Game Freak, Pokemon Company.
