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CosBlog #6: Kula Diamond by Catzilerella
Fanboys (and girls) are a special breed in the gaming world. With their zealous enthusiasm they single-handedly have the ability to make or break games, breathe life back into flailing franchises and (if they use their powers for evil) start flame wars across the Internet. Their undying devotion for a developer, game or character has spawned web-rings, epic works of art and the desire to participate in the ultimate fan tribute – cosplay. This weekly blog highlights some of the best cosplay found around the net. These fans put their blood, sweat and tears into their work, and it shows.
It may be hard to upstage last week’s Cosplay entry, but Cosplayer Catzilerella deserves props for her rendition of the deceivingly simple Kula Diamond costume from King of Fighters. Take it from a Cosplayer – if a costume looks easy, it probably wasn’t. It just means the Cosplayer did a fantastic job. Kudos Catzilerella! 
Who: The Character
Kula Diamond from SNK's King of Fighters series. I've done a few costume variants, and I'll probably do more in the future. I would say that the most popular one I've done so far is the default outfit from KOF 2000
Why: The Decision
Well I think Kula is the cutest character ever, and she's my favorite female fighter. My kind of video games are the fighting ones so the KOF series was not hard for me to get into. It was easy for me to like Kula, my favorite thing about her was that she was on ice skates and I skated quite a bit when I was younger. The fact that she could kick ass and look as cute and harmless as a kitten makes her an easy favorite for me.
What: The Process
Kula Diamond is actually the first costume I ever made from scratch back in 2007. The first time it took about 6 months. Learning how to use my sewing machine, picking a fabric, and drafting/altering a pattern really stumped me. Then trying to figure out how to make the gloves was another trial and error type thing. I really had to do some research.
First time around I used a crepe satin fabric, with some gold piping that I actually just hot glued to the bottom of the bust on the jacket because I just couldn't figure it out. For the gloves I used foamies that I painted in acrylic, cut and hotglued it to a pair of satin gloves. The fingertips however were made out of magic mold. The second time around I used a faux leather (that I paid an arm and a leg for at $40 a yrd).
The hardest part was the Jacket, adding the piping and sewing through layers of thick fabric.. I actually broke my sewing machine with this costume. Took about two months the second time. The gloves second time around I kinda just improved and cut up a yoga mat into little pieces and painted them gold. It was really a quick finish so that I could have a new pair of gloves for the debut.
I've really been wanting to try something more durable, but I haven't gotten around to it. I actually don't have any pictures of the "completed" Kula Diamond. The unitard I made to go with the leather, I haven't had a chance to wear yet (as I didn't finish it for the debut), and I have yet to do the artwork on the back of her jacket. I'll upgrade it sometime, Its defiantly not a costume I plan on retiring soon.
Where and When: The Debut
First time around was at a small con in Houston TX – Atsuicon 2007. But for my fancy upgrade I debut that at Anime Expo 2008.
Links: The Cosplayer
Myspace
Cosplay.com
The Gallery
Miss the past few CosBlogs? Enter "CosBlog" in the search bar for a full archive of past editions. Or simply hit the blog tab above and search through past entries by hand.
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