I am back with a cosplay I made last year but never wore out. I was super pleased with the Yunjin bonnet I made from her actual in game costume in 2023, but wasn’t ready to make her entire outfit at my skill level, so instead I made her concert outfit which is a cute modern DJ/drummer ensemble to match with the cool rock/EDM vibe of the other characters in that concert artwork. As with Xinyan’s concert outfit from the same illustration, it’s just a CG painting with no other views, so I made up a few details using my imagination lol.
As usual, I started by printing out the artwork, buying any merchandise I could find at Kinokuniya or online for more details or color matches, then breaking down the costume into manageable sections into my cosplay journal and brainstorming how to make each piece. I gathered all of the fabrics I had that were the same color and made sure I didn’t have anything already existing in my closet that I could use. I concluded that I could just rewear the black lace combat boots I wore for Xinyan even though they didn’t have heels, and under-knee black socks instead of hosiery, and a short sleeve white button down shirt I already own. I also decided to use my Diamond Tears headphones (used for a D.va cosplay) even though they weren’t exactly the same color/design as Yunjin’s, they were at least white and silver, and thought I might as well reuse my Touken Ranbu/Sailor Mars long purple wig while I’m at it.
At this point, I tried to thrift as many pieces as I could to save money/time/effort and the environment. My goal was a black athletic jacket that I could make pink sleeves for, and a black/grey pleated skirt I could add ribbon trim to. I couldn’t find a black or pink jacket at a reasonable price I could cut up, but I found a black girls uniform pleated skort, which didn’t have a pink tinge and wasn’t very full and swishy like on the artwork, but I didn’t care, it was super cheap.
I already owned a cap pattern from the big 4 pattern companies which I used to make Yunjin’s baseball cap out of black cotton scrap fabric, plastic grid thingy for the buckram, and cotton and polyester and silk scraps for the brim decoration. I bought wide fuchsia ribbon at a craft store and ombre-painted the ends with black acrylic paint for her neckribbon. I made the belts using thick twill tape covered with the same fuschia ribbon, and used lavender hardware from an ita-bag decoration for the chains and buckles and charms. For the skort, I just hand-sewed thin fuchsia ribbon along the bottom edge.
I used the same zip up jacket hoodie pattern I always use as the base of the jacket, made out of black sporty knit I used for a sports anime jacket (Rin’s Samezuka jacket). I cut the collar from another pattern out of fuschia silk bought online at a discount years ago. I used that same silk for the sleeves. Did I need to use 100% raw silk for this closet cosplay? No, lol. But I couldn’t find cotton or thrifted fabric in this exact color, so silk it is. I trimmed the sleeve cuffs and bottom “ribbing” with more thin ribbon hand-sewed down, sewed wide white ribbon on the top of the sleeves. I hand-embroidered the geo logo on her jacket with gold embroidery thread. I kinda made up a bow detail for her red sleeve decoration, couldn’t see it very well to be sure. Then I painted plastic black buckles harvested from a lanyard using white acrylic paint and attached it to wide ribbon for her jacket closure. I made the earrings with gold earring hooks and 2 tassels bought at the craft store for some other purpose.
If I really wanted to go the extra mile, I might line the jacket with fuchsia, or add a functioning zipper. But since I will probably wear this costume in the summer or at least not in winter, I learned my lesson and skipped the lining, and don’t feel I will ever close the jacket, so no zipper was needed. I may change out the socks and boots if I find better ones, but I prefer to be comfortable and no one will notice or care. I actually do need a white blouse in a bigger size because I’ve gained weight lol. Finally, I kinda want to get drumsticks as a prop, but… can I make them instead? I’ll have to look that up. Other than those few finishing details, fixing the sagging belt and cap and detangling my wig, I’m pretty happy with this costume and my test-wear! It was cheap or thrifted, easy to make, comfortable to wear minus the wig, with very few hiccups that annoyed me.
Cost breakdown – wide ribbon $3.99, thin ribbon $2.99, skort around $5. Everything else I already owned or used up from my craft stash! The total was $12 in new materials.
I plan to save all of my detail work for Yunjin’s actual in-game outfit! I hope to embroider or applique the details, or use 3-d printing instead of foam, but if I can’t, I intend to at least do a much better job than all but the highest SSR rated cosplays you can buy online. So far just my hat is already better. My goal is to finish it next year, though I am too lazy to wear it out anywhere lol. Wish me luck!