Hey, so time for my first ever full cosplay! We'll as you can guess from the title, I'm doing Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. So before I start, I thought I'd do a background on the character for those who don't know this epic character (don't worry, I'll try to keep it
short!).
So, where to start!? Edward (or Ed as he is mostly called by) Elric is a state alchemist known as the Fullmetal Alchemist by the state. He is extremely touchy about his height and after a failed attempt at human-transmutation of his mother, he loses, not only his brothers body (his soul is later attached to a suit of amour using a blood seal, costing Ed his arm) but Ed's leg. However, post transmutation Ed gets prosthetic limbs called Automail. Looking to get their bodies back, the two brothers adventure for the philosophers stone. Okay, character info out of the way, now onto the cosplay....
THE AUTOMAIL.....
I am so sorry but I made this before I had this blog, but I can show a pic of the finished article just after it was made. Sumimasen! (
すみません) :3
To be honest, I made this three times, the first time I made a card board version (failed at attaching the fingers!), the second time I made both sides felt, but unfortunately it didn't fit :(, and finally this version, a hybrid of both pajamas's and felt, but I'm happy enough with it! (That and I ran out of grey felt!)
Of course there are many possibilities with making your own Automail, for example here, instead of felt, I could of gotten metallic fabric or changed the screw design. Well sorry about no pics of the making, but unfortunately I don't have a TARDIS (though I wish I did! X3)
THE MAIN CLOAK AND OTHER. STUFF!
For the cloak, I took a trip to Primark (yes I know, Primark!) and had a look for a red coat (failed though >:( ) but instead I found some dresses (BTW I don't really wear dresses!) that just happen to be red , long sleeved and a good price! So, you're probably asking 'why do you need dresses- Ed ain't a girl!' Well here's the answer, using the dresses I'm going turn them into a hooded cloak, and this is how I'm gonna do it... First I will slice a small slit in the back (sticking to earlier's pic) and cut the front so it opens up. Then (after hemming the edges) I will make a hood from the other dress (the rest I'll use for other otaku uses!) and attach it to the dresses neck. Then, finally the Flamel on the back, for this I'll used black felt (never fabric paint, as I don't have any, nor trust it!!!) and cut out, using my trusty pair of scissors (and a hand drawn pattern, on A4 naturally!) For those of you who don't know, the Flamel is a almost trademark of the Elric brothers that originally, belonged to Nicholas Flamel, a medieval alchemist who tried to make a philosophers stone. Here's a few pics of the process of making the cloak!
Now onto the rest of the costume. Under the cloak I wore a black tank top (complements of Primark yet again!), black jeans and some boots. Of course, these were as close as I could get to the real clothes, but I don't have a large budget, so it's a case of make-do!
EXTRAS....
Okay, I know this post is going on a bit, so I'll try to be brief (for an otaku this is hard!) so, now I have the costume, I just need to add the extras! Fortunately, I'm lucky enough to look quite similar to Ed and have long-ish hair. So, the hair style that Ed has throughout the series is a simple three strand plait (or braid- if that's what you call it) I'm not going to explain this as most know how to do this and I'm attempting to be brief! (LOL! XD) but yeah, other extras... Oh, the watch thingy! Very important if you are otaku perfectionist (like me, kinda...) but anyway here's a pic I found...so cool! but if you don't want to invest you can always get a necklace, attach it to ya trousers and tuck in pocket (for effect)
So awesome *eyes water*... Ahem! We'll thanks for reading, my pertentionally longest post yet! Happy Cosplaying!
