Edea
Final Fantasy VIII
Photographer
Carlos Adama (first 2 images), Brian Boling (location photos)
Why I chose to make this costume:
Final Fantasy VIII was the first FF game I fully played through so Edea is my OG FF villain! When I first got into cosplay, there were a lot of FF8 cosplayers around but I didn't feel skilled enough to make the headpiece, so I never cosplayed Edea.
In the last couple of years, I became more nostalgic for older video games and anime, and the idea of finally doing Edea came to be!
How I made this costume:
I made everything on this costume except the headpiece, for which I commissioned The Dangerous Ladies!
Dress:
As you can see, I chose to not make a black velvet dress and instead add some sparkle and color to it! I layered two fabrics to make the dress. The base layer is a holographic blue/purple spandex fabric. Layered on top of it is a sequin mesh fabric that has the black swish designs. I had to make a well-fitting mockup and cut both fabrics out then sew them together. I also had to pattern match the black design so it didn't look off center from the front and sides.
The sleeves and gloves were extra fun to sew because they had to be tight fitting. The gloves are separate pieces with black nails glued on, and the sleeves loop around my middle finger over the gloves so I can take them off when needed.
It's been several months and I'm still finding tiny black sequins all over my house.
For the gradient bottom of the dress, I tried a few different materials from organza to feathers to chiffon and ended up settling on tulle. I bought tulle in blue, lavender and white and spent two days in tulle hell to make the bottom hem. I cut, sewed, gathered, and cut the tulle again to make three tiers which then were sewn onto the dress. It is more full than the design but I think the fuller silhouette will balance out the top half of the costume once I make the clockwork back piece!
I wear a mermaid hoopskirt under the dress to help keep the shape in tact.
Feather collar:
The entire collar is a separate piece that velcros onto the dress so I can transport and store it.
I started with a wire frame and made a base out of black fleece. I stuffed it with batting like a pillow, then spent many hours gluing feathers onto it. I used marabou for the underside, and coque feathers to create the fanned out collar in several tiers. Then I glued cut down chicken feathers for the "top layer".
Headpiece:
My headpiece (helmet?) was 3D modeled & printed by The Dangerousl Ladies! I knew I could count on them to make it and it even is custom fitted to my head when I wear a wig cap! It's kinda cool to not have to wear a wig for once!
I got raw prints of the base helmet, horns, disks and all the fiddly bits, and all of them still needed a lot of work.. I enlisted Brian's help to sand and prime the pieces while I worked on the dress. He did a great job with them!
I painted all the pieces with lots of love, using airbrush paints and then hand painting with acrylic paints. We also spent a day or two rigging magnets to all the adornments so they can be easily detached for travel. It was more than just gluing magnets to pieces, we had to carve out caveties and build supports with apoxy sculpt so everything fit properly and at the right angles.
Makeup:
The makeup is a big part of Edea's look so I designed a makeup look that takes about 2 hrs to apply, all by hand. I use Mehron's gold powder, liquified, for the veins and draw highlights on with white liquid eyeliner. The purples and dark shades are all Surreal Makeup mineral eyeshadows, blended to the heavens.
The makeup is the longest part of getting ready in this costume! I thought about using tattoo paper or sculpted veins but the painted look is so “Nomura character illustration” that I keep coming back to it.
The yellow eyes complete the look and I use opague contacts that are not easy to see through but really pull everything together!
Thoughts on this costume:
Honestly, this is a dream costume and I'm very happy to check it off my list! I really love cosplaying otherworldly villains and Edea hits all the spots for me!
Carlos Adama and I did a quick photoshoot at Dragon Con, then I did a proper photoshoot with Brian on a recent Colorado cabin trip with friends! We ventured deep into the Rocky Mountains to a Chapel at golden hour to get these photos! I hobbled into the wilderness in this whole getup! Our cabin group was mostly in cosplay and really confused the tourists!
The sunset and yellow grass reflected off of the sequins on my dress and gave it spectacular colors! I’m so glad I chose to lay a sequin mesh over a blue holographic spandex to made the dress! Different lighting gives it such a different effect!
I wanna take Edea to a con again but it really depends on how early my programming starts and if I have 3 hrs to get into this costume lol