Costume Designs
After constructing plenty of cosplay costumes, I started designing my own original costumes, including an in-progress project where I draw outfits for each of the characters in the novel I'm writing.
Cheshire Cat
For Halloween, I wanted to be a punk-inspired, human version of the Cheshire Cat, so I designed my own outfit to visualize it. I actually wound up making the costume using the design as a blueprint. I didn't have the time or resources to make the jacket at the time, but I hope to one day make that too to finish the look.
Nikolai Lantsov
One of the characters I wanted to cosplay was Nikolai Lantsov, a prince-slash-privateer from the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo. Since the character only existed in books at the time, I had to create my own design for what his clothes would look like. I created this costume in real life too and documented the process.
Original Characters
I'm in the process of creating costume designs for the urban fantasy novel I'm writing. Most of the story takes place in present-day New York, so they wear mostly modern clothing. Most of them are in a circus-style show, however, so I also wanted to visualize the costumes they wear to perform.
Vince
Vince is one of the main characters in my novel. I wanted to design a main outfit, an alternate outfit, and a costume outfit for the circus-like show they're all a part of. I also plan on designing the set for the show, and working on these costumes has helped me get a visual of the general aesthetic I'm going to use for it— I'm giving them all a celestial theme, with nighttime purple tones and elements to catch the stage lights.
Lani
Lani was the first character I designed outfits for from my novel. Since I wanted a night sky theme for the performance outfits, I was inspired by a sunset color palette for his that seemed to work really well.
Dorian (Apocalypse Version)
One of the characters in my novel is a shapeshifter who grew up in a traveling circus, and I experimented with translating his story into a post-apocalyptic setting and designing a few outfits for him in that world.