Why I chose this costume:
Belphegor is the hard-working and sensible fourth sister of the Stakes of Purgatory. In the game Umineko no Nako Kuro ni, she represents the demon Belphegor and the corresponding sin of Sloth. She is also one of the most powerful of the sisters.
How I made this costume:
This was a group effort cosplay. The group consisted of seven girls (one to represent each Stake) and the group was short one girl to be Belphegor. A friend reached out to me asking if I’d like to complete the sisters and I couldn’t say no. The costumes were just too beautiful to pass up!
We had a Facebook page dedicated to the crafting of these costumes. They may look simple, but the group wanted them to look perfect, so we had to work together all across the USA to get the same materials, patterns, accessories and make the same costumes. People posted step-by-step photos and exact fabric colors/styles. Everything was to be completely lined, interfaced and look as sharp as possible. This costume taught me how to use a soldering iron, how to use interfacing, and how to use bias tape and create perfectly mitered corners–a lot of firsts and challenges!
The leotard was bought, however, I had to alter it to support the weight of the skirts (more info on this below) and sew in the stocking garters, as well as the lace line. The stockings were bought, and I used a soldering iron to pierce holes in them to attach the button snaps. The soldering iron was also used to pierce holes for the opposite set of button snaps on the garter straps, which were made of elastic. The boots were bought. The white, button-down shirt was purchased from Good Will, and cut to be short enough to hide beneath the vest and jacket. The salmon pink tie was purchased from ebay, but it was extra long so I cut it and sewed it to be the correct length to match the costume design.
The vest was handmade and cut from red suiting material and then fully interfaced and lined with red suit lining. I hand-sewed the buttons on, and also hand-stitched the button hole to close the vest when worn. The jacket is cut from the same red suit material and also fully interfaced and lined with red suit lining. Again, I hand-sewed the buttons in place. I finished the sleeves with black ruffle trim and two cufflink buttons each. Both of these had to be sewn according to a pattern, so that they would look exactly like the rest of the group.
The four skirts are each individually crafted, then sewn together as one piece. I was sent a pattern that I cut and used to craft each skirt. I made two white, satin skirts (both lined with thin interfacing), which have scalloped edges made carefully by using the soldering iron and a lot of patience. The red suit material skirt has a thin interfacing and is completely finished with bias tape and mitered corners. The black suit material top skirt was made with a heavy interfacing and finished with purple bias tape and perfectly metered corners. The waist of this top skirt is finished with black bias tape. The eagle design was crafted three times before I liked it. The first two times I made it from gold fabric which frayed horribly and was cut poorly. The third and final version is cut from gold spandex and came out much better than my first two! The eagle is hand-stitched in place on the skirt.
To hold the skirts onto the leotard, a series of snaps were sewn into the skirts, then the inside of the leotard was reinforced with heavy interfacing and the opposite snap closures were sewn through this heavy layer. This helped to reinforce the leotard and give more support to hold the weight from the skirts.
The back bow was crafted twice (until I liked it) from the same black suit lining material as the top black skirt. The bow is made with heavy interfacing as well to help it keep its shape. It is finished with purple bias tape and perfectly mitered corners. It attaches to the back of the leotard with a snap closure.
The wig is a simple black wig and a clip-on ponytail. I styled the bangs of the wig, cutting them into a point, and brushed the hair up into a side ponytail before attaching the clip-on one. This gives the hair a good flow and more natural look. To get it to stay on my head and not be pulled to toward the clip-on ponytail, I sewed in wig clips and alligator clips to help keep it in place.
The patch was created by my friend.
Thoughts on this costume:
This group was created to meet up at Katsucon 2015 but we had a huge blizzard that year and many flights were cancelled for that weekend, leaving people stranded at the convention or unable to attend at all. In the end only two of the group were able to make it (I was not one of them) and so our group was left in limbo until we can all meet up in the future. I’ve worn Belphegor since then because I am so proud of all of the work that went into making this cosplay and all the new skills and strategies I learned along the way.
