April 2020 Costume Writeup: Judith Wig

What they're from Tales of Vesperia (Video Game)
Variation Default (version 2)
Created February 2020
Debuted Anime Crossroads 2020
Also worn N/A
Groups N/A
Costume Source Kraine Commissions

Wig Supplies:

Process:

Let's start off with a requisite "don't procrastinate like I did" caveat. Also, if you're going to procrastinate, make sure you at least have everything you need to get started when you stop procrastinating!

The wig itself was fairly simple, but I've been trying a new method of using wigs that are not ponytail-specific wigs in order to take some weight off my head and access a wider range of colors. In order to keep the ponytail effect, I sewed wefts to the lower sides and bottom of the wig that could be pulled up. The Jaguar wig is also quite thick, so I removed some wefts to compensate. Pulling the wig hair into a wig, I then used clear caulk to stub the wig fairly high up.

For the ponytail/bun, there was nothing available in the color of the base wig, so I had to use a claw clip and sew wefts to felt in order to make one. I had actually done this for my version 1 Judith wig (the one that was in Electric Grape), but this time instead of cutting the weft to length and using a machine (time consuming), I hand-sewed most of the weft intact with button thread. It's not the prettiest, but since it goes directly into a bun, it was a perfect spontaneous solution. The bun itself is intentionally styled only during wear to allow for brushing out the wefts; when I style it, the fibers are kept in place by netting.

For the two-tone bangs, I snagged a clip-in weft (it was super affordable!), pulled it through from the inside of the wig, and secured it with thread and glue.

I will call these weird things that come out of the wig "Krytian antennae." I don't know that they have an actual name, but as the lore of Vesperia is all over the place, I don't know that they cared. My design for these Krytian antennae came somewhat from the Vesperia stage play, and actually I had waited to decide what materials to use until I could see a clear picture. But it was feathers for the top part and a wig for the rest, as far as I can tell! The last time I attempted this wig, I had used painted styrofoam cones, cored the center and threaded free-falling (dyed) wefts through, and then covered the cones with wefts. Weftovers. The whole thing snapped to itself through the elastic of the wig itself, but wasn't easy to convert and I didn't want to do that again.

So, recap: not snapping, feathers instead of cone, gradient of hand-laid fibers instead of dyed. With that in mind, I started with a paper mockup, then traced that with wire encased in tape. I ran out of clear tape about 7/8 of the way through and ended up using a different kind of tape to finish the bottom of the second one... oops. It worked, though. Next step was to separate out the wefts, cut off the binding at the top to make separate little strips, slather the tape-and-wire form with clear tacky glue, then push the wig fibers down. Then pray. Then repeat. Then flip, and do it all over again. Once that process was complete, I hot glued the feathers starting at the bottom and moving up. I left two wire prongs at the top, which simply have to be twisted around the elastic behind the ear area of the wig to stay in place.

More to Come:

I'll be honest, if I had more time, I would have used the clear caulk method that I used for Velvet's wig. But time was running out, so clear glue that dried much quicker worked. I will LIKELY go back over these forms with clear caulk once I'm able to obtain more, and certainly before the next time I wear this costume. I'm also considering cutting the bangs a little more, since I underestimated visibility needs.

Judith has a dagger on her thigh belt thing that I can't approximate until I actually fit the thing to my leg in a more permanent way, so that's a project for future me. I'm looking forward to learning how to build that, too.

Photos by me.

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