Character
When I first learned about Dungeon Meshi I knew that I would like it, but I didn't know how much I would end up loving it! Both the anime and manga have rocketed up to my list of favorites. The level of care given to its setting, story, and of course, cast, is truly exceptional––and that's not even touching on the gorgeous, expressive artwork!
While the entire cast is endearing, Marcille ended up being my favorite. Frivilous yet practical, bright yet rash, feminine yet willing to get her hands dirty when push comes to shove, Marcille is... fully realized lmao. Delightfully real. Especially taking the manga into account, the highs and lows of her character are fascinating. And admittedly, I see myself in how high-strung she gets about things too (oops!)
Also, let's be real about what my other big reason for cosplaying her was: the comfy cotton costume of my dreams!! A loose dress, stretchy trousers, soft capelet? Flat sandals?! Sign me up. Now more than ever I prioritize comfort in my costumes, and Marcille seemed like a great cosplay for when I wanted to dress up at a con and not kill myself in the process. And after making and wearing her, I can confirm she indeed fits the bill!
Costume
Marcille's outfit is pretty basic. While there are multiple components, there is neither elaborate construction nor excessive embellishments. It suits the story; when you're travesing a dungeon, you're gonna prioritize simple clothing.
There were a couple roadblocks while making this costume, but none of them pertained to the actual sewing.
I made Marcille using this Etsy pattern. To me, the fact that I can go out and buy a sewing pattern designed for a specific character exemplifies how far the availability in cosplay resources have come. When I first started cosplaying, patterns for specific characters were far and few between. If memory serves correctly, they essentially didn't exist outside of scant Deviantart and Tumblr tutorials. But even then, making crazy modifications to a commercial pattern is totally different from the convenience of printing something out just ready to go. Of course I still use commercial patterns and adjust them for my needs, but I still poke around to see if someone has developed a pattern for a character. Patterning is my weak point with sewing; hats off to anyne who can do it from scratch, because you amaze and scare me!!
Anyway, this pattern is well-done overall!! My critiques are that I thought the instructions were worded weirdly in certain sections, and some portions could use extra detail (especially for new sewists), but I can't complain at all over how it was drafted.
For the dress, I chose a bright blue double gauze. Originally I wanted to make it out of a linen dyed to the exact color, buuuuut... my attempt at this did not work at all LOL. Too dark, too saturated, too unusable. It was a lost cause and not worth the headache, so back to the fabric store I went. And I'm so happy I did, because I couldn't be more pleased with my choice! Lightweight, soft, with a pretty texture and drape, it was the perfect choice. Because my trousers and cape are made of a linen blend, the gauze gives greater variety to the costume's textures.
Other than my sorry dyeing attempt, the actual sewing was pretty breezy. I did have to remake the bodice due to incorrect sizing, but I was able to salvage the sleeves from my first attempt. And WOW am I happy with the final results, especially with the fit––it's super flattering worn!
The trousers were even easier to make––and just as comfortable! I used a linen blend and I'm obsesseddd with the dashes in the weave. Originally meant for draperies, it sewed up beautifully. Actually making them was like making a pair of pajama pants with cuffs at the legs. And there's nothing better than wandering around a con in a pair of elastic pajama pants!
Then came the cape! Sewing it? No problem? Dyeing it? Not so much! Spoiler alert, my dye attempt on this DID turn out how I want, but not without a fight. The fabric I used had polyster in its blend... which I promptly forgot about the first time I tried dyeing it. I was so confused over why it wouldn't take the dye, and only then did it hit me. Yikes!
In the end I saturated the dye bath more deeply, then left it soak for a few days. I wish I got a picture of my rig because it was so ridiculous lmao. I crammed the fabric in a a plastic container which I then weighed down using a couple weights wrapped in multiple trashbags. And the aftermath of washing out the linen? It looked like a Smurf was murdered in the bathtub. In the end it was totally worth it though!
Though the trim on Marcille's capelet is beige, I opted for a truer gold instead. I'm so happy I did, each of the costume's colors compliment the other so beautifully!!
Marcille's cape has decorative stitching as well. At first I wanted to do lines of fancier stitches than what's present in artwork, but my initial trial, was, well. The results were an ugly rat's nest of stitching, and I didn't want to risk ruining the entire cape, so I opted for larger machine stitches! They're still cute. In the future, I may run this same stitch across the gold trim as an an accent.
The sandals are exactly what I hoped for. Soft and squishy and awesome support. As I've gotten older, I've become fussier about my cosplay shoes, so these are great!
Prop
MY PRIDE AND JOY, THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE... AMBROSIA!!! Oh wow, I'm ecstatic about this staff!! Context: before my cosplay hiatus, I was the worst about finishing props for costumes. Often I was too busy finishing up the garments and didn't have time to make a prop without killing myself in the process. But this time, after deciding to axe another costume for my big con in May, I used that extra time to make a prop. And I'm still super duper hyped about it!!
This is an uncomplicated prop. The rod of the staff is made from a PVC pipe. After trimming it down to the correct scale, I spray painted on a brown base coat. Then, I took a styrofoam ring, cut a slit in the base of the ring, and secured it to the pipe using several layers of duct tape. After that came the fun part: wrapping the whole thing in twine! It took about two rolls and I barely had enough at the end. After it was completely covered, I gave it another coat of spray paint and finished it off with some fake green leaves.
Props make a cosplay feel so much more complete, so totally worth! Admittedly my materials probably aren't the most durable. While I was at the con the staff tipped over at one point, causing the ring to snap. Thankfully it didn't snap completely off and fixing it was a cinch, but still, Ambrosia is delicate!
Wig
Backstory: cosplaying blonde characters is very intimidating for me. I'm a brunette and have always been one, so it's always a shock seeing myself with lighter hair. In addition to this, I'm really picky about what shades of blonde I like on myself! Anything too platinum or cool toned washes me out (spring seasonal color palette girlie over here). Many prestyled Marcille wigs are quite cool toned, colors I wouldn't feel comfortable in, so I decided to use a wig I already own, one that's much warmer and golder. That, and it has bangs, giving my dark eyebrows more leeway. Thankfully Marcille has a new hairstyle every other episode/chapter which gave me a lot of wiggle room! In the end I styled my wig based off of this character reference from the manga, where she has some shorter side bangs. More of my style! Maybe the wig isn't entirely "accurate" in the eyes of some, but I'm okay with that. I believe with cosplay it's much more important to make decisions based not on complete accuracy, but based on what will make you feel your best, whatever that "best" may be. One option could be 100% faithful to the source material, but that doesn't mean that it's best for your personal comfort or confidence. In a hobby that's (sadly) as appearance oriented as cosplay, you must to consider what will make you feel good in your own skin. Your attention on your looks will already be heightened. Picking them apart based on choices made thanks to an uber strict adherence to canon won't serve you in any aspect. In fact, there's a real risk of your self-esteem being damaged by this. And there's nothing looks better on a person than confidence, so always make the decision that will increase that! If, for example, you love a character design but it reveals more skin than you're comfortable showing, then modify it. If a wig color is Completely Accurate to the source but will make you look sickly, then pick a more flattering coloring! You do what you need to do!! RANT ASIDE ALL THIS TO SAY I'm happy with the wig! After detangling it, I braided the front pieces and created the loop in the back with help from my mom. Wigs aren't a strength of mine, but they're really fun to play around with and I'm eager to learn more!Gallery
Character Reference
Glamour Shots
