Character
Fruits Basket is such a rich exploration of trauma and grief. It examining how these struggles, along with abuse and neglect are passed from one generation to the next, and how that cycle can be broken. It's so well-written, and I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't before!ANYWAY, with the anime reboot giving the manga the glorious adaption it deserves, I was all in and totally in love again. I knew I had to cosplay from it and I settled on Tohru Honda my beloved. I think many people view her as the blueprint of the Sweet Shoujo Protagonist(tm) trope and nothing more than that, but this isn't true at all. She is as complex as the rest of the cast of Fruits Basket, subverting the typical anime archetype in a way that is not at all cynical––something that Natsuki Takaya achieves with all the characters in the story.
(Tohru/Kyo for life by the way 
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Costume
Tohru's winter school uniform is arguably the most iconic of her outfits, but I opted for her summer one instead! I tend to run warm, and especially so at conventions with all the extra body heat. Many of my current cosplays and cosplans involve more complicated garments, so this was the perfect easy n'comfy outfit to wear! Every cosplayer needs one when it's Day 3/4 of an event and you're ready to collapse on the con floor.To be honest? To tbh honest? I have. No real memory of making this costume LMAO The skirt and 90% of the blouse was made in the thick of the pandemic, and well, like most things from that period, it's hard to recall the actual process. Whoops! I'll share the basics, at least.
The blouse and skirt was made from a Simplicity "sailor cosplay" pattern that I modified in order to get the shapes I wanted. The blouse is a crisp cotton sateen that is too perfect for projects like this, while the skirt is some cheapo Mystery Synthetic that I bought online. The trim on the blouse is a narrow blue ribbon that I fused on first and then topstitched down--mostly. Some spots still need topstitching, so I'll have to do that! "OTL
Her footwear situation is easy, just a pair of loafers and navy crew socks.Wig
Coming soon because I'm still styling it!Gallery
Character Reference
Glamour Shots
