Larva

• From: Vampire Princess Miyu (OAV)
• Materials: Cotton (robe), Rigid Wrap (mask), Sculptey (mask), acrylic paint (mask), elbow-length cotton gloves, black turtleneck, and black pants.
• Design notes: The main focus of this costume is the mask. There was a great deal of difficulty in designing Larva's robe: it is a strange blend of way too much material, yet it holds a specific shape. Trying to get the hood, cowl, and sleeves to work out were fun.
• Construction notes: The mask was made by applying strips of Rigid Wrap to the costumer's face. (There is nothing quite as claustrophobic as spending an evening with your face slowly being covered with slimy wet strips that you know will harden .... Time was spent experimenting with a reliable way to keep the mask attached: for safety reasons, it needed to be easy to remove yet be secure enough not to fly off when you turned your head. Velcro straps were glued (using hot glue) to the inside of the mask. (Toasted Mochi was quite happy to whip out the glue gun ....)
• Additional notes: This costume ends up being extremely hot! It also suffers from limited visibility: someone (usually Miyu) needs to act as a handler to help guide Larva (else he do something un-Larva-like such as bumping into someone). MOCHI was quite surprised when many fans at Anime Central '99 mistook Larva for the Phantom of the Opera!