time completed: Beginning of September 2010
hours spent: 6
worn at: Dragoncon 2010

Why I chose to make this costume:
I am a HUGE Firefly fan and have wanted to dress up as Inara for years. She is probably my favorite character in the show and I thought she would be the one I could pull off the best, too. Finally for D*C 2010 I decided to make one of her costumes - the red dress in the Episode "Train Job", where Inara appears in full Companion mode to save Mal and Zoe. I thought it was a very iconic and memorable outfit of hers, and I love red and gold together.

How I made this costume:
I used over 5 yards of red dupioni silk because I like the way it drapes, and this luxurious fabric is appropriate for the character. The dress is serged and lined, and I added boning to it as well. I had to draft patterns for most of the dress, such as the sleeves. I scoured eBay for gold jeweled belts and ordered three of them, which I took apart and put back together into Inara's accessories. 

My thoughts on this costume:
It was nice to have such a simple and comfortable costume to run around in for a while, and I liked being able to use my own hair. :)

Reference pictures

Photos by Sam Lau, Darkain and Ted