Lady Dimitrescu
Resident Evil Village
Photographer
Brian Boling
Why I chose to make this costume:
I was hired by Capcom to make Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil Village for a social media campaign in anticipation of the game releasing in May 2021! This was such a dream project to be approached for, I was pinching myself the entire time I was making the costume! You may know that I am a long-time Resident Evil fan and have already cosplayed Ada Wong from Resident Evil 4, and of course I have been eagerly anticipating the 8th game in the series. I am so appreciative of the opportunity to immerse myself in the world of Village and bring Lady Alcina Dimitrescu to life in my own way.
PLEASE WATCH THE FULL COSPLAY BUILD VIDEO HERE!
How I made this costume:
Dress:
Because I had a fast-approaching deadline, I used casa satin for the dress which was easy to acquire at my local JOANN, and lined it entirely in poplin. I created the pleated front panel separately from the dress so I could really control how the pleats lay, and sewed it onto the dress by hand with blind stitches.
Accessories:
Weirdly enough I already had an oversized beach hat which really saved me so much work during the short turnaround time. I took apart a few costume jewelry sets to make the necklace and earrings, and glued three fabric roses together for her brooch.
Wig:
I got a Whitney (lace front) wig from Arda Wigs and curled it further with heat and rollers.
Blade Claw Hand:
I made the blades with lightweight hollow aluminum tubing and 2mm EVA foam. I folded the foam over the tubing and glued it down, then cut out the blade shape and sanded the edges down. Then Brian helped fit the blades onto my fingers with these caps we made out of copper joints and worbla. It's easier to watch the video if this description is confusing.
Makeup:
I guess I should mention the makeup, which consisted of a white cream makeup set with white powder makeup, contoured to heck and back with various eyeshadow shades. I did a deep matte smokey eye with brick red shades and wore big eyelashes and a set of yellow/red contacts from Samhain contact lenses. The lips were a super dark red shade as a base with a more vibrant red liquid lipstick sparingly applied over top.
PLEASE WATCH THE FULL COSPLAY BUILD VIDEO HERE!
Thoughts on this costume:
The timeline for the project was not long so I gathered materials, made the costume, built the photoset, did the photoshoot and edited a build video all in two weeks. You may think "Oh ok Yaya is a professional cosplayer so this makes sense" but gentle reminder that even pros in this industry are freelancers and not a production studio. I worked non-stop for those two weeks and am really proud of being able to get everything done in time. I'm not a seasoned video editor so this was the fastest video I've ever put out. Brian and I also learned how to film with a gimbal and created all the cosplay showcase video parts ourselves.
I really loved going beyond making the costume and creating a whole environment evocative of the game and also act out as the character in video and photo form. It felt like I was learning something new and finding new ways to embrace cosplay even after all these years of doing it. I cherish this experience and hope to do more of these projects in the future! Thank you again so much Capcom and Resident Evil for giving me this amazing experience!
PLEASE WATCH THE FULL COSPLAY BUILD VIDEO HERE!
