petit bonhime

So I thought it was a good idea when I couldn’t work on anything because of my sprained finger to make up a reference guide for all the cosplays I have ever done.  I found that a lot of my friends also wanted something as well that they could easily download.  Inspired by Hatterinsanity’s Reference Book because ohhhh man it is such a good idea!!  I figured I should give credit where credit is due (the fabric portion of the book is GENIUS).  The main problem was that there was no download link to a guide... So I decided to work on one for myself.

Please ignore the insane amount of tabs I have because I’m doing archeological research at this moment RIP.

In this download there are lists for a breakdown, reference sheet, fabric materials, and prop/accessory breakdowns.  This is a work in development for me at this moment so if I see anything else that needs to be added, I’ll reupdate the download.  It is a Microsoft Publisher document for easy editing and access.  This can be used almost like a curated guide or for cosplay contest purposes.  I highly recommend in getting some trading card sleeves and make a progress highlight area of sorts using either Polaroids or printed paper :)

If you use the doc and decide to showcase it online, I would love for you to credit both HatterInsanity for the idea and myself for the wide-use development.  Also if you are super, extra generous, please consider donating to me on Ko-Fi as I am a broke as hell college student almost ready to step into the world of student loans.

Hi guys!  I was requested to do this by @CullenGardepe and @NobleKind92 on Twitter.  I’ve been a lot more active on there than I have on here, so don’t be afraid to follow me at @petitbonhime to request more tutorials like this.  I would be fine with doing anything from any past prop or cosplay I created.  If you see something I am working on as well and want tips, don’t be afraid to hit me up too!

Orga is a pretty difficult wig to do actually.  This wig was one of the hardest I have ever made and I am really proud of the results.  This is for our Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans group for my boyfriend, Stanley.  I’m so proud of the progress he has made on his season 2 Orga and I really need to get on my jacket for Lafter!  Anyways, this is a step by step with tips and stuff that I used.  I’m not afraid of linking any other videos or resources I used, but please note that this wig is definitely not for beginners!  If you need beginning resources, please go to Arda Wigs or Epic Cosplay Wigs youtube pages!  They have a lot of good resources on how to cut wigs and stuff that I am going to be explaining on here.

First, I decided on to research what wig I should be using for Orga.  There were some jokes that flew around that he looked a little like Archer from Fate Stay Night or Vergil from Devil May Cry so... I ended up looking at cosplayers who did these two characters!  Most of these people ended up using a Marty from Arda Wigs in either white or silver.  I went with silver since his hair isn’t exactly white.  Other people used a lavender too, but I thought silver was more accurate and you can always put in that purple later!  You are going to want a Classic wig from Arda because of the crazy amounts of styling you will be doing to this thing!  You are also going to need a pack of classic short wefts in the same color too.

PRO TIP: Get onto Arda’s mailing list.  Wait for Arda sales.  Arda normally goes and has sales of 10, 15, or even 20% off depending on what year it is.  This wig is NOT CHEAP, but it will give you AMAZING results.  Here is a free shipping coupon if you have never ever used Arda Wigs before!

Next as you wait on your wig to get here, you might as well go and get more supplies.  Here is what you need and where to find it:

Got2Be Freezing Spray:  If you never used it, then you are going to love this.  You can find this at CVS, Target, a grocery store, etc.  It is in a yellow can with a gray spray tip.

A Hair Dryer:  This makes your life a WHOLE lot easier.

Combs: I really like the combs with the pick end on it.  It helps when parting things and moving hairs.  It makes a good thing to use when you press down on glue too.  I found mine at CVS, Target, or grocery stores again.

Tacky Glue: YOU WILL NEED THIS.  THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL.  You can find this glue at most craft stores, Target, Walmart, Lowes Home Improvement, etc.  It can be used on fabric too.

Clothing/Sewing Pins: I use these to divide my hair up and have ridiculous bangs hang there.  Also I use these to pin my wig onto my wig head.  You can find these at craft stores.

Wig Head:  Go get one.  Go get a male one if possible because it fits your head better.  You can find this at craft stores.  I am going to link to a tutorial on how to make a wig head that is as big as your head because THIS HELPS GREATLY.

Hair clips:  This just makes the process easier.  I have at least two I use plus bobby pins. 

Hair Scissors/Sheers:  This is a necessity for styling wigs!

To make a custom wig head if you don’t have one already.  This tutorial really helped me:

So now it has been about seven days or so that your wig has come in, now you are going to want to pin that wig onto your wig head and start!  First brush out your wig and then you are going to measure where your ears are.  You are going to go maybe one or two inches up and start pinning the top of the wig back.  This is because Orga doesn’t have spikey hair like normal characters... He actually has an undercut! 

I actually had to research how to do this because I never did this before!  Starting with the undercut was probably the easiest for me and you can always go back to it and work on it more versus other parts of the wig!

I’m so glad Arda had a tutorial for this part that REALLY helped me.  Other tutorials that may help for this would be to look for wig tutorials for Levi from Attack on Titan!

I told you this is going to be video tutorial heavy!  You are going to be left with a bottom that looks like this approximately!

So now since you have undercut the wig to death, you might want to learn how to spike this monster right?  I have a few tutorials that I found that may help you guys if you haven’t spiked anything before.  Also look at CowbuttCrunchies Cosplay too because she also does some AWESOME wig panels about spiking and stuff!

So my wig started to turn out like the pictures shown below.  I just followed a LOT of reference pictures to try to get the spikes right.  The hair dryer and Got2Be will be your best friend on getting this stuff done!  Don’t be afraid to fluff up that back part and just go crazy!  Leave a bit of the front portion left because you are going to need this to make the crazy cowlick!

Now I was at a loss about the bang because I’ve never done anything like this before.  This is where your tacky glue will come in because you are literally going to sculpt this bad boy.  This was probably the most time consuming portion of the process.  Thankfully, I found something that gave me inspiration on how to do this!  This may help with some of the other processes up top too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIFPQRdfKp8

You are literally going to cut the wefts and glue them in place.  To keep sections together, you are going to glue the fibers together and then push down on your comb.  The hairspray will keep everything down and sculpted while your hair dryer will speed the process up and bend these fibers to your will!

So next I decided to use copic markers to bring out and blend the part!  I used a BV31 marker that I found at Blick Art.  You can also find copics at Micheals now too!  I bought too many markers tbh so don’t make the same mistake as me.  You are only going to need the one!  If you want more of a gray, get a cool gray color.  I wanted more purple though!

The tutorial from MangoSirene really helped me above when coloring my wig.  I am going to warn you that you should definitely use a chisel tip and don’t be afraid to go wild with making highlights!  Your marker may gunk up so have a paper towel next to you to get access gunk off.  Afterwards, hairspray the crap out of it, cut the extra lace off, and you are good to go!

All done!  I hope you guys enjoyed it and I hope this was useful!  I really wished I had more photos to show, but I think you guys get the jist of it!  If you guys thought this was useful, please feel free to donate to my Ko-fi!