princess mononoke

I had always thought that San, from Princess Mononoke looked far too clean for an abandoned child raised by wolves. This project gave me the chance to place myself into her shoes (or lack thereof) and ethically source materials for her costume. I deep-dived into how primitive clothing and tools were made at the Natural History and British museum to aide my design process.

To create San’s wild headdress, I used wool roving to handcraft realistic dreads that reflect her untamed essence. This choice adds levels of detail, as each dread was shaped, colored and beaded to blend naturally with the rest of the costume. I sourced real bones and teeth found in fields to incorporate a raw, earthy aesthetic—small touches that add layers of realism and further align with the natural world that San embodies. I saw her as a curious soul that would pick up items on her travels so I thought to cover the costume in layers of trinkets, beads, bones and dirt.

Fashion Diploma: Final project 2018

In my research, I found that most surviving beads, religious or sacred objects were coated in gold leaf or even made of solid gold. So I paid particular attention to embellishing the bones and beads with gold leaf to bring her design forward from dirty scraps of fabric into a worthy princess of wolves.

This costume was re-worn in 2021 for a documentary showcasing the inside lives of cosplayers, this gave me the opportunity for some much needed upgrades for the props and added details.

The new weapons were made from EVA foam and hand painted over on Twitch.

The costume includes: