Kubo and the Two Strings - The Sisters

MrKite6

New Member
Finally got to see Kubo and the Two Strings and one thing that really popped out to me was the costume design of The Sisters. Idk what it is, but they look really neat and I wanna figure out how to put one together. I figured I'd start a thread on here to try and figure out what the pieces of the costume are. I've also recently emailed Laika asking for more info.

Reference Pics:

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I'm very much a noob when it comes to costume design, so I'm not able to really dissect the materials and etc. from a glance. I can tell that the cape is made of giant crow-like feathers (of course), the pants are a pleated blue material and some other obvious stuff. I'm particularly stumped on the sleeves/upper-body layer (underneath the chest armor) Perhaps a bit of research into the clothing of ancient Japan could help.

EDIT: Possibly a silly question, but do people think the pants could be hakamas?
 
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Trying to figure out this stuff for what The Sisters wear underneath their chest plate.

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I found a better quality picture and have come to the conclusion that it's meant to be some sort of netting over a black fabric.

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I did a bit of searching and this is the closest thing I could find.

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Have been keeping an eye out and the closest thing I can find is burlap, but the weave still seems too tight.

Perhaps it would be best to look at the other pieces. Main problem is that I can't tell what fabrics are what just by looking at them. I'll look into the cape and wait to see if anyone offers any advice on the fabric.


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That does look pretty close! :) would have to be dyed a bit or something. Thank you! I'll see how I can get a sample of it or something.


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The hats are described as a wide-rimed Peasant hat, the mask are "Noh" masks made of porcelain. The netting, in my opinion is actually armor, perhaps made from wood (real life application that is)?
 
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I didn't think of that :eek: that'd make this costume a bit more interesting. It looks so fit to their arm, it'd be interesting to figure out how to make that out of wood. Looking at their wrists in a couple of the reference pics, it does seem to have some thickness to it, thought that may also be because they're puppets...


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Although, it can't be TOO thick, so maybe it's some sort of flexible wood? Or at least some thin flexible wood would work for the costume.


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you can use tea or coffee if you just wanted it a darker shade saves buying a clothes dye

I always figured I could do that. It's getting the right appearance of whatever it is that's stumping me. Someone suggested it's wooden armor and I'm starting to think they're right, as I can't find any netting that matches their sleeves.


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i would say it was ment to be bamboo, i think sometime you have to use a little artistic licence when it comes to builds, we would all like a 100% accurate costume but its not possible. with yours the head is a physical impossibility as with many characters they dont conform to human anatomy trick is to reproduce the costume as best as possible if you tie yourself up on accuracy your go mad and never finish it so find a "looks like" product and your do fine.

i did find a garden product called reed screen its lightweight its from the uk but reed grows everywhere

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That might work :) cut a couple squares out and it could look close.

I understand it's impossible to get 100% accurate, but I've hoped that if I can at least get an idea of what it is, I can get an idea of how to recreate the appearance.


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Hi! I'm attempting to make a Sister costume as well by next week and I thought I'd share what my plans have been:

Hat - It looks very similar to a Korean hat called a "gat:" Korea-gat-01.jpg
But because the prices for a gat the size I'd want are prohibitive, I plan on making one out of black foamboard and cardboard, and Super 77-ing black burlap. I've been trying to find large straw hats/sobreros to mod but no luck.

Pants - I do think that they may be modified hakamas! That's what I plan on doing for my pants anyhow. I'll be following this basic pattern: https://thecosplaychronicles.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-cosplay-making-hakama-simple-way.html

Shirt/top - I'm making mine from the Simplicity 5840 pattern, view D (Jedi robe). I'll be narrowing the sleeves a bit so that I don't have a lot of bunchy fabric when I put on the gauntlets.

Armor - I'm going to attempt the chest plate this weekend by using some cardboard for the base and smoothing it out with some craft foam. The gauntlets and shin guards/shoes are all going to be craft foam as well. As for the webby bits that has been discussed, I found this really great pleather webbing trim at Hobby Lobby: IMG_0478 2.JPGSorry, the receipt doesn't say what it's called. It's about 3" wide and doesn't stretch, but I'm gonna see about attaching a piece of elastic between this webby stuff and the gauntlet to squeeze my arms in there.

Mask - This one's giving me trouble. I was originally gonna vacuum form a mask but I'm not sure I have time/the means to get a buck together in time. In a pinch, I'll order this mask and paint it, though it's not as beautifully stylized. Paper mache is definitely a possibility but I don't feel that it'll be smooth enough to get the elegant finish I want. I'm also intrigued by doing this pepakura mask but I'm not sure how I would finish it to get a smooth finish. Though I wouldn't be heartbroken if I ended up covering it with craft foam and having a matte mask.

Cape - I have some black fabric that I'm gonna cut into a basic cape shape and attach a butt-ton of feathers to it. I cut out four feather shapes and I made a sort of stamp out of craft foam to get the design on them:
IMG_0481.JPGIMG_0461.JPG So what I'll do is I'll pin them in an arrangement that I like, stitch across the very tops in a straight line and layer the feathers so that the stitches are hidden.


Sorry for the terrible photos -- it's late here but I was so excited to see this thread that I had to share! Hopefully I'll remember to take photos of my progress.
 
Woah! Thank you! :) the webbing looks great and I like your idea for the feather cape! I'm also a bit stumped on how to do the mask. I was thinking I'd mold/shape it out of some hardening substance.


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I love the sisters, keep this project going... I want to see the results. Not much Kubo love on the RPF yet... thought I would share the Little Hanzo costume I made for my kid.
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Finally got to see Kubo and the Two Strings and one thing that really popped out to me was the costume design of The Sisters. Idk what it is, but they look really neat and I wanna figure out how to put one together. I figured I'd start a thread on here to try and figure out what the pieces of the costume are. I've also recently emailed Laika asking for more info.


I'm very much a noob when it comes to costume design, so I'm not able to really dissect the materials and etc. from a glance. I can tell that the cape is made of giant crow-like feathers (of course), the pants are a pleated blue material and some other obvious stuff. I'm particularly stumped on the sleeves/upper-body layer (underneath the chest armor) Perhaps a bit of research into the clothing of ancient Japan could help.

EDIT: Possibly a silly question, but do people think the pants could be hakamas?

I just got back from a talk by Annika Schindler, a costume Fabricator at LAIKA; Completely unexpectedly, she had one of the Sisters with her. I wish I had a better camera with me.
According to her the sleeves/upper body-layer are laser cut fabric that was inspired by Japanese block printing. She also mentioned the cape was approximately 400 feathers.


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Somebody already made a reference album for the costume!
http://imgur.com/gallery/idqs9

The hat, the cape and the Noh mask are the hardest items to make in the whole set IMO. According to my research 'til now, the closest thing similar to the hat is the Korean traditional hat called gat as mentioned above. I'm thinking about learning how to make Asian conical hat to apply for the making :wacko

It's really difficult to convert the cape into the real life version, I'm still finding ways to work on it.
 
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