As mentioned a while back, I decided to finally dress as Major Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell for Halloween. Last year I boycotted the holiday altogether so it was definitely time to do it up. In retrospect, I realize that this differs very little from the way I usually look; in fact, I owned all of the items except the leotard before deciding to dress at the Major. I don’t know if that makes it a lazy costume and I suppose it doesn’t really matter. I already had the hair, too. Ftt.
I’ve wanted to dress up as The Major ever since I dyed my hair blue a few years ago. This outfit isn’t really exact, but more of a blend of Kusanagi’s combat suit and her more salacious outfits. It was a tough call since, on one hand, skankin’ it up for Halloween is lame/cliche, while on the other hand this character is designed to be super-sexy. My costume was sort of a compromise between bad-ass and hawtt.
Though this Halloween was fun enough, I wish I could have been back in Japan wearing this. The outfit doesn’t quite have the same effect mingling at a costume house party as it might were I tucked into a tenth-level red-lit bar somewhere in the heart of Tokyo. Still, the costume was incredibly fun and comfortable to wear. After spending two solid days in Kusanagi mode, I’ve gained a new appreciation of bodysuits that will likely affect my wardrobe in the future.
My favorite part of the costuming process was that it became somewhat interactive. I asked my Twitter friends to help me pick between a heavy leather motorcycle jacket and a cropped shrug. Major Kusanagi wears different jackets throughout the GITS manga, films, and series and I couldn’t decide which I liked best. Thanks to the magic of good old-fashioned cam-whoring, Twitpic, and @ replies the day was saved.
Details:
- Shrug – Plastik Wrap
- Leotard – American Apparel
- Leggings – F21
- Thigh-high socks – Sock Dreams
- Utility belt – Lip Service
- Boots [not pictured] – “Oriana” by Ralph Lauren
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Nicely done! The entire thing came out very well.
Love the site! Amazing photography, and I just can’t get enough of your style shots.
As for the costume… super sexy and very true to character!
keep up the amazing work…
Loves it. It came out great. The shrug was a definite win over the jacket.
Absolutely amazing. Any chance for these pictures to make it to the next Coilhouse issue?
This came out FANTASTIC. Yess! I really think my favourite part is the utility belt. I want one!
I’m glad the magic of Twitter helped out. Yaay!
wow!!
lovely costume..
i think you’re the best Major Kusanagi.. i’ve ever seen!
happy halloween…
haha
super uperrr sexy
I approve!
Best Major I’ve seen in all my years of Halloween & Comic Conventions.
Brutal el disfraz. Está tremendísimo.
Oh wow, it took me a moment to realize, but that’s the same shrug I have! I do love it so. :)
Awesome outfit! Could we get some full-body pictures, though? I noticed that in most of your pictures, we only ever see snippets of the outfit, and never the full thing.
Zo, if I weren’t already, I am now officially a fan.
Excellent gig. Thanks for the share.
Wonderful.
Do you speak any Japanese? What was your modus operandi for taking Tokyo? Did you drink Cutty Sark on the rocks near Shinjuku Station?
My curiosity, let me show you it.
amazing costume! absolutely love it. oh, and did you know, you’re in an LA weekly article? they’re in love with your costume, too :)
you’re in the 3rd picture down on page 2 of the article http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/synthful/eight-great-reasons-why-goth-c/index.php?page=2
Oh, you win the queen geek prize. :) Awesomesauce. I think that’s just about the perfect costume for you.
Solid costume. My friend went as the Major three years back, I opted for Reno from FFVII (back when my hair was red). Two years back it was the Joker (my then wife to be was Harley), and the year after that it was Sweeny Todd (and my dearest was Mrs Lovett). This year we opted for fairytale stuff. So it was the Big Bad Wolf or me and Puss in Boots for my wife.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2598/4069174509_bec2a65130.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2751/4069927264_b593ca5713.jpg
On a side note I spotted that same leotard in the shop window here in London and pointed it out to my wife as being quite cool for American Apparel. Glad to see we share the same tastes. And yes I have to agree on form fitting stuff. I really like the Nike Pro tops as they feel like a second skin and don’t appear to be sports wear!
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bens.at/images/Nike_Pro_Core_LS_Crew.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bens.at/index.php%3FcPath%3D24_195_499&usg=__G7-Qm_3dsWtjbDMQ2CslKgp7gJY=&h=500&w=500&sz=22&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=snkRKxRPkz0lIM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnike%2Bpro%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
Very cool. My inner fanboy is delighted! Your costume definitely touches closer to stuff in the original manga which is nice to see. Well done!
Now go fight modern day techno terrorists and global empires :P
Um, wow…
… That’s about all I can say on this one.
Amazingly creative, and killer execution. Well done!
Sweet and awesome costume. I wish I was there to take many, many photos of it…
Ghost in the Shell reaches another level of awesomeness thanks to your costume!
Uh.
Wow.
Yeh, WOW.
So, did you put the cyberbrain interfaces on your neck as well?
the major is awesome! great job
silentinfinite.com/blog :: Things I Love Thursday :: Things I Love Thursday – Nov 12th 09 // Nov 13, 2009 at 8:28 PM
[...] do so many awesome things (like be a talented photographer, illustrator, magazine editor and have a killer fashion sense all at the same time), but I definitely want to be like her when I grow up! [...]
It was cool to see the major come to live like that
“flower”