Naruto Uzumaki

Source: Naruto

Completed: 2005

Awards: Kosaikon 2005 - 1st Place Novice

I can't begin to tell you how much I loved the show Naruto at this time, and although my interests have also moved onto other series, it's still one of my favorites. I guess it would be inevitable that I would cosplay Naruto.

Where do I begin? I first debuted this outfit at Katsucon 2005. The headband was made from the same fabric as the rest of the blue in the outfit and the metal forehead protector was made from craft foam topped with plastic sheeting. The bolts were made from paper brads and that's how the protector is attached to the fabric.

The jacket is based off a jacket pattern with a lot of modifications. The base of the jacket I believe is an orange stretch denim. Can't really be sure since I got it from a stack of unknown fabrics and I've never found it again. Then I ended up creating the shoulder section and bottom waistband out of a stretch blue twill. The collar was made from a low pile fur fabric and padded it with some batting then sewed straight lines to give it that rippled look that Naruto has in his collar. I also made the collar high enough so that it's the right height when folded down.

The pants actually have working pockets that I was glad to have made to carry stuff around at conventions. It was also another attempt of me making pants with a zipper fly, which I find rather difficult, and still do. But it came out really nice looking in the end.

Oh ninja sandals. The scourge of all Naruto cosplays and ninjas everywhere. My first solution was making something like a sock to go over my sandals. It worked but was slippery on tile floors and got pretty nasty if I was walking around outside. My final solution to the sandal dilemma was to actually make a cover which attached to the sandal with velcro. This solution worked out the best because I cosplay multiple characters from the Naruto series and it's easy for me to switch out the various sandal coverings rather than having a new set of sandals for each character.

Lastly, the rasengan. Hahaha this was just a fun one since I hadn't seen any others since the introduction of the rasengan had just come out. But it's a fillable gift globe with gift ribbon poof in the middle and I coated the outside of the ball with puffy paint lines in various shades of pearlescent blues and whites. I also created various shuriken and kunai from resin that I cast. Though I don't think I have any individual pictures of them. 

Additional Photo Credits: John Booty