Well, these two pictures are the fruits of my first year in my fashion class. I originally wanted to just make a kimono, but when I tried to modify a wizard's robe into a shorter garment (which then looked like a haori to me), I then thought "why not make a Shinigami (Death God) outfit?"

This proved to be a lot more difficult in all aspects than I thought it would have been. The first "actual" garment to be made was the hakama the pleated pants that samurai wore over their kimonos. Since the only fabric at the time that we had a surplus of was a strange black material (either a synthetic or a cotton/synth mix), it only promoted the idea of making the entire outfit in a Shinigami theme.

It took me about three weeks to "finish" the hakama (although the actual time required to do it is about four to five hours, since I had to modify a pant pattern), but it would be a month later until I could actually start working on the kimono itself. The reason for this delay wasn't the pattern or the lack of time (the kimono was to serve as my final project), but the lack of materials required.

Even though I modified it during construction to be a male kimono, the garment required six yards (18 feet) of both lining (either silk or a silk-like sythentic) and an exterior fabric, which I insisted on being plain black cotton. It took my teacher three weeks to find a store that held that much black cotton, and when I recived it, I started to work on it immediatly.

According to my teacher, I moved remarkably fast for the quality of the garment. However, when I realized that I needed lining, the only thing I could find on hand was a ugly metallic teal colored fabric. The last week was spent with me kicking myself in the butt when I found ample amounts of fabric at the Springfield Wal-Mart for a fifth of the price that it would have cost at a fabric store. I decided on silver lining instead of my intital plan which would have used white for the kimono's interior.

However, attaching the lining proved to be a pain in the neck, as it kept on slipping when I tried to attach the sleeves. Despite my hardships, I finally finished the kimono four days ago.

When I put the "haori", hakama, and kimono together, the modified wizard robe looked absolutely horrible when compared to my other garments. Therfore, yesterday I decided to make an actual haori that would match the quality of the rest of the outfit.

Looking online for instructions, I laughed as I realized that a haori is nothing more than a shortened kimono worn as a jacket. Keeping with the Shinigami theme, I based the design off of the coats that Captain rank Shinigami wear. Ironically though, I found a decent amount of gold lining, which was used as the interior for the haori. I was able to finish that in today's class.

Now, I have most of the articles needed for the Shinigami outfit, minus the "geta" (sandles) (which I will probably need to buy, which will be annoying since the rest of the outfit is handmade), and the "tabi" or socks, which I can make from regular variants. Since I took these pictures with my teacher's webcam at school, I don't have my sword on me, nor do I have detailed/multiple pictures. I will try to upload a better version when I get the chance.

Shinigami and Bleach are copyrighted by Tite Kubo. I do not own it in any way, nor am I trying to use it for my own gain. The clothing depicted in these pictures are mine.