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Last year we hit up the antagonist ghosts in a combined CTA, but since then, we've got another lovely ghost to add to our collection of star-crossed miko. We covered a preview of Tecmo's newest addition to the Fatal Frame/Zero franchise: Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir back earlier this year at a special Nintendo event. Since then, I've been nothing but pleased with it (though some things had been altered by the time it hit stateside, but that's another review), even more so with the ghosts that show up. Always on top of beautiful spirits, Tecmo does it again by presenting us with Maya, one of the prettier ghosties in the franchise, and also with presenting us with wickedly stunning antagonists like the Woman in Black. Today we're going to break down both costumes, and for those who have played will know why.
Starting with Maya, also called the Girl in White, she's the spirit that comes out of the cursed diary to help both yourself (by saving yourself from the curse), and herself (by piecing together her shattered memories to remember what happened and her connection with the Woman in Black. Maya is one of my favorite characters in the series; she's so pretty, and it feels nice that--because, for the first time, the player themselves are the main character--she depends on you to help. You're not going at the game alone, you'll have an ally, even if she feels she can't do enough to remember more.
Gorgeous, isn't she? :3 Maya, because she is a spirit, is different from other Fatal Frame/Zero characters, first and foremost because she is a ghost. Despite the ritual being similar to others', and of course being Japanese in nature, she's the first spirit to appear in western styled clothing, as well as the first miko to do so. The dress appears to be primarily (and is implied to be, due to her spirit name "Girl in White") white with lightish blue/teal splotches all over it. If you wish to, it can be passable to make it entirely in light blue (my own Maya costume is in fact all blue, rather than white). For some, the dress is similar to a wedding dress, but made of gauzy or light material. Cotton might hang too heavy, especially if you want the translucent effect of a spirit. It also appears to fall into layers, uneven, and the bottoms of the layers appear frayed or ripped. There seems to be one short layer that comes around from the back to the front (see top picture, under her right arm). She has no legs, since she is a traditional japanese spirit, but I find very muted or subtle (and comfy) sandals work, though plain flats in white or blue also could work.
The neckline is wide, barely on her shoulders (those Tecmo guys love their shoulders XD), and also follow the same layered and frayed effect as the skirt portion of the dress. There appears to be at least 2, maybe three layers, and they are the most see-through of the entire outfit. Some portray it as a boatnecked neckline that the sleeves are attached to (like a Spanish dress), others will portray the sleeves as separate, flowing pieces. This is entirely your choice (my own Maya dress has a spanish fold-over style to the neckline, which makes it sleeveless).
The waistline comes high, like an empire waist, under the breasts, and ends at the natural waistline (higher than low-rise). There is an embroidered pattern at the top of it, and the bottom. The empire waistline seems to gather the bodice portion under the breasts, and gathers in the middle between the embroidered portions. This will create a desireable slimming effect.
One particular detail to remember is that over her left shoulder are two thin straps or strings that aren't on the other shoulder. There are also 2 strips hanging down under the left side of her brooch, as if they were strings or straps that were ripped off. They can be sewn to the dress or strips pinned under the brooch.
If the strings travel and want to slip off your shoulder, it might be best to sew them tighter so they don't wander.
Using this fanart, as hi-res pics are very hard to come by, let's take a look at her choker and brooch. The former is made of the same material as her dress, and is gathered to have a wavy look, and is wound twice with a black cord. These can either be sewn in or tied separately. As a choker, it should be against your neck (but not so tight that it draws the breath out of you!).
Her brooch is a large antiqued bronzed or gold piece. In the center is a round coin-like shape with a clover shape in the center. It sits on top of 2 leaf shaped portions. Beneath the round part are 2 half circle details. When taking pictures of her, the brooch seems to have a sheen, but I think a slightly patina'd bronze metal would work best. This is pinned to the center of her dress at the top of the neckline.
Maya also wears a hairclip in her long hair (again, hard to get hi-res pics). Its similar to her brooch, only it lacks the large leaf shapes on the sides. Its a round coin-like shape with 2 half circles attached to the bottom. Attached to the clip portion is a small scrap of white-ish blue material, the same as her dress. Some portray this as feathers, others make it like a scrap of fabric that's the same as her dress. It appears frayed, like her dress and sleeves. It also might help to make this at the same time and with the same materials as her brooch (so they unify).
Maya's eyes appear to be blue, which is hard to see in some pictures but most obvious in picture mode (maybe also related to her western or modern look?). This pic also illustrates another important detail: Maya doesn't wear bracelets. Her hands are bound at the wrist. According to supplemental material in new game plus mode, the bindings are the same as the vines on the clematis plants that engulf the mansion she's trapped in. As a symbol of her connection to the mansion, the curse, and ultimately the Woman in Black, she has these bindings through the entire game until the end. If you wish to have freedom of movement during conventions, its also acceptable to make them black cord bracelets, and hold your hands together for pictures (as it will nearly impossible to see if they are truly connected or not from pictures). I use the same kinds of cords as the choker as I do for mine, made out of soft jersey knit (if you cut the hem off a black t-shirt, and pull, they curl into a cord. Instant drawstrings!).
Her hair is long, which is another difference from other heroines from the series--except for Miku, who wears it short but has long hair, to trick spirits from knowing how long it really is (as tradition states that female mediums with long hair often have sixth sense abilities tied to the length, and spirits can sense that). Maya's hair goes past her waist, but if your hair isn't as spectacular, it works all right if your hair at least goes past your shoulders, at least to bust level, as she has a portion of her hair over each shoulder. The locks on the left are longer (to her bust), and the ones over her right are slightly shorter (just to her neckline). Her bangs are layered and are swept slightly to her right.
Accessories! It would be best, especially of you own the game, to walk around with the purple diary, as this is the one focal point of the story. If you lack one, you can find links to hi-res scans here, and print out your own version.
Also, if you're mechanically minded, you can create a replica of the Spirit Camera in this game, which is a double lensed camera (due to the fact the game requires stereoscopic cameras to produce the 3D effects). Such multilens cameras are usually hard to come by, but if you think you're going to use one more than once, the Lomography store has many different kinds and all mostly affordable (compared to of course, high end digital and high end SLRs).
Now we've come this far for just Maya, but there's also the Woman in Black, the antagonist from the game. Forgive the screens; its practically impossible to find hi-res pics of her, and all I have are pictures taken from the game. The Woman in Black stalks the world of the diary, which is the mansion Maya once lived in isolation until the ritual. She takes people into the diary and traps them, then "takes their faces"--a rather benign phrase that means she sews their eyes and mouths shut, turning them into vengeful, wandering spirits. She has a special agenda and it seems to involve Maya, so the two of you must race to figure out the reasons for the curse before its too late.
Her costume is actually rather similar to Maya's. In fact its the same costume, with minor alterations. She also wears a long dress, with similar frayed layers, and the same kinds of sleeves, as well as having long hair like she does, only hers is white and seems wild and unkempt (like most yurei of japanese origin). Her dress is black (whereas Maya's is white), and where Maya's has splotches of blue-teal, hers is splashed with red, like blood. These appear in the same spots as Maya's splotches, and are a mix of high impact splatter and drips, all around her dress.
SPOILER AHEAD, click and read at your descrietion (highlight paragraph to read). In fact, the best way to describe the Woman in Black's dress is through this image. The Woman in Black, also known as Other Maya (in japanese, her name is merely spelled with a different character for "ma"; Maya's is spelled with 眞 for "truth"/"reality", Other Maya is spelled with 魔 for "demon"/"evil"), is Maya's other self; a split personality she created to bear the lonliness of living in total isolation. When the ritual failed, instead of taking her spirit, the ritual ripped her other self from her and cursed her to the Darkness, taking the blow of the failure and rendering poor Maya without memory of the incident or her dear friend. In this way, Other Maya is basically her mirror image, or a photo negative of Maya, down to the same voice actresses playing both. END SPOILER.
The Woman in Black's dress is also wound with clematis vines, though these appear as yellow-brown, or wilted, rather than black like Maya's hand bindings. These vines also are wound around other ghosts like The Seamstress and the Faceless Man, especially in Nightmare Difficulty. Try going for fake vines that have wire in them, or maybe sewing fake vines into your dress to keep them in place.
Her skin has a grayish color, and her eyes are red, which contrast to the color similarities that Maya has. Her hair is very wild, so if you can tease out a white wig, that would work perfectly.
One other accessory I like to carry is a ring that looks like the clematis flowers, in purple (the image color of the game). If its possible to get fake clematis flowers, get them. The diary is also a good prop. But your best accessory is always a Maya cosplayer. XD
Nightmare Difficulty is not exactly the mode in the game, but in the optional battles section. You can choose to battle any ghost on a hard mode difficulty (the new game + difficulty) or Nightmare, where the pallet swap is darker. Maya's Nightmare costume is her default, only tinted purple instead. Woman in Black's is even blacker. Her splotches are dark blue, and her skin is darker, as well as her eyes.
That's about it! Happy cosplaying!
By Dio (10/4/12)
Screencaps by me, hi-res and product art from the Zerowiki by cameraslens.com, and fanart by Bon Voyage.
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