Step 2 - Reference.

Usually immediately or in the immediate days following a cosplay decision, I start pulling images to use as references. For a manga, I'd go through it and find panels that show it from the front, side, back, and anything else that may be necessary. For something like this, I just watch the video over and over and screencap as many variations of the gown as possible.









For VOCALOID videos, I also go poke around pixiv and see if the artist might've put up more illustrations or higher quality versions of the images s/he used in the video. I found the latter:



I also look around pixiv for other artist interpretations of the costume, since sometimes that helps me figure out how it works if the video isn't clear. I did see some for Conchita that I liked, but nothing that I absolutely had to have. Fanart did not end up being a source of reference for me in this costume.

Also in my research process, I look for photos of other people who have cosplayed the same character. Sometimes, I get good ideas. Mostly though, especially for costumes that aren't commonly cosplayed such as Conchita, I pick apart what I don't like about their costume so that I can try not to make the same mistakes.

SO! By now, I have a rough idea of what this should look like and I start thinking about how I want to make it. I already know I'm going to need to get a fwoofy petticoat—preferably not a hoopskirt because I don't like how hoops tend to have a lampshade effect. Also, hoops are harder to transport and I'm going to need to get this back to Taiwan at some point.