Fantasy Girl Of The Week: Christina Rose
This week, Christina Rose graces the page of Final Fantasy Girls as Shiva of Final Fantasy X. The revamped appearance of the Final Fantasy staple Summon/Guardian Force/Aeon has become a series favorite in terms of the deity’s ability to knock opponents with freezing glaciers and stalagmites hurled upon their wake and, with few cosplayers showing up as Final Fantasy summons, and sometimes, none at all, Christina Rose inducts herself as one of the pioneers of a categorized cosplay wonder embraced only by a few.
Shiva is popularly known for her pale, blue skin and sexy body that has become associated with her recurring form from the series though, Final Fantasy XII trashed the idea of using the old summons and replace them with new spirits which, I think was not one of the SE’s best ideas; Shiva and the rest became airships and as the series becomes more intricately interspersed with objects like for Final Fantasy XIII’s Shiva, summon experience is not that exciting anymore like what we had during early Final Fantasy games.
This talented girl tries to revive the memories of the summons and that almost surreal match between her and Shiva captures the true heart of the series and cosplay achievements never before seen from an event as big as Comic Con. You can see her here confidently incurring her frozen wrath and chilling glare to Comic Con shutterbugs along with a few familiar characters of the series:
Making The Costume:
Here’s her brief description on how she prepared the costume. Remember that Shiva and the rest of the series’ most powerful summons differ in appearance so.
“The wig was quite an ordeal. Parting the 51” wig into 11 sections was tedious as it kept tangling. It was so bad I almost gave up—but I’m not a quitter. After law school I can do anything! Thirteen packages of 4’ blue and purple 
hair extensions were mixed together into eleven twisted “braids” and sewn into the base wig. 24 yards of gold ribbon and 9 painted rings (made from purse holders and Styrofoam wreaths) finished off the 20 lb. wig.“
“Shiva’s sarong was hand-painted, and I created the “tie-dye” effect by blending yellow, green, and blue on white silk. Shiva’s top was comprised of painted bra cups. I initially planned to attach the bra cups to a dyed body-stocking. The stocking failed, and I was forced to paint myself using Ben Nye body make-up (which worked very well). I had to sew the bra cups onto myself while wearing it (not in my skin, ew, just so that they would be tight enough). The string was nearly invisible… it gave new meaning to the term “string bikini!“
Christina Rose was audacious indeed but, her unbridled audacity gave her the attention she deserves that far extends Comic Con 2010′s culture and love for comic books, video games and popular culture. We would like to see more of her in a different Shiva perspective.
You can check her out on her Deviant Art page and Game Informer profile.
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