[Cheshire Cosplay] Azur Lane: The Enduring Charm of a Chinese-Style Catgirl

For this shoot, I chose Cheshire's Chinese-style catgirl outfit from Azur Lane. Because the original design is exceptionally adorable, a lot of effort went into prepping the wardrobe and props. The outfit is a blue-and-white modified qipao featuring a daring halter neckline paired with lace and sheer gauze sleeves that flatter body contours. The wig combined a greyish-blue base with teal gradient accents, topped with cat-ear headwear and blue floral ornaments for a cohesive visual palette. The shoot took place in a Chinese-style studio featuring tatami mats, wooden privacy screens, paper lanterns, and a circular moon gate backdrop. To fully lean into the Eastern aesthetic, I brought an oil-paper umbrella, a lace-trimmed folding fan, and scattered Go stones across a nearby board to enrich compositional details.

To showcase the lines of the qipao and White stockings, we worked through several poses. In the first shot, sitting on the tatami clutching my knees elongated leg proportions nicely, which—paired with the White stockings and the bell charm at the ankle—evoked a vivid Anime-style photography mood. The second shot took a seated profile throwing a peace sign while cradling a wooden lacquer box, adding a dash of playful charm. Other frames involved posing with the fan or sitting cross-legged on a wooden stool, all aimed at finding the most flattering geometric angles. The shoot was physically demanding; the qipao fabric was delicate and sheer, easily forming creases when sitting down that required constant smoothing. The cat-ear headpiece also had noticeable weight, easily slipping out of place during sustained head tilts, so the photographer and assistant were constantly on hand to reset it. In post-processing, we highlighted an airy, translucent atmosphere by slightly lifting the cool tones in the background to make the blue-and-white palette pop, while preserving natural skin texture without over-smoothing. Shooting costumes with intricate construction is always exhausting, but seeing the finished frames made every ounce of effort worthwhile—a truly wonderful creative experience.