[Cheshire Cosplay] The Qipao Charm of Azur Lane's Royal Navy Heavy Cruiser

The release of this Cheshire Qipao draft styling at the Changsha ACC Convention garnered a lot of attention. Both the photographer @Pulao411 and I put a lot of thought into the costume, accessories, makeup, and hair to restore the character's essence. This blue jacquard satin Qipao features a slit hem design, paired with an authentic white fluffy large shawl, which not only echoes the elegance and stateliness of the Royal Navy faction but also highlights a fluffy cuteness for winter. The giant lace-trimmed bonnet on the head is also an iconic element of this look. The grey-blue highlighted wig and ice-blue eyes complement each other, hoping to stay close to the pure and lively Cheshire in everyone's heart.

During the posing process, I specially selected a plush carpet as a base, coordinating with large movements to showcase the character's agility. Since the original setting has quite a bit of skin exposure, to ensure that everyone feels comfortable and natural when viewing the photos, I already wore safety shorts and an anti-exposure base layer underneath, while also using white over-the-knee socks and gloves to add overall layers. The details of holding a white lace folding fan and trailing blue ribbons were also little ideas added after repeated discussions with the photographer. The opening and closing of the fan enriches the breathability of the frame, giving the static photographic works a hint of narrative flavor.

When shooting this set of Qipao draft photos, we deliberately preserved the background tension of the convention studio setup, without overly relying on high-brightness flashes or magnificent post-production special effects, but instead used relatively natural light and shadow to outline the texture of the Qipao. Especially in the design of hand, shoulder, and neck movements, we referenced many official character illustrations' expressions, striving to make myself look vivid and relaxed in every photo. Actually, wearing this at the convention venue is quite eye-catching, and whether it's the fur texture or the luster when the skirt hem sways, one needs to maintain posture at all times to prevent looking out of shape.

This set of photos experimented with several different scene compositions, such as a close-up sitting pose and a half-body portrait holding the fan. When the white fur scarf is spread out, it looks like a pair of little wings. I specially paired it with white stockings to reduce skin exposure, keeping the visual focus on the blue tones of the headpiece and costume. Amidst the densely crowded booths at the convention, to avoid a cluttered background, we utilized a black backdrop board and meticulously set venue lighting to achieve a clean and bright effect.

This was a challenging yet highly interesting cosplay experience, especially for this kind of anime look featuring modified Chinese Qipao elements, which serves as both a visual experiment and a deepening of character understanding for us. I have already shot many character sets from Azur Lane, but the unique flavor of Cheshire's Qipao draft is still an awesome surprise. Staying true to one's love and scrupulousness for the character, and treating every photo set seriously through dedicated Cosplay photography, is my greatest respect for the hobby of cosplay.