[Alice Margatroid Cosplay] Being a Quiet Doll for a Day in the Greenhouse and Sunlight

This time it's the official cuts for Alice Margatroid cosplay. The overall preparation centered around the theme of flowers and Alice, utilizing a greenhouse with a vintage charm, hoping to fit the character's original mystery and doll-like atmosphere.

In terms of costume design, I valued the support and layering of the dress. The fabric chose a relatively heavy lace paired with deep red piping and stitching; when worn, you can clearly feel the outline of the clothes, which is crucial for presenting ruffles and layered cuffs. The inner light blue base skirt is faintly visible beneath the white lace, creating an excellent color-clashing effect. The wig is a curly blonde version, and during styling, it underwent backcombing to increase fluffiness. Combined with the hair accessories and makeup, it did not deform at all throughout a whole day of shooting.

On the shoot day, the studio used a diagonal warm yellow light to illuminate the face and contours. This kind of lighting is highly suitable for this theme, giving the blonde hair a glowing effect and making the low-saturation environment look as if it has melted into an oil painting. The photographer, 44-sensei, also put a lot of effort into adjusting the focal length this time; because the skirt hem is layered over and over, it was necessary to grasp the balance between the overall look and the doll-like feel, neither making the figure look bloated nor losing the heaviness of the fabric. The makeup was adjusted to match the light blue contact lenses, deepening the edges of the eyes so that the facial features could maintain their three-dimensionality under the soft-focus atmosphere.

Props inside the flower room, such as the iron bench, red roses, teapot, and pastry stand, were arranged with a strong vintage feel. I tried a few different postures, whether holding a bouquet or sitting on the bench or carpet looking up. These scene switches, cooperating with the colors of the costume, quickly brought me into the character's state. One major difficulty in cosplaying a character like Alice is grasping that temperament which is both cold and elegant as a magician, yet carries a doll-like silence. This temperament relies more on the gaze and the relaxation of the posture rather than purely on changes in facial expression, making it a wonderful exercise in Lolita dress photography.

In the shooting behind-the-scenes, this book was actually a relatively heavy prop, but holding its hefty weight instead maximized the sense of immersion. The wine-red piping under each layer of ruffles also echoed the colors of the bouquets and vines in the scene. During post-processing, my idea was to reduce sharpening as much as possible to preserve the film texture and warm atmosphere without pursuing excessive skin smoothing, which can better reflect the natural light and shadow of the scene and the true texture of the costume.

In addition, because the layers of the clothing are very rich, turning to different angles in front of the lens yields highly distinct effects. The binding details on the cuffs and back were not fully captured due to being hidden among the flower bushes, which is a small regret; I will consider taking some close-up partial shots later during future greenhouse photography sessions. The fully open collar design, cooperating with the inner shirt, is both slip-proof and reassuring, and the fabric is stiff enough to maintain an excellent version shape whether standing or sitting.

The few pictures I like most in the entire set are actually from relatively relaxed states—not deliberately staring at the lens, but looking at the flower bushes or the lights. This non-direct perspective is instead easier to create a mysterious fairytale feel. This first batch of the official cuts shares this part of the images. The entire cosplay photography process was highly delightful, and I hope this outfit inside the greenhouse successfully transmits the quiet atmosphere of the character setting from Touhou Project to everyone.