[Xiao Qiao Cosplay] Honor of Kings Xiao Qiao: Painting Time in an Ancient-Style Studio

This time, I bring you Xiao Qiao Cosplay from Honor of Kings. When preparing this styling, I spent a lot of time studying the costume's details. This purple dress features a unique cut—the strapless tube top design paired with white water sleeves gives the overall look both the classical charm of a Chinese-style girl and a touch of airy grace. The golden cloud patterns and floral embroidery on the garment's surface are extremely exquisite, and the golden knot cords on the chest also serve as a wonderful accent. To keep the costume secured during shooting, transparent shoulder straps were hidden at the shoulders, which is a common practice in cosplay photography.

For the hairstyle, I chose a brown twin-tail wig and braided delicate small plaits on both sides, paired with purple hair accessories accented with gold. The wig needed trimming and styling in advance, especially the bangs, to ensure they looked natural rather than stiff on camera. The focus of the makeup was on the eyes: wearing purple-blue contact lenses, paired with broadly blended purple-pink eyeshadow to emphasize the character's youthful aura and vitality, while the base makeup was kept clear and sheer, dotted with subtle blush.

The shooting location was selected in an Ancient style photography set studio. The background featured dark wooden openwork screens and traditional wooden chairs, accented by green plants nearby, creating an antique and classical atmosphere. I held a slender calligraphy brush in my hand, with paper patterned with purple-gold butterflies laid out before me. During the shoot, I continuously adjusted my brush-holding posture and the direction of my gaze, striving to convey a serene state of painting. Although Xiao Qiao usually wields a giant fan in Honor of Kings, in this bookish, scholarly setting, the brush prop aligned far better with the overall refined ambiance of Ancient style cosplay.

The overall lighting for this shoot leaned toward softness; the photographer made excellent use of natural light, allowing the purple shades of the costume to present delicate layering under the lens. The entire styling and shooting process went very smoothly, taking roughly an hour or so from foundation and makeup setting to getting fully dressed. Real-set shooting greatly enhances immersion for cosplay. In front of the camera, I needed to maintain the character's presence at all times, adjusting facial expressions along with the photographer's guidance. Because the sleeves are relatively wide, holding the brush required special attention to arm posture to avoid bundled fabric disrupting the composition, while keeping movements looking natural and graceful. As a pure enthusiast, I enjoy this process of bringing virtual characters into reality, and I hope to document the character's unique charm in this specific setting through these photos.