The Ultimate DIY Guide - Ryuko matoi
Ryuko Matoi kicks ass with her sentient sailor’s uniform, Senketsu. Out of all the sailor uniforms out there, Kill la Kill's Ryuko’s has to be one of the coolest. It’s even got a name and can change its shape when synchronizing with Ryuko to give her immeasurable power. While Ryuko’s outfit can change shape, we’ll have to make do with just one form. Here’s the ultimate DIY Guide to Ryuko Matoi cosplay!
Hair
Ryuko Matoi has shoulder length black hair with a single red highlight in her bangs. If you’re feeling into it, and you’ve got black hair at the right length, go ahead and dye a red strip on the left side of your bangs. Otherwise, you can easily find a Ryuko Matoi wig, complete with the red highlight in the bangs.
Uniform
Initially, Senketsu and Ryuko could not fully synchronize because she was too embarrassed at how skimpy the uniform was. However, we’re going with the least skimpy one, with a crop top and miniskirt. Senketsu has a lot of unique details, so it’s time to bust out your sewing skills! If you’re unable to find a short, crop top, navy sailor uniform top, you’ll need to sew one together. You can also purchase a sailors outfit with the skirt included and then alter both the top and the bottom, or you can buy a separate skirt. Ryuko’s uniform has a mini skirt, so if your skirt is too long you need to hem it.
Details
Senketsu has a ton of details, including a red scarf, an eye patch, and suspenders. Ryuko’s sailor suit has a red scarf, part of which makes Senketsu’s left “eye” underneath the sailor collar. You can sew on red and yellow material and fashion an eye to your sailor outfit.
The other “eye” of Senketsu is a sort of black eye patch that covers the right side of Ryuko’s chest. You can create this out of a black material. Don’t forget to include the x-shaped “scar” on the patch!
Ryuko also has black suspenders that attach to the belt on her mini skirt.
Ryuko’s skirt has a black belt that has some leather armor embellishments on the sides. Find yourself a black belt and attach pieces of leather to the left and right sides. The other alternative is buying your own black material and fashioning a whole custom belt piece yourself from your local fabric store! You can use Velcro to close the belt, as Ryuko’s belt has no visible buckle.
Glove
Senketsu requires the blood of its wearer in order to gain powers. Ryuko Matoi is given a Seki Tokko, or red gauntlet, that has a built-in syringe that will regularly take her blood and feed it to Senketsu. Good thing for you, you won’t actually need to donate your blood to your costume, but you can recreate this look with a single red, fingerless leather glove on your left hand. The glove sort of folds over at the wrist and has a black line detail. You might need to put your sewing skills to use again in order to alter red leather gloves.
Shoes
Matoi’s choice of shoes are her white high-top sneakers. Very unique, but ultra comfortable and easy to fight in.
Accessories
Ryuko Matoi is on a quest to avenge her father’s death and travels with the blade of half of a red scissor. She is searching for the mysterious killer that has the other pair. Because of the large size of the scissor, you’ll have to create one yourself. You can use styrofoam, cardboard, wood or any other material you’d be comfortable working with and carrying around, and follow a tutorial online such as this one by @xieng prod.Once you’ve molded your blade, paint it the iconic red. If you’d rather buy a premade sword, you can find Kill La Kill scissor blades online
Now get out there and show off your Ryuko Matoi outfit! Your Senketsu may not synchronize to your blood, but you can still carry around your scissor half just like Ryuko!
