I wrote about the reason why we chose Klein & Lisbeth in the Lisbeth Journal entry. This costume took about a month on and off in April/May 2015. It was more experimenting than anything - pleather is weird  [Update: Added more details in July for Mechacon 2015]
  Klein is a very interesting character and even though he shows no interest in Lisbeth in the show, I feel like if given the time they would get close and be together  They have the same friends and age is just a number~ Besides Klein acts 16 anyway! Anyway, no ship wars here, just appreciation for a character who deserved more. 

  This journal is about Klein's costume specifically, read about Lisbeth's costume here. 

Reference

Sword Art Online Wikia: Klein
  Klein has 4 in-game outfits (as of the current GGO Arc): Day 1, Early SAO, Later SAO, and ALO. We decided on the earlier SAO costume, even though it barely shows up in the show. It seemed easier than the later SAO outfit and more recognizable. 

  

Wig & Headband

  LightInTheBox Klein Wig

 

1. Before styling
2. After styling (more was cut off the top later)

 

1. Wig Headband test front
2. Wig Headband test side 

Jacket

Materials:

• Sew Classic Bengaline Suiting Fabric Biking Red
• Jacket

Armor

Pattern:

Materials:

• Pleather Fabric Black
• Armor
• Single Fold Bias Dark Grey
• Armor trim
• Braided Belting Material
• Cannot find a link, but it is a Simplicity belting material
• Sheet of Foam
• Used for the diamonds on the chest piece 
• Thickness does not matter
• Sticky Back Velcro Tape
• Knee pads from Walmart
• Shoulder armor
• Thick padding
• Have no idea what it is, I got it from a friend to use as the padding for the chest and back armor
• E600 glue

Chest Armor: 

  The armor that covers his front and back. 


  I cut out the pattern for the chest armor on brown paper and then tapped it on to the pleather (can't use pins because the holes are permanent). I added a bit extra to the bottom to fold over and sew since the weight of the padding is going to be resting on it. 

 

1. Sewed a layer of black to the inside of the armor with a slit for the padding to fit through (padding was trimmed later for ease of movement). 
2. Added buttons to hold the flaps up and the padding in place

  Sewed dark grey bias trim to the top and bottom of the front of the pleather. 

  Update: Foam diamonds were added for MechaCon 2015.

 

1. Diamonds were approximately 1"x2" and rough lines were made between these measurements 
2. I glued them to the chest piece using E6000 glue. One dot in the middle to get them in place. After it dried, I came back and added more glue to the corners. 

  I did not take any in progress pictures of the straps and belt. As seen in the picture above, I used 2 straps for the top and the rest for the belt. To keep it from unraveling, I put a piece of clear tape around it then cut and sewed it over a few times using a straight stitch.
  For the front, I sewed a button hole for the straps to fit through then I unraveled them a bit and tied them in 2 separate knots so they would not fit back through the button hole. For the back, I was able to sew the straps to the black material behind the pleather. 
  Later, I hand tacked the top "pointy" parts of the armor to stay up. 

Shoulder Armor: 

  For the shoulder armor, I used 2 knee pads (from Walmart) with a layer of pleather hot glued on top. 

 

1. Before and after top
2. Before and after under

Arm Guards & Gloves: 

  Somewhat difficult and had to be redone after worn to Louisianime because he had no movement in his wrists. 


  Reference Image from SAO episode 3. 

 

1. Top & bottom hot glued a strip of black fabric so it would not rub against anything (the padding is itchy) 
2. Before & after pleather hot glued around it (fabric shows on the bottom side and pleather on top) 

  The first pair of gloves were too wide around the arm and I tried to use the wrist strap on the gloves to hold the arm guards in place. This resulted in very limited wrist movement. 

  Update: Improvements made for MechaCon 2015

 
  Pleather strips (1.75"x6.5") folded in half and sewn down to hold the arm guards around the wrist. 

 

1. Cut slits into the arm guards to fit the pleather strips through. Then sewed a piece of elastic from one end to the other.
2. Bought different gloves to fit around the arm better. Raider Black Large Leather Motorcycle Riding Gloves from Amazon

  Final look before the strip of black fabric is tied around the back piece of elastic. 

Pants

  Decided not to go with white (white pants should be avoided when possible), figured light grey would be suitable. 

Boots

  Same boots as used for the Zoro (One Piece) Cosplay. 
  I got Black Dr. Martens Triumph 2 Boots from Journeys (around $100) but I don't think Journeys sells them anymore. 
  Similar to these boots on: 

• Amazon
• Dr. Martens

Sword

  We used a black plastic Bokken that we've had for several years that has been hanging around the house. 
  Similar can be found on Amazon from $10-$50: 

• 40" Hard Plastic Bokken

Complete

  This cosplay was an experience, I had never used pleather before and boy is that stuff weird  If you sew it the holes are permanent, hot glue works on the fabric side but not the pleather side, glueing pleather to pleather or foam requires E6000 glue (had to experiment with glues for a while). All in all I learned a lot about pleather, I don't hate it but I definitely won't use it in large quantities if I don't have to. I am pretty satisfied at how it looks as armor and I'm glad I used pleather and padding instead of L200 foam. 
  The costume as a whole - he is pretty recognizable with or without Lisbeth around. Somewhat uncomfortable considering the padding doesn't allow for bending around the stomach much (as in sitting) and the gloves/arm guards allow limited wrist movement. Luckily the chest armor design is easy to take on and off, so sitting for extended periods of time it can be removed and set aside. 

  Worn at the following conventions/meetups:

• LAC Spring Meetup 2015
• Louisianime 2015
• Mechacon 2015
• Louisiana Comic Con Lafayette 2015
  
• Oni-Con 2015
• New Orleans Comic Con 2016

Taken at Louisianime 2015

Update: Added more pictures from Mechacon 2015



Picutre taken by: inochi-kitsune.deviantart.com/


Picture taken by Teknoman Omega

Update: We did a photoshoot in January 2016 at a beautiful Arboretum