Aerith Gainsborough

1. Costume: Miccostumes
2. Wig: Vinted (Second Hand)

• Emotional Post

  Ever since I saw Aerith in the original game, I have always loved her character. I was twelve years old when the original Final Fantasy VII was released. I watched my brothers play the game, and now that I am older, I realise something.

  I always wondered: why? Why did I like her more than Tifa? Tifa became one of my favourite characters in the Remake, but the flower girl from the slums still touches my soul every time I see her. Was it because she wears pink and red? Because she is the last of an ancient race? The flower basket? Her kindness? Her dramatic ending?

  I fought against breast cancer in 2021. When I heard the news, it hit me hard. I felt down. I felt empty. Everything I had done in my life suddenly seemed like nothing. I felt like an empty shell.

  After my battle against breast cancer, I didn't know what to do with my life. Then a quote from Aerith in the Remake reminded me of something, and it has stayed with me ever since:

  "We need to make the most of the time we have—to live our lives the way we wanna live. Every minute... every moment, matters."

  I had to stay positive, just like Aerith, during one of the darkest parts of my life. And I will be honest: it was difficult.

  This is one of the reasons why I started cosplaying again. I returned to oriental dancing (Raqs Sharqi) and pixel art. Watching my son grow up and having a loving husband is a blessing to me. Maybe that is why Aerith has always touched my soul. She reminds me to make the most of the time I have.

• My Aerith Gainsborough cosplay got a lot of upgrades over the years.
  Let’s go back to 2008, to my handmade costume.

  The dress was made of shiny pink satin, and I made the jacket from polyester fabric. The bracelets and armour parts on the sleeves of the jacket were made of foam.

  Her staff was kind of a challenge to make. I used a wooden pole as a base and some kind of foam that I think was normally used for cables.

  I used my own hair until someone suggested that I should style my bangs in the same way as Aerith’s or wear a wig. The first upgrade came in 2009. I bought a wig, but I didn’t like it that much, so I bought a new one with better bangs. In the same year, I made the Crisis Core dress. It’s not really much of a dress, but more a top and bottom (skirt), because this was easier for me to make. I sewed blue lace and satin ribbons onto it, and the flowers on the top were made of foam.

  

  The final upgrade started in 2025, when I decided to buy the costume from Miccostumes instead. I found a seller on Vinted who was selling an Aerith Gainsborough wig with the bangs of my dreams. I love my wig so much! I was so happy when it arrived. In the same year, I bought the Doki Doki SR version of her costume. I wore this costume to Dutch Comic Con in 2026.

• After so many years, I’m so happy to finally cosplay her again. So many things have improved over the years: the costume, wig, make-up, and photography.

  I know I should be proud of my cosplays, and I certainly am proud of every costume that I made. However, I never felt very comfortable wearing the two Aerith costumes that I made myself.

  That doesn’t mean I regret making them. They are still an important part of my cosplay journey and show how much I have learned and improved over the years.