Okay, this is my first tutorial, so be nice to meh ; ;

This tutorial is an attempt at showing you how to make shoes shown on the left in this image

You will need:
Black boots - ones that go up to your ankles/slightly higher if you can. but depending on which espada your cosplaying, eg: Spoony (Nnoitra) needs elf-boots etc.
paint - I used acrylic, which I would not reccomend because it cracks like there's no tomorow. (I made them last minute, so I couldn't get anything else in time) I would say that fabric paint possibly mixed with acrylic would work well.
masking tape - just any old masking tape is good, as long as it'll stick and won't form bubbles so that the paint doesn't spread to parts you don't want.

Step 1: References
You'll want as many references of the shoes as you can find. the more the better really, because then you can get them really accurate. try to get them to show all angles of the shoe, at least a back view, side view and front view.

Step 2: Masking Tape Stage 1:
the first lines I put on were the lines down the middle of the shoe, on the front and the back. These go from the bottom of the shoe to the tongue. I found a good size was to run a piece of tape down the middle where you want to paint, then two strips either side of that, then pull up the middle one.
Tip: use multiple small strips to stop bubbles forming

Step 3: Painting!
Start painting! Use at least 5 coats of paint (Thinner coats and more are better than less and thicker. Thinner layers of paint will go on smoother, and give a better overall finish.
Paint until you get bored of painting this line, (and have more than 5 layers), or until you think it looks bold enough. after this, peel off the tape and check how the line looks.
at this stage, you can also paint the sole of the shoe (not the actual bottom, but the bit of rubber around the bottom that you can see from the side)

Step 4:
go to step 2, but repeat for all the other lines. I found it easier to do the first two lines on the front of the shoe (left and right) and the back lines at this time, then then circle around the top as shown in these pictures
rinse and repeat!

And thats the basis of how I made my Arrancar Boots for my Ulquiorra Schiffer cosplay~
Leave comments to tell me if this is useful or not, and if you have any other questions ^^

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Wellington Armageddon 2008 photodump
Wellington Photoshoot photodump
Wellington Cosplay Picnic 2008 photodump