September 27, 2026
Ure-C! Tano-C! Lady C!
Since I talked about my debut costume last time, I figured this time I’d talk about the history of the costumes I’ve made!
I still make my own gear, and so far, I’ve created eight different outfits.
There was also a period where I commissioned a costume maker, and in the past, I’ve had them make four costumes and two entrance gowns for me.
Here are the costumes that Lady designed and crafted entirely from scratch.
Please take a look and compare them with the photos!
1. Debut Costume
This is the one I started making myself because the delivery date for my ordered gear wasn’t going to make it in time. It’s a simple costume in black, white, and orange.
2. Inverted Costume
This was basically my debut gear with the black and white colors inverted. I used to mix and match it with Costume #1, sometimes wearing all white or all black from top to bottom.
3. Raihan Costume
At the time, I was totally obsessed with the Pokémon Trainer Raihan (Kibana). He’s so cool, right? I designed it using navy, orange, and gold. The shape uses the exact same pattern as #1 and #2.
4. DiSCOVER THE FUTURE
I designed this one with the image of IDOLiSH7’s “DTF” (DiSCOVER THE FUTURE) outfits in mind. This is the gear I debuted when I first got the opportunity to wrestle in an NJPW dark match. I have a really deep emotional attachment to this one. The shape of the leg covers is different, there are two belts, and the beads on the chest are meticulously sewn on—so the base shape is just a little bit different from my early gear!
5. Post-Queen’s Quest Joining
After joining Queen’s Quest, I had the same costume maker as the rest of the unit create my gear, but I also wore this handmade one alongside it. It has tons of beads sewn into it and a lot of extra decorations, which makes it super cute.
6. Pantaloon Costume After joining God’s Eye, I changed the style of my gear into a pantaloon look. The white pantaloon gear was professionally made for me, but this black one is my own creation. It has a bunch of “C”s on it and looks so cool! I printed the “C”s on there myself using a silk screen.
7. Sporty Costume
Since I cut my hair short after QQ disbanded, I purposely went for a boyish, sporty vibe with this one. I had to sew 44 individual enamel “C”s onto the legs, which nearly made me lose my mind. This costume had the shortest production time of anything I’ve ever made. To make it in time for a photoshoot, I made the whole thing in just six days. I was wrestling matches at the same time, so I was insanely busy!!!
8. Denim Costume
This is the new gear I made for the Pro Wrestling Art Festival. I’d like to have a little chat (Hana-C!) about this costume in more detail!
This year, I had the privilege of participating in the Pro Wrestling Art Festival’s “Step Over Art Breaker” exhibition for the very first time.
I had gone to see the exhibit almost every year, but last year, Mr. Hiroyuki Mori reached out to me, and I ended up participating!!!
This exhibition mostly features things like photography and paintings, but I figured if Lady is going to exhibit something, it just has to be a self-made costume.
Since this was a special occasion, I wanted to make something totally different from my usual gear, so I decided to make the denim costume I’d been wanting to create for a long time.
Denim fabric has absolutely no stretch to it, so honestly, it’s not suitable for wrestling gear.
Unlike stretchy gear, denim doesn’t naturally fit the body, so right from the pattern-making stage, I had to be super conscious of the silhouette. I also had to splice in as much stretchy fabric as possible so I could actually move in it.
I also got creative and added a detachable section at the waist to make it easier to change in and out of.
My absolute favorite details: I added the text “Zugyuuuuun”—the name of Lady’s big boot move—down the right leg, and I added a pocket to the left leg to make it convenient!
It’s incredibly handy for holding water bottles when I’m at ringside as a second, or just keeping my smartphone in it!
I was making this gear while still wrestling and working, so the total production time took about a month and a half to two months.
For this exhibition, I also brought in a mannequin torso and set up a photo display from a photoshoot I did.
Even for the photos, I decorated the picture frames to match each specific shot. Being able to take the creative images in my head and give them physical form was so much fun!
The photo pieces I exhibited were titled things like “Kaitai C-nsho”, “Stand by C”, “Crazy for C”, and “This is C”—I packed them full of a playful spirit… or should I say, a “C” spirit!
So many friends, acquaintances, and fans came to visit, and getting to interact with everyone while I was in the gallery was such a refreshing and fun memory!
I really want to participate in the exhibition again next year, so if you’re reading this column, please be sure to come hang out!
I’m planning to make even more new costumes going forward, so please look forward to it (O-tano-C-mi ni)!!!
This Week’s Lady C Recommendation (Ichio-C) Movie: The Greatest Showman
This is the musical film that inspired the titles of my exhibited artworks.
The “This Is Me” scene gives me so much courage.
I can’t fully explain it with words, so you just have to watch it.
Lady loves Hugh Jackman.
The scene where Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron sing “The Other Side” is seriously so cool.
Honestly, even if you don’t watch the whole movie, I want you to at least watch this one scene.
It’s a musical movie I love so much that I even bought the DVD.
If you like musical movies, or if you like Hugh Jackman, definitely check out The Greatest Showman!
Translation Notes:
Linguistic Quirks & “C” Puns Lady C’s writing style relies heavily on a specific linguistic gimmick: replacing the shi sound or the final i in Japanese adjectives with the English letter “C”. This gives her column an energetic, hyper-branded voice that requires careful adaptation.
- Ure-C! Tano-C! (うれCたのC): Her signature catchphrase. It replaces the final i in ureshii (happy/glad) and tanoshii (fun/enjoyable).
- Hana-C (はなC): A substitution for hanashi (話), meaning a story, talk, or chat.
- C-gokoro (Ｃ心): A visual and phonetic pun on asobigokoro (遊び心), which means a playful spirit or a sense of fun. She literally swapped the kanji for “play” with her initial.
- O-tano-C-mi ni (おたのＣみに): A modification of otanoshimi ni (お楽しみに), a standard Japanese sign-off meaning “please look forward to it.”
- Ichio-C (いちおC): Derived from ichioshi (一押し), meaning someone’s absolute top recommendation or favorite pick.
Joshi Puroresu & Stardom Terminology
- Queen’s Quest to God’s Eye (Costumes 5 & 6): This tracks her faction history in Stardom. Queen’s Quest is known for elegant, highly decorated, and often matching unit gear (which explains the heavy beadwork and use of a dedicated unit seamstress). Her transition to God’s Eye—a faction led by Syuri with a heavy focus on MMA, strikes, and combat sports—is visually represented by her shift to more functional, martial-arts-inspired “pantaloons” (long flared pants).
- NJPW Dark Match / Showcase (Costume 4): Lady C mentions debuting this gear at a “New Japan Pro-Wrestling offer match” (新日本プロレスの提供試合). Stardom wrestlers frequently perform in untelevised dark matches or special showcases at major NJPW events like Wrestle Kingdom. Being selected for an NJPW stadium show is a massive milestone for a joshi wrestler, explaining her deep emotional attachment to this specific gear.
- Zugyuuuuun (ズギュウウウン): The named signature of her running big boot. In Japanese manga, zugyuuuuun is a dramatic onomatopoeia used for a sharp, piercing impact—most famously used to depict a heart being pierced by an arrow, or heavy dramatic tension (frequently seen in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure).
- Seconds / Ringside Duties (セコンド): Lady C mentions adding a denim pocket to hold water and a smartphone while working as a “second.” In Japanese wrestling, stablemates and rookies work the floor during matches—carrying the wrestlers’ entrance gear, holding their water bottles, applying ice packs, and filming ringside content for social media. A literal pocket on wrestling gear is a highly practical innovation for a faction member.
Pop Culture & Art References
- Kibana (キバナ): Costume 3 is inspired by Kibana, the original Japanese name for Raihan, the Dragon-type Gym Leader from Pokémon Sword & Shield. Her gear directly mimics his distinct navy, orange, and gold color palette.
- DiSCOVER THE FUTURE (DTF): Costume 4 references IDOLiSH7, a massive multimedia idol franchise in Japan. “DiSCOVER THE FUTURE” is one of their hit anime opening themes, and the costume borrows its aesthetic directly from the idols’ stage outfits.
- Pro Wrestling Art Festival / Step Over Art Breaker: A real, recurring art exhibition in Tokyo celebrating professional wrestling through various mediums (photography, painting, mixed media). The exhibition’s name is an English wordplay on the STF (Stepover Toehold Facelock) submission hold. Hiroyuki Mori is a prominent Japanese designer and photographer deeply involved in the puroresu scene who curates these events.
- Kaitai C-nsho (解体Cん書): A highly specific, nerdy pun. It is a play on Kaitai Shinsho (解体新書, “New Text on Anatomy”), a famous text published in 1774 that was the first Japanese translation of a Western medical work. Given Lady C’s legitimate real-world background as a former school teacher, making a pun out of an Edo-period anatomical textbook is a perfect character detail.