My very first cosplay. It was unbelievably much work but I think it turned out great. If you would like to see progress pictures of this costume please visit me on my facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.215134648546547.53596.206826966043982&type=3

time it took to make: roughly six months
most of that time went into: most definitely the sewing of all the gold stripes on the skirt. I needed ten meters of fabric and there is a gold stripe every fourth centimeter.
most annoying detail: that damn ruff on the back of my collar. It just didn't want to come together. It took me four tries to get it right.
number of pearls: 5000 give or take a few