As I am sure many of you are already aware, I RP in Belegarth as a "neko" (cat-eared person). My character is a bakeneko (Japanese cat monster) that has transformed into a 'human', but still has cat ears and a tail.

Is there any information out there on bakeneko/nekomata that hasn't already been covered on Wikipedia? Though I am roleplaying as a "cat boy", my character has strong roots in the legends and myths of the bakeneko and nekomata. Any further information I could get on these creatures would be invaluable to the development of my character.

What specific styles of Japanese clothing would a bakeneko or nekomata in 'human' (neko) form likely wear? I'm interested in both historical and "medieval-era" fantasy examples. I'm wanting to work on getting some more detailed garb, but I need more background info on bakeneko/nekomata first as a guideline before I start getting too creative.

I am also curious of how I could design a "rice hat" style leather hat (armor grade) and wear it without having it interfere with wearing cat ears.


I get the feeling I am going to get flamed for this...

If you intend to go full-tilt and make yourself up like one of the performers in CATS (the musical) then more power to ya. I think you could take the ears off while wearing the hat, and it wouldn't make much difference.

If you're getting by with those on-top-the-head cat ears from anime cons... honestly, anyone who wears those looks girly to me. However, I'll give you a serious answer, all the same. Affix a set of ears into the top of the hat, as if your character had cut ear slits, and take your regular ears off. If you don't want to cut into perfectly good leather, consider using stick-on velcro both on the top of the hat, and on the bottoms of the ears.

If you're wearing fake ears over your regular ears... just keep wearing them?

I haven't made either the ears or the hat yet. My desired appearance for the cat ears is similar to the ears the Nekomata from Disgaea has.

To make an armor grade rice hat. Cut a circle of leather, somewhat larger than the actual size you want th erim to be. Cut a V out of that with the open end at the edge of the hat. Pull the V together and this will form a cone shape. Stitch the two edges together, pus a chin strap on it and viola, you are good. As for the ears, IDK, I would have ones I wore without the hat and then build a second set into the hat.

Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure how to attach the cat ears to my head. The style of cat ears I want will go over the top of my real ears, but they have a large profile.

Anyone know how to attach these ears and have it look right?

(size and shape of ears pictured in my previous post)

Also, what materials should I use for the ears?

I'm guessing leather and some kind of weird cloth material to simulate fur. I would also need a way to simulate the inside portion of the ears as they will be highly visible.