Be warned now, this is going to be a long post. I have a lot to talk about. We've been pretty busy lately, Derrick with a t-shirt competition for his favorite band and me with cosplays. For those who don't know what it is, its basically just costumes, in America its associated with dressing up as anime characters. We've got an anime convention coming up on Friday and I planned 2 new cosplays for this one which is a lot work. However, with the coning of my good friend Paige, I added another one to the list. SO I'm going as Holo from Spice and Wolf, Minami from Baka and Test, and lastly, after much convincing and an episode or two, Rarity for My Little Pony.(P.S. click their name for a link on who they are ;) ) Through all my stress, tears, and toil, I thought it would be helpful to do a helpful post on cosplaying for you all. I've been doing it for 3 maybe 4 years now. By no means am I an expert, but I do know a few tricks here and there. SO for the rest of this post its all about the COSPLAY! <- Link, you should click it!
So the basics; pick your character. I like to try to find characters that you kinda look like. Its not really a have to but I feel you'll be happier if you do. For most I actually even try to pick characters that have my hair color as well. For this con the two that I planed was Minami and Holo. Minami I actually bought simply because its a school uniform and I'm a perfectionist. But Holo is a different story. I always kinda draw out what I want to do and decide the details you want to focus on that way you kinda have an idea of what to buy. When shopping always look at thrift stores! Cosplays can get freakin expensive! You can do a ton of alterations to make it perfect. You can cut, add, trim, whatever you need to do. I personally can't sew worth a crap, and so everything I do can be done without a machine but I do have friends who get patterns and sew from scratch. But only when we can't find anything else.
Remember to be practical, you have to wear this. So yes, go for accuracy, but make sure you can wear it comfortably fro like a day-ish. If you don't find it comfortable you won't want to wear it. After the convention I'll write a post of How I made my Holo cosplay as an example..
Once you've made your cosplay and you head to your con there are a few things I believe everyone should take. Kinda like an emergency repair kit if you will.
Cosplay essentials
~Needle and Tread it really can come in handy for small hand stuff even if you don't think you can't sew. You never know when you might have to tighten up a ribbon, fix a hole, who knows what. And lets be honest, thread looks better than hot glue or duck tape.
~Hot Glue and Gun Even though the other looks nicer for some things, don't sell it short. I have done so much with hot glue for mine, from attaching ribbon to making tails, I use it a lot, And if you do it right, it looks really good still.
~Duck Tape Now, for the most part I wouldn't use this when making a cosplay but when you're at your convention and your ear falls off, its rather nifty to have (True story bro) I try to get a color that kinda matches my cosplay and at least make sure I take with me to my hotel room, or even carry it around if you have really sketchy unstable pieces.
~ Extra "details" whatever you put on your cosplay. This could be bells, ribbon, fabric, buttons, if you added it you might want to bring some with you. You have to remember that you'll actually be wearing this thing and things happen.
Wigs
For a lot of people this makes their cosplay. TAKE CARE OF YOUR WIG!!! Seriously, if you care enough to buy it, keep it nice. Chances are you can wear it again. If it gets overly frizzy and tangled you can wash it with a bit of fabric softener. I'd be careful with curls however. I keep mine on a head just because I'm stingy like that. Tons of my friends keep them in bags and it works just fine for them. Although you probably could get away without one, a wig cap if huge, for us ladies especially. If you have long hair like me, its surprisingly easy to get it up into a wig cap. Braid it down into two flat braids on your head, now take them and and wrap them up around the top, clipping them into play. Kinda like a headband made out of your braids. Once its securely flat against your head, use a real headband to keep your bangs back, even if you don't have bangs this step will still help you. Now all you have to do is pull the cap on and tuck up any fly-aways. And voila! You're ready for your wig!
If you have any questions I'd love to try to answer them for you guys. Just fill out the little form below and I'll try to answer it as soon as I can. Love you guys!
~Mii
Remember to be practical, you have to wear this. So yes, go for accuracy, but make sure you can wear it comfortably fro like a day-ish. If you don't find it comfortable you won't want to wear it. After the convention I'll write a post of How I made my Holo cosplay as an example..
Once you've made your cosplay and you head to your con there are a few things I believe everyone should take. Kinda like an emergency repair kit if you will.
Cosplay essentials
~Needle and Tread it really can come in handy for small hand stuff even if you don't think you can't sew. You never know when you might have to tighten up a ribbon, fix a hole, who knows what. And lets be honest, thread looks better than hot glue or duck tape.
~Hot Glue and Gun Even though the other looks nicer for some things, don't sell it short. I have done so much with hot glue for mine, from attaching ribbon to making tails, I use it a lot, And if you do it right, it looks really good still.
~Duck Tape Now, for the most part I wouldn't use this when making a cosplay but when you're at your convention and your ear falls off, its rather nifty to have (True story bro) I try to get a color that kinda matches my cosplay and at least make sure I take with me to my hotel room, or even carry it around if you have really sketchy unstable pieces.
~ Extra "details" whatever you put on your cosplay. This could be bells, ribbon, fabric, buttons, if you added it you might want to bring some with you. You have to remember that you'll actually be wearing this thing and things happen.
Wigs
For a lot of people this makes their cosplay. TAKE CARE OF YOUR WIG!!! Seriously, if you care enough to buy it, keep it nice. Chances are you can wear it again. If it gets overly frizzy and tangled you can wash it with a bit of fabric softener. I'd be careful with curls however. I keep mine on a head just because I'm stingy like that. Tons of my friends keep them in bags and it works just fine for them. Although you probably could get away without one, a wig cap if huge, for us ladies especially. If you have long hair like me, its surprisingly easy to get it up into a wig cap. Braid it down into two flat braids on your head, now take them and and wrap them up around the top, clipping them into play. Kinda like a headband made out of your braids. Once its securely flat against your head, use a real headband to keep your bangs back, even if you don't have bangs this step will still help you. Now all you have to do is pull the cap on and tuck up any fly-aways. And voila! You're ready for your wig!
If you have any questions I'd love to try to answer them for you guys. Just fill out the little form below and I'll try to answer it as soon as I can. Love you guys!
~Mii