Before you jump straight in, the most important choice you will make is 'Which character should I cosplay?'.
There are many things to consider
- Which characters would I enjoy dressing up as?
- Should I make the costume or buy it?
- How much can I spend?
- Are my skills realistic enough and how can I develop them?
- What resources do I have access to?
- What help can I get or will books and internet be enough?
Do not allow your age, gender, skill level, confidence, ethnicity, height or weight put you off from cosplaying a character you love! Remember you are cosplaying for yourself and its more fun to cosplay FOR the character than to let such little things tell you otherwise.
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| A home-made costume |
There is no shame in buying costumes. Some people don't have the time or resources to make them, would like to own a dream costume that is beyond their current skill set or would like to test the waters of cosplay before becoming too involved (sewing machines can be expensive). Altering pre-existing garments is a very popular method of costume making as it can be cheaper than buying fabrics or getting a costume commissioned.
If you wish to buy a costume be sure to do your research first. Not all places will have the costume you want and some places offer better customer services than others.
Research! Research! Research!
The first golden rule is to ensure you give yourself plenty of time. A first good step is gathering a large
collection of references; official artwork of the character and screenshots of all angles of the costume. You may also want to consider looking at other cosplayers who have done the same character previously. Nothing is worse than dedicating all this time and money onto a costume where you will later find out that it could be infinity better if you had some extra time to find a better suited fabric, make the hems neater or even getting the chance to iron the costume before wearing it.
Sometimes details vary from picture to picture, and things may go wrong along the way. With good planning and effort this can be reduced to a minimum.
Choosing the right fabric can be tricky, but it will make a difference! Avoid selecting cheap fabrics such as dress satin. Sure Duchess satin may cost more but it certainly gives off a more polished look!
Gathering supplies
Before you can make something you will need the right materials. Natually fabric stores and craft shops will notmally be your first stop.Not everything will be fabrics; you may need sewing supplies, shoes, wigs, make-up...ect. Here are just a few on-line places to get you started.
Charity shops are definitely worth checking out for shoes and basic clothes for altering.
If there is something you can not find on the shop floor be sure to ask. You will never know what they will have at the back!
Feel free to make some adjustments to make you more comfortable in that costume
There are not many people that have the proportions to anime characters unfortunately but that is one reasons why you should not feel too pressured for 100% accuracy! Not everyone has the same confidence as those young ladies with the super long anime legs and eyes the sizes of dinnerplates. No need to worry!
It is perfectly fine to add those extra inches to that miniskirt. You will look and feel better for it and remember, it is your cosplay! If it is true that there standard body shapes for cosplay then it would be no where as popular as it is today. Cosplay can be enjoyed by anyone of any age, size, gender, background and anything else you can think of!
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