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Picking a Cosplay Outfit

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smithers456

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PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 6:21 pm
I've often wondered what cosplayers go through to pick and make the outfits to wear next for each convention that they go to. Even though I have been cosplaying and going to Anime / Cosplay conventions since 2009 I still consider myself to be a novice or newbie compared to others. What do you go through to pick what cosplay outfit to wear next and why?

Here is a list of the Cosplay outfits I have done so far:
1. Lt Commander McCoy from Star Trek the original series. I wore this outfit at my first con and it was an easy pick because I have a big interest in Star Trek and I already had an outfit on hand that I have worn at Star Trek cons in the past. To my surprise a lot of other Cosplayers really liked my outfit and it motivated me to do more outfits.
2. A Celtic Cleric from Dungeon and Dragons. I took an old Halloween costume and altered it to look like a Cleric. It was an original design which worked out really nice. I have always liked playing Dungeon and Dragons whether it was the traditional paper and pencil way or as a video game so it was an easy pick.
3. Syaoran from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. After coming up with my first two outfits I had a strong desire to create and wear an Anime series based outfit. I looked over all of the different Anime series that I liked a lot and picked Syaoran. The reasons that I picked Syoaran was because I liked the character a lot and have a few things in common with him. I Love exploring new places, have a strong interest in Archaeology, and would do anything to help out a friend or a loved one. It took me a year to do the research needed to come up with this outfit and to make the outfit. Once I came up with the plan I went all over the Southeastern Michigan area looking for the specific items for my outfit and had my sister make the cape for me. I was very happy with how things turned out and wear this outfit the most.  
PostPosted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 10:25 pm
I look at quite a few things when I'm choosing a character to cosplay. My first requirement is that I need to know who the character is. I don't like to cosplay a character if I've never seen the series. After that, I look at characters I like, character designs that are intriguing, and how much time and money I can allot to a cosplay.

Since attending cons, I've completed 38 cosplays, 23 of which are more or less active. I have 9 cosplays that I'm actively working on, 3 of which are majorly long-term projects.

My top 3 trademark characters are as follows:
1. Guy Cecil from Tales of the Abyss- My friends and I started playing Tales of the Abyss during my first year of college. Guy was "my" character to play, and I really ended up resonating with him as a character. Not to mention that I love his character design and my favorite color is orange, which is his base color. AND I love swords. I usually bring one of my versions of Guy to my cons. My dream is to someday make all of his game outfits (at the moment I've made 3)!

2. Iron Fist- He's one of my all-time favorite characters! I choose Iron Fist because he simply doesn't get enough love. It's a lot of fun bringing him to family cons, because the parents get excited to see me. It's been a great cosplay, and a challenge to make (he has a collar that defies gravity). He's on the slate to be remade.

3. Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail- This is one of my more recent cosplays. I really liked his character, and looked forward to the challenge of cosplaying him as a female.

Ah, cosplay! How I love thee!  


xinitia

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smithers456

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 6:46 pm
xinitia
I look at quite a few things when I'm choosing a character to cosplay. My first requirement is that I need to know who the character is. I don't like to cosplay a character if I've never seen the series. After that, I look at characters I like, character designs that are intriguing, and how much time and money I can allot to a cosplay.

Since attending cons, I've completed 38 cosplays, 23 of which are more or less active. I have 9 cosplays that I'm actively working on, 3 of which are majorly long-term projects.

My top 3 trademark characters are as follows:
1. Guy Cecil from Tales of the Abyss- My friends and I started playing Tales of the Abyss during my first year of college. Guy was "my" character to play, and I really ended up resonating with him as a character. Not to mention that I love his character design and my favorite color is orange, which is his base color. AND I love swords. I usually bring one of my versions of Guy to my cons. My dream is to someday make all of his game outfits (at the moment I've made 3)!

2. Iron Fist- He's one of my all-time favorite characters! I choose Iron Fist because he simply doesn't get enough love. It's a lot of fun bringing him to family cons, because the parents get excited to see me. It's been a great cosplay, and a challenge to make (he has a collar that defies gravity). He's on the slate to be remade.

3. Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail- This is one of my more recent cosplays. I really liked his character, and looked forward to the challenge of cosplaying him as a female.

Ah, cosplay! How I love thee!


Wow, I'm impressed that you have created 38 cosplay outfits. Your top 3 sound really cool. Like yourself I prefer to chose cosplays to do from shows that I have seen. My future cosplays will be based on characters that I like a lot. Money and time are two things that have slowed me down from starting work on my 4th outfit. Sometime this year I plan on starting it. One of the hard parts for me is which one to try. smile  
PostPosted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:10 pm
☆ I have been cosplaying since May 2010, but I still consider myself a novice cosplayer compared to some of my cosplaying friends. Although, I do consider myself the casual, closet cosplay master. X3


☆ I have a certain taste when choosing characters to cosplay as.
[1] These characters usually have at least one of the following characteristics...
- has an emo, gothic, and/or punk style
- has purple or blue eyes
- has purple, silver, white, or black hair
- is an anti-hero, bad ash*, loner, and/or an outcast
- is part of the cat species or is a Neko
- is taller than my actual height (not that height really matters anyways razz )
- wears purple and/or black clothing

[2] They are often from series that I have seen, read, or played. I generally pick characters that are my favorite. Sometimes, I pick characters from series that I haven't really seen, read, or played OR I pick characters that are easy to do. Spoilers don't bother me, so I often look up a character to see what makes him/her tick. I do research about the characters that I end up doing, in case they hold their weapon a certain way or act a certain way.

[3] Cost is also a factor. I usually pick characters that won't cost me that much for my grandma and I to make. I even reuse some of my wigs, parts of my cosplays that I've done already, or my own wardrobe for several characters.


☆ I have done these cosplays (pictures are included in the links provided):
+ casual older Lea (Kingdom Hearts - more specifically, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance Lea) - The wig is an Axel wig. The clothing is from my own wardrobe.
+ Dark Navi (Legend Of Zelda) - I use my Riku wig for her hair. The clothing and accessories are from my own wardrobe. As for the wings, I had to buy them at a costume store. It was a last minute decision to cosplay as her, so I didn't have time to come up a way to make her wings. As far as I know, I am the only Dark Navi cosplayer in my area since she technically isn't in the Legend Of Zelda video games. She is just from the idea of "what if Dark Link had an evil, dark fairy of his own".
+ Kagura Sohma (Fruits Basket) - This was my first cosplay. My grandma made the backpack, which I had to remove the whiskers from, and the dress. As for the rest of the outfit, I either bought it or it was from my own wardrobe. I had used my actual hair for her hair.
+ Organization XIII Riku (Kingdom Hearts) - I'm the character on the far right of the picture. The Organization XIII coat was made by my grandma while the metal bits of it was made my me. I made the Way to the Dawn Keyblade. I do have the black gloves of his, but I wasn't wearing them when this picture was taken.
+ various casual Gakupo/Gakuko (Vocaloid) - I have about 7 casual outfits for them. The clothing is from my own wardrobe. I either use an actual Gakupo wig or my OC Kaya Ling cosplay wig. The headset is from the singer version of my OC Kaya Ling cosplay. The cat ears, which were bought from a vendor and then modified by my grandma, are from my cat version of my OC Kaya Ling cosplay.
+ various casual Riku (Kingdom Hearts) - I have about 5 casual outfits for Riku, which all of them are from my own wardrobe. I haven't uploaded all of his casual outfits in the picture album provided yet though. The wig is the same one that I use for my Dark Navi cosplay.


☆ I can also cosplay as these characters, but I haven't taken any pictures of them yet or tried the cosplay out yet:
+ Axel (Kingdom Hearts) - I have his Chakrams. I would use my older Lea wig. Technically, it's an Axel wig though. XD I would use my handmade Organization XIII coat that I use for my Organization XIII Riku cosplay. Technically, I could be any Organization XIII member now, provided I have the wig for that character.
+ Lea (Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance) - I already have an Axel wig and an Organization XIII coat for it.
 


KayaLing

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