Getting Convention Ready: Rewearing a Costume Multiple Times at the Con

There are a lot of reasons to re-wear a costume multiple times during the same convention! You may be a new cosplayer with only one costume to wear, or a seasoned cosplayer who knows that re-wearing an outfit makes it easier to find photos later. Whatever the reason, you should take some steps to make sure that your costume isn’t going to get ruined, smelly or dirty over the weekend!

Preventative Measures
Do this every day to help make sure your costume stays clean, and you stay smelling good! These preventative measures can be used even if you aren’t re-wearing the costume.

• Make sure the costume is clean before wearing it (wash it if necessary)
• Wear clean underclothes, and pack clean underclothes for each day
• Wear a slip or lightweight breathable undershirt, to keep sweat from getting to your costume
• Wear an antiperspirant deodorant, and reapply throughout the day as needed
• Shower before wearing the costume
• If you are wearing the costume and applying makeup, use a towel to prevent powdered makeup from falling onto your clothes.
• If you are wearing full body makeup, make sure that your makeup is sealed to prevent it from rubbing off on your costume - and the rest of the convention!

During the Day
While you are wearing the costume, there are some steps you can take to prevent it from getting overly dirty or smelly.

• If you are eating, be careful to not spill it on your costume.
• If you plan to sit outside, avoid sitting in areas where you may dirty or stain your costume. Bringing a blanket/towel to sit on can help you avoid dirty and grass stains.
• As Preventative Measures mentioned, reapply deodorant throughout the day as needed.
• If you stain your costume, use tide-to-go or another stain remover to help get it out quickly.

Late Night
If you plan to be up all night, give your costume a break. It’s also good to change out of the costume if you plan to attend the rave/dance parties for various reasons.

It’s pretty common for people to hang out in pajamas, kigurumi, regular clothes, or stripped down versions of costumes for late night events!

If you don’t want to ditch the costume, just make sure you take it off at some point so you can do the steps in “Overnight”

Overnight
When you do take your costume off, here is what you can do to get it ready for the next day:

• Wash the costume in the sink or bathtub. Just spot clean any stains, or sweaty areas as needed.
• Spray the costume down with Febreeze or another anti-odor spray, to keep it smelling fresh
• Hang your costume by a open window, to help air it out. Separate the pieces so any sweat doesn’t get trapped.
• Prepare new underclothes, shirt or slip, socks, and anything else that can be changed for the next day.
• Have a shower! Even if you don’t smell, cons can be a dirty environment (remember there are hundreds of people, some who did not wash their hands) and often a hot enviroment (you’re probably going to sweat a little during a con) and a shower will keep you clean
• Inspect your costume for damages, and use your fix-kit to fix them.

Just in Case
Sometimes the worst happens: your costume gets extremely dirty, it rips and can’t be fixed, or you find out it’s just extremely uncomfortable. Just in case, pack an extra costume, change of clothes, or both! You don’t want your con to be ruined because the cosplay didn’t work out!

» Getting Convention Ready: Last Minute Cosplay Details
» Getting Convention Ready: Weapons Check

Getting Convention Ready: Last Minute Cosplay Details

You’ve finished your cosplay, it came in the mail, or you dug your costume out of the closet for a re-wear. It’s (hopefully) a week or so until the convention and you have some time for touch ups, what can you do to get your costume convention ready?

Clean it Up

Check your costume for any minor things that can be cleaned up such as chalk lines or loose threads!

• Clean off any chalk or other tool marks that are visible.
• Trim any loose or hanging threads
• Use a roller to remove cat hair, lint and other particles
• Iron your costume to make sure that there are no wrinkles (especially if you bought the costume)
• Look over the wig for flyaway hairs
• Removal of tags (for bought costumes)
• Checking for stains, rubbed off makeup, or other spots (for reworn costumes)

Double Check

• Make sure you have all the parts of your costume, and they are ready for packing
• Check for damages, and fix them (such as tears)
• Check for alterations you might need to do (adjusting the size)

Add minor additions

Look at how much time you have left, is there something you can add to the costume within that amount of time? Is there something you could have done better, and have time to fix?

Test it Out

Try it on and wear it around the house for a day. This will help you find and fix a lot of issues with the costume such as: low visibility, pieces that move around, discomfort, restricted movement, temperature, and seeing if pieces will survive being worn.

Test out your makeup before the con so that you know what it looks like, practicing before the convention will also help you get it on quicker at the convention. If you are wearing full body makeup you can also test ways of sealing the makeup, to avoid it rubbing off during the convention.

You can also try doing some poses in front of the mirror, or doing some test-pictures to see how your costume looks like in various poses and on camera

Pack a Fix Kit

Gather supplies needed to fix your costume, so that you can fix it during the convention! If you are staying in a hotel room you may want two fix kits: one to carry around the con (with small tools, such as safetypins and thread) and one for the hotel room (with larger tools, such as hot glue or duct tape).

Here are some suggestions of what to carry in your fix kit:

• Bobby pins / Hair Clips
• Safety Pins
• Stain Removers (such as tide to go)
• Needle and Thread (matching your costume)
• Hot glue, super glue or another fast drying glue
• Extra Makeup / Sealer
• Extra Snaps, Buttons, Velcro etc
• Scissors
• Hairspray
• Clear Nail Polish (for stocking runs)
• bandaids/first aid kit (to fix yourself)

Bring what you need to quickly fix the costumes you are bringing, don’t feel like you need to pack your whole sewing machine in case a seam splits! Major fixes can be saved until you go home.