Cosplay Armor: Vinyl or Spandex Over Foam
We tend to see these tutorials not in English so here is a fabulous Spandex over Foam Tutorial from Ruffle Butt Cosplay.
While the tutorial is made with Spandex, you can definitely use it with 2-way or 4-way stretch vinyl.
Here are pictures of cosplay armor using this method.
Photo: About.com | Manga
Photo: Cosplay.com | Goldy
BTW, this is Goldy. He popularized this method and is one of my cosplay idols. He creates workshops for this in Japan and is super nice. I met him in person and really wished I was able to take a picture with him. I hope our paths cross again!
Eight Things You Should Know About Cosplay Makeup
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You need it.
I don’t care if you’re cosplaying a guy or if you are a guy, being in cosplay is akin to being on stage. Even if it’s just foundation and mascara, you’ll be thankful for it when you see pictures of yourself later on. -
Wear some form of base.
I personally use Clean & Clear Finishes Mattifying Moisturizer. You only need a rather small amount and it works extremely well. Your makeup will last longer and it controls nasty shineface. You also need eyeshadow base to keep your eye makeup from creasing or smudging. I use Sephora Perfecting Eye Primer. -
Don’t overdo it.
While being in cosplay is like being on stage, you are not actually on stage and everyone can see you up close. So dial it back a little. Tone down bright eyeshadow with neutrals, and go easy on the blush. And never, ever, ever, ever wear bright lipstick if you’re wearing a lot of eye makeup. A basic rule of makeup is balance. If you’re going big on the eyes, go easy on the lips, and vice versa. I cannot begin to tell you how many people do not know this, though.
In cosplay makeup, you really should play up your eyes, in which case you want to be wearing a nude or a pastel on your lips. You’ll look really tacky otherwise. This claim is backed up wholeheartedly by my mother, who is a former cosmetologist and model. -
Wear decent mascara or false eyelashes.
Seriously, you really need to play up your eyes in cosplay makeup. And if you’re wearing a lot of eyeshadow, it’s easy for your eyes to get ‘lost’ in your face. Having long eyelashes counteracts this by making your eyes look bigger. I wear false eyelashes even for male characters. -
Wear the right colors.
If your foundation doesn’t exactly match your skin tone, it’s going to show in pictures and look really silly. -
Use some kind of sealer/finisher.
Chances are, you’re going to be at the con from early morning to very late at night. Makeup isn’t made to last that long. A finishing spray will keep it looking fresh all day long. I use The Style Art Designing Makeup Fix by Missha. That is a Korean product, so keep in mind that it’s coming from overseas. You can also use a body paint sealer. -
Test your exact makeup plans before the con.
Take pictures of yourself from different angles and in different lighting to make sure it actually looks the way you want it to. -
Cover your eyebrows.
This is so, so, so important. If your eyebrows do not match your wig, it’s going to ruin your entire look. There are dozens of tutorials online for effective ways of doing this if you’re clueless. I personally find acrylic paint mixed with a little powder to work well.
Hope this is helpful!
Fabric Insets using Facings!
This is a slightly rare but still relatively common design element in anime and manga costumes, especially in older shounen series. When you have what appears to be a hole that never frays and never changes shape with another fabric underneath, this is the technique you want to use! It pops up a lot in JoJo, so since it appears on Gyro Zeppeli’s pants, I took detailed photos of one of the four insets to show you how to make this effect yourself!
End result looks like this!
Click the Read More to learn how to do this for yourself!!!
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Coupons and Discounts!!
Hello,
So, I have noticed a lot of cosplayers aren’t aware of the saving from coupons and discounts. Here’s a little list of places, where they offer discount. First, there’s the student discount, where all you have to do is present a student a id at the register. Secondly, there’s always the coupons in the paper and online. I highly recommend that you use your smart phone or device to save some trees. Finally, the coupons in the local papers on Saturdays and Sundays. Those coupons are best on deals with food, crafts, and ect, plus you can combine them with deals from store. Best time to stock up for a convention snacks and meals.
Student Discount Offer Here:
- Michaels’s Craft Store
- Joann: http://www.joann.com/studentdiscount/
- Sally Beauty : http://www.sallybeauty.com/Student-Cards/PAGE_STUDENTCARD,default,pg.html?cm_mmc=CJ-_-AFFILIATE-_-3640929-_-10650864
- Chipotle : Receive a free drink with purchase and a vaild student ID
- Qdoba: Free drink with Qdoba purchase and valid student ID
- Subway: Get 10% off your total Subway purchase with valid student ID.
- Burger King: Receive 10% off your total Burger King purchase with valid student ID
- Waffle House: 10% off your total purchase with a valid student ID.
- Chick-fil-A: Receive a free drink with each Chick-fil-A purchase when you show your valid student ID.
- Arby’s: 10% off your total Arby’s purchase with valid student ID
- McDonald’s :10% off your total McDonald’s purchase with a valid student ID.
- Buffalo Wild Wings:10% off your total Buffalo Wild Wings purchase with a valid student ID.
- Dairy Queen:The official Dairy Queen site encourages franchise owners to offer a discount. The most common seems to be 10% off total purchase with a valid student ID
- Amazon Student: free Amazon Prime trial for 1 year; includes unlimited free 2-day shipping with all orders and one-day shipping upgrade $3.99 per item
Now, go out there and start saving. If you know any more discounts or coupons, please added onto this post. BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR COSPLAY!!
Rogue Hood Tutorial
i finally did it! it’s just for the hood because I’m pretty sure there are already tutorials out there for basic shirts and pants for god tier, but let me know if there aren’t. tumblr resizing is janky so click here for hi-res part 1 and part 2. i hope it is clear. always remember to iron your seams. you are all strong independent young cosplayers and i am sure you can figure it out from here.
“Just for the record, messaging me to tell me I should've done Stocking instead of Panty, or that you're disappointed I didn't, or that I make poor costume choices because they aren't what YOU would want, is very rude. Same goes or telling me you'd fap better if I was your favorite character or that you couldn't finish cause my hair isn't the color you want. Let's get something straight: I, and I'm sure many other cosplayers, don't do this FOR you. We do what we like, when we want, the way we want to. We are not objects for your gratification. This is our hobby. We are not your dress up dolls, personal spank banks, Nor are we doing these costumes to please you. If you treat us like nothing more than an object, it makes having a hobby like this really irritating. If we have a sexy costume, that doesn't automatically give you license to act like we're wearing it just to BE sexy or entice you. Maybe we're going for accuracy, or maybe it makes us feel good, or we're proud of the bodies a lot of us work hard to maintain. And girls, stop coming to a damn page just to hate on a girl. Just cause she's okay with wearing something revealing, doesn't mean YOU should call her a whore, slut, etc. You want to keep it covered? Fine. Go ahead. Don't hate someone else because you wouldn't do the same. Just stop being asses. Seriously. We are artists. We model our creations. We work with other artists and professionals who take our photos, promote us, join us in group work. Be respectful of everyone. Whoever you are. It goes a long way. Even those you may not like at least deserve to be treated with decency and like they're a human being.”
—Destiny NickelsenCONS ARE SCARY: A Beginner's Guide To Your First Convention
A lot of people seemed to like my “Guide to Choosing a Cosplay” post, so I thought I’d make like a con survival/what to expect at your first con post since I know quite a few people have never been to one and want to, or have only been to very small ones. So, here it is.
Basic tips concerning your cosplay:
- If you have a large/delicate cosplay, and you can’t really wear it in your car on the way there, don’t fret. There are ALWAYS bathrooms available near the entrances of hotels and convention centers. No one would blame you if you put it on there
- For anyone with bodypaint, don’t fret if you have to put THAT on at the con too. It can be super messy and stain non-leather upholstery, so go ahead and wait if you feel the need
- If you are staying at a hotel and you have to walk to the con, bring umbrellas! You never know what the weather will do, so bring one just in case.
- MAKE SURE YOUR COSTUME IS COMPLETE BEFORE THE CON. I cannot stress enough how important that is. If it isn’t, you WILL be up all night on the night before and then you’ll be grumpy and antsy and you WON’T have fun. I promise, I know firsthand.
Basic tips on how to be prepared:
- You should have a group/buddy at a con, always. It’s a big crowded place and not having anyone there can mean you don’t have much fun. And it can put you in danger.
- Look online at the event schedule BEFORE you go. This way you can start planning out what you want to do, instead of getting there and having to take the time to figure out which panels you want to go to, etc.
- I would suggest registering early online. It saves a LOT of time and money.
ALWAYS have a bag. I don’t care if it doesn’t go with your costume and looks bad. You NEED it. And here’s what goes inside:
- A bottle of water. You can refill it at water fountains and such. It’s very common for people to forget to eat and stay hydrated, but NO ONE wants to be sick at a con.*
- At least 2 granola bars. Something you’ll eat that (preferably) has protein. This is a great way to get what you need if you’re stuck in a panel.*
- A sewing kit. It doesn’t have to be huge, just a little thing with a few spools of thread that go with your costume, a few needles, scissors, fasteners that your costume uses, and safety pins. SAFETY. PINS. WILL. SAVE. YOUR. ASS. This can save your cosplay, a friend’s, or even a strangers.
- A small first aid kit. Because crap happens and nobody wants to get blood on their hard work.
- For the ladies: Pads/panty liners/tampons. Whether you’re on your cycle or not, you never know if you or anyone else will be caught off guard, and they will be eternally grateful.
*Note: Con food and drinks are expensive. They jack up the prices, so it’s best to bring some stuff of your own, and to leave the con to go to the surrounding area for food, since it’ll be cheaper. Plus my FAVORITE part of conventioning is going out into the “normal world” and seeing people’s reactions to a hoard of teenagers in awesome costumes. I always get stopped for a picture by people on the outside and it is SUCH an awesome feeling when they don’t know ANYTHING about your character, but they think you look cool.
COSPLAY ETTIQUETTE
Heaps of this stuff is taken from past experience, common sense and friend’s stories.
1. ASK BEFORE TAKING PHOTOS! Be considerate that many people feel self conscious or nervous in cosplay especially if it’s their first time. Don’t make it worse!
2. If someone doesn’t want to take a shipping photo or provocative photos, don’t get angry. They might have a moral issue with it, it isn’t their fault. By all means, ask, but don’t force.
3. Don’t touch or hug people in cosplay (or not in cosplay, even). They could get anxious with a stranger touching them or their costume might be delicate. If you do bump in to someone, apologise (if they get angry at an accident, it’s their fault. Don’t freak out).
4. If you’re in a non-con area like a store or restaurant, don’t be obnoxious or disrupt other non-con goers. Act in character if you want but don’t make people uncomfortable or their lives harder. (eg. Cosplaying Eridan- “What would you like to order?” “Don’t speak to me, landweller”. Just say your order and if you want add a little comment at the end in character that couldn’t be taken offensively.)
5.Help others. If someone has a rip in their costume, offer to sew it back quickly. They will be forever thankful and you might make new friends that way!
6. DON’T TAKE ANYTHING SERIOUSLY! You’re seriously just a geek in a huge group of geeks dressed as a character. Have fun with it.
So many cosplays, so little time (and money).
A Guide to Choosing a Cosplay
(this will be in steps, and I’ve made this for beginners and those still new to cosplaying, so all you experts and perfect children and rich hooligans can just ignore this)
- Write down a list of all the characters you want to do. Set a timer on your phone or on the microwave or wherever you can for 2 minutes. If you didn’t get it down in that amount of time, it isn’t a contender this go around. This helps cut out those side characters who you don’t want to cosplay as much as the ones who made the list, whether you knew it or not.
- Set your budget. The amount of money you are willing to spend on a cosplay BEFORE the fabrication is critical to its completion. Set a number and stick to it, and don’t change it. If you increase, it can lead to some major issues.
- Determine your time frame. You want to figure out the amount of time you have in between day you get your supplies up to exactly 5 days before the time you want to wear it. This gives you a good amount of time to do some tweaking and last minute detailing to ensure confidence in your finished product.
- ELIMINATION TIME. Cross out those costumes that won’t fit both the budget AND time requirements simultaneously. Be reasonable and realistic in doing this. Yes it’s going to hurt. Yes it will be disappointing. But what’s worse, going and looking great in a cosplay you wanted to save, or going in a shitty incomplete one that you were dying to do?
- Finalization. At this point, if you have more then one character then either pick the one you’d want to do most, or if you still need help, pick one completely randomly.Put the names into a hat and choose blindly, or something along those lines. NO CHEATING.You picked it for a reason, so stick to it.
My final piece of advice is simply to not stop working on one project and start up on another. This can really dig you into a hole both money- and time-wise.
Hope this helps ^_^
How to Look Better in Cosplay Photos - Part 2
So now that you have some decent pictures of yourself that you have taken, what about pictures that other people are taking? There’s nothing worse than getting tagged in a bunch of pictures from that most recent con with serious derpface going on. Again, this is easily fixable!
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So anyone who's looking at doing a Mituna cosplay
In my own search for his helmet lenses, I found these:
AND THEY’RE CHEAP.
They can be found here.
Ways to Get Out of a Cosplay Procrastination Slump
We’ve all been there. Two weeks before the con and there’s still just a pile of fabric sitting in the corner. Then we’re up the night before the con sobbing over our sewing machine because nothing is going right. Here’s how I get out of my slumps!
- Watch cosplay music videos on youtube - There are tons that are floating around there, and they all look amazing and always make me think, “I WANT TO BE THAT AWESOME! LET’S DO THIS!”
- Look at the cosplay tag - There are tons of progress posts there. Whenever I see progress posts, I want to make progress of me own.
- Make a facebook status that you’re sewing. - This will keep people from messaging you non-stop and allow you to actually get bored enough to sew.
- Look at your past cosplays - If you could make those, you can do this, right?
- Treat yourself! - I treat myself every time I finish one part of a costume. Finished the wig? ICE CREAM. Finished the top? CANDY BAR. Finished the shorts? I’m go buy me an icee.
