Cosplaying is a fandom that’s been growing in popularity over the years. The cosplay community has created a culture of its own with conventions, social media communities, and websites for people to share their love of all things geeky.
Cosplayers have a lot of things to take into consideration before they can show off their original ideas and costumes at a convention – from fabrics and patterns to sewing machines and materials. Let’s explore what every cosplayer needs in order to put together the perfect costume from head to toe.
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Things Every Cosplayer Needs
There are a few staples that every cosplayer needs in order to put together a great costume. Here are some of the most important things to have on hand:
Fabrics and Patterns
Every cosplayer needs a variety of fabrics and patterns to choose from in order to create their original costumes. A variety of materials will help give your costume depth and dimension.
Sewing Machines and Materials
Even if you’re not the best sewer, it’s important to have a sewing machine on hand in order to make quick repairs or alterations to your costume. You’ll also need a variety of pins, needles, thread, and other materials to help you sew properly.
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Convention Supplies
In order to show off your costume, you’ll need to get it from your house to the convention. Make sure you have a convenient way of transporting all of your materials by investing in a cosplay bag or rolling suitcase.
Tools
Sometimes sewing and crafting can be difficult and challenging. Other times, it will be easy and simple. For those simple tasks, there are a variety of tools you can use to help make your life easier, including heat guns and seam rippers.
Reference Pics
Of course, the best thing about cosplaying is being able to show off your original character to a convention full of fans. Make sure you take good-quality pictures of your costume before you wear it for the first time and share them with your friends and followers online.
Convention Costumes
If you’re looking to get serious about cosplaying, you know that the best way to learn is by enrolling in your local convention’s masquerade or costume contest. So, find a good excuse to wear cosplay, like Halloween or even Comic-Con.
Cosplay Helpers
Sometimes it can be hard to get a costume done by yourself, so reach out to friends and find a group of cosplayers who want to help show off your work.
Your Friends and Fellow Cosplayers
And finally, the best resource for any cosplayer is their fellow cosplayers. Whether you’re looking for help with your costume or you’re sporting the latest trends in costumes, check out your local convention to ask other cosplayers for their advice.
We hope this helps every aspiring and veteran cosplayer in their future projects. Remember to work safely when creating your costumes follow all laws about wearing masks or fake weapons when making your costume.
Most importantly, have fun showing off your individual style in making the most original costumes you can.
7 Characteristics that Make a Great Cosplayer
There are many things that make a great cosplayer, but here are five of the most important ones:
Commitment
Cosplaying takes a lot of time and effort, so you need to be willing to commit to it. It’s going to take a long time before you finish your first cosplay, and then it will take even longer before you get good enough to win an award.
Inspiration
You can’t cosplay if you don’t know what character to choose. Watch movies, read comics, play video games; basically, immerse yourself in pop culture and the nerd world until you figure out what inspires you.
Patience
It’s hard to be patient when you’re excited about cosplaying, but once you’ve picked a character and bought your supplies, wait until the day before the con to start making your costume. You’ll need plenty of time to fix anything that goes wrong.
Creativity
Cosplayers need to be creative in order to come up with new ideas and costumes. That doesn’t mean you can’t be inspired by somebody else or copy somebody else’s costume, but being creative means that you come up with new ideas on your own too.
Passion
Cosplaying is a lot of fun, but it’s also challenging, so you need to have a lot of passion for it. If you really love it, you won’t be afraid to put in the time and effort that are required for it.
Dedication
Cosplayers need to be dedicated in order to learn new skills and perfect their craft. You can’t just give up after your first time sewing a shirt, so you have to be determined and patient enough to keep at it until you get better.
Self-Confidence
Cosplayers need to be confident in order to put on their costumes and pose for pictures. If you’re going to a foreign country, you’ll need confidence in the language and culture. If you’re cosplaying as a character that is really different from yourself, then you’ll have to be confident that your costume is good enough for people to believe it.
So those are five of the most important things every cosplayer needs. Remember that if you want to cosplay, all these things are really important. You can’t be a cosplayer without them.
Tips To Get the Most Out of Cosplay
Cosplay can be a fun and rewarding hobby that can help improve your life in a number of ways. Here are a few tips to get the most out of cosplay:
- Choose characters that inspire you. When you cosplay a character that you admire or look up to, you’ll be more motivated to do your best.
- Get involved in the cosplay community. There are many online and offline communities of cosplayers who can offer support and advice.
- Use cosplay as an opportunity to try new things. If you’re not comfortable doing something, like singing in public, try it out for the first time by cosplaying as a character who does that activity.
- Challenge yourself with difficult costumes and characters. You never know what you’re capable of until you try.
- Take good care of your body and your skin when cosplaying. This is particularly important if you wear makeup, wigs, rubber masks or heavy outfits for long periods of time.
Side Note: For cosplay photoshoots and events, you can book SnowDragon as your cosplay model via Instagram.