Article - Killing Sexy Halloween - The Atlantic

 
First, I'd like to say: My heart goes out to New York City. That storm looks horrific and you guys got hit pretty bad... stay strong! Hope the power comes back on!

Tomorrow is Halloween. I'm actually dressing up for work (because I can!)

Anyway, here's a great article featured in 'The Atlantic' about Sexualizing Halloween

Here's a section

"Sexy referee. Sexy tiger. Sexy hamburger. Every year, Halloween costume companies offer women a host of skimpy outfits to wear on October 31st. And every year, a lot of people—concerned parents, writers at the New York Times and CNN, cable talking heads—try to convince women, especially young women, not to buy them.

"There's always the mommy bloggers who get really angry, and then there's people like me who get really angry," says Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes and an expert on adolescent sexuality and self-esteem. But, Wiseman admits, the complaining about sexy Halloween ends with "limited success." Young women keep buying, and wearing, suggestive costumes.

That's probably because most of the anxiety about the sexualization of Halloween comes from adults—the very people teenagers are inclined to ignore. If sexy Halloween is going to die, girls themselves will have to kill it.  "

Well, what can I say. The media promotes sexy Halloween, businesses also sell Halloween as sexy cause it makes money. It's tough to make it go away just like that. Also, if Halloween was un-sexy then well, it's not 'fun' enough.

Here's that infamous clip from 'Mean Girls' that sums up Sexy Halloween


Cosplay and dressing up is 'fun' because you become someone you're not. Just for 1 day. As harmless as Halloween sounds, its really turned into this big, commercial making festival that it just loses its true meaning and just becomes an excuse to party, dress up and have fun.

here's another great clip from 'Modern Family' and sexy halloween outfits


It's really hard to draw the line at this stuff sometimes. Halloween is generally supposed to be a family friendly affair but it's also an excuse to party, let loose and have fun, the 'grown up' way.

Whatever side you're on, if I were a parent, I won't allow my teenage daughter to wear sexy Halloween outfits. That's just me.

List - Halloween Costume Trends 2012 - Seminole Chronicle

 
The Seminole Chronicle (town in Florida, USA) decided to do a small report about this year's Halloween Costume trends. It lists in ranking, the most 'in' costume trends:

1. Superheroes

2. Video Game Characters

3. TV Characters

4. Pop Culture Phenoms 

5. Political Figures

6. Zombies

7. Princesses

8. Monster High

9. Hunger Games


Hm. Yup, Superheroes is really popular now thanks to all the Superhero movies - eg. Avengers, Batman, Spiderman etc. And Superheroes are classic so you can always jump into an outfit any Halloween/ Cosplay event

Video game characters - sure! Lots of cool games released this year  - Diablo 3, Borderlands, Resident Evil etc.

Now TV shows is interesting. I haven't seen that many TV show characters around other than Dr Who. The article does state people are wanting lots of 60s style Mad Men outfits. Hmm. And also 1920s style Boardwalk Empire gangster stuff too.

Pop culture Phenoms. - Yup, Gangnam Style PSY is a big deal, also the Meme stuff is really big

Political Figures - yeah cause the US elections are on now. So lots of Obamas and Romneys will be about.

Zombies - cause zombies are frackin everywhere!

Princesses - just cause there are lots of princesses to choose from and some how, little girls like to be princesses (I'm not one of those people though)

Monster High - whoa, what is this stuff? Never heard of it? Oo. it's like Monster Bratz ok got it. Guess it's a tween thing

Hunger Games - yeah, the trend is sorta waning but that would be lots of Katniss's and Effis about.

Well you don't really have to follow 'trends' to be the 'in' halloween cosplayer. Just where classic stuff I says, classic stuff ain't never get old!

Article - So Why DO We Cosplay? - Philadelphia Weekly

 
Wow, I've been really pooped from work but it still brings a smile to my face when I talk about cosplay and when I see some really good outfits!

Philadelphia Weekly just published this interesting article about 'Why Do We Cosplay?' - so what is the psychology behind wanting to cosplay?

The article claims that people just want to be 'recognized' - We want attention, in other words.

Here's a great except from the article:

"It seems counterintuitive. Especially in this age of online handles and anonymous comments, when we’re constantly hearing about trolls and identity thieves hiding behind false facades. Surely masks and costumes are not meant to reveal ; they exist to hide, to obscure, to transform.

And yet, when we select our Halloween costumes, we are consciously choosing how we wish to be seen. We want to be recognized, not as schoolchildren or underpaid interns or office workers living lives of quiet desperation, but as the scary, sexy, colorful people we know we are on the inside. We don’t want to disguise ourselves—our very selves—we want to unveil them."

Yeah now that's interesting. In today's age, people want to be 'invisible' online. To be another persona from their real life and be allowed to do something out of their ordinary life. Some people troll, bully, talk crap about others just because they know they're just a false name and number on the internet. 

And yet when it comes to selecting a character to cosplay as, you subconsciously choose something that's iconic, recognizable and that people will see you as that character rather than 'average joe X'. Bizarre isn't it?

The writer goes on to talk about his Batman outfit and why he wears it

"While I have worn this costume to Halloween parties and science-fiction conventions, I didn’t make it for any one specific event. I made it because I want a Batman suit. Which of course really means this: I want to be seen as Batman. Sure, I’m not a vigilante champion of justice—but I do help the people I meet, in my own small way. Giving $10 to someone on the street or helping a friend get a job is not the same as saving the city from deadly laughing gas, I realize. Which is why I don’t don the cape and cowl every day."

 

Yeah it's true, you don't really want to be Batman EVERY DAY. You just want to be Batman for a short while. Being Batman every day is a different story : )

Great little article, go check it out!

 

Article - How to Be Your Cosplay Character - Cairdiuil

So I started a new job as a retail assistant and something I thought that was really interesting that the store manager told me was that when you're in retail, it's not about you, as a civilian, selling something to someone. It's about you representing a brand to sell something to someone and that comes with switching on the 'friendly retail person' persona. You speak in a bright voice, you greet customers sincerely and pleasantly when they enter and leave the store, even if the customer has an attitude problem, don't take any of it personally because you represent a brand and you still have to be nice to people. It's basically like unconscious acting.

Having thought about this, I thought it would be interesting to share an article on Cosplaying in character. The difference between cosplay and just wearing a Halloween costume is when you cosplay, you ARE the character. You're no longer you, you become this persona of your favorite character.

This is an article written sometime back by Cairdiuil of 'All About Cosplay' blog about 'how to play your cosplay character' here's an except

 "What really helped me with playing my character was I didn't just constantly watch footage of Rei (from Evangelion) in the series and seriously studied her mannerisms, I would look at cosplayers who portrayed Rei really well. I would save their photos onto my computer and study the photo and ask myself, "Why I am I getting a Rei vibe from this image?" "Is it the lighting, her pose?"

What also helps is study your body in front of the mirror and take lots of photos of yourself. Practice your facial expressions and see how their come out. The more time you spend in front of a camera, the less shy you will be! Get a family member or friend to take photos of you in your cosplay and try acting as your character. Even at home or when along in your room, in the bathroom say some lines as your character, acting as them. Well known theater actors and film actors like Danial Day Lewis do this, when coming up to a play they walk around staying in character. I try do this subtle when coming up to a shoot."

It's a helpful article written by a fellow Singaporean, very cool and thanks for sharing!

Article - When Dudes Cross the Line with Cosplay Ladies - Not Cool

Mandy as Black Cat

Cosplay in America stuck this blog link written by a Cosplayer who was at New York Comic Con over the weekend who talked about her uncomfortable interview with a bunch of pervy, male chauvenistic guys who asked her degrading questions that were meant for some porn star.


Here's a section of what she wrote about what happened:

"This group of men from some kind of Stan Lee fan club blah blah internet video channel blah blah asked to interview with them on camera about Comic Con. I said well okay, sure. Camera is rolling. The “host” is a middle aged, rotund dude. It’s an all-male crew and lots of people (mostly guys) were beginning to crowd around. The following is the interview as burned in my mind. Keep in mind that I expected this to be about Comic Con in general.

• Him: I’m here with…
• Me: Mandy, aka Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat
• Him: ..And she is HOT. Do you think I’m hot enough to pull that off?
• Me: Uh, I’m not sure, I’ve never seen you in drag.
• Him: I’ve got a great ass. Go on, spank me.
• Me: (look at his large ass, popped up mere inches away from me then look into the camera like are you kidding me . No thanks. I may hurt you, I’m a lot stronger than I look.
• Him: Aw come on!
• Me: No, seriously. Stop.
• Him: Damn, alright! Well let me ask you an important question then…what is your cup size?
• Me: (big talk show smile) That is actually none of your fucking business.
• Him: Oh! I think that means to say she’s a C. 
• Me: I actually have no breasts at all, what you see is just all of the fat from my midsection pulled up to my chest and carefully held in place with this corset. It’s really uncomfortable, I don’t know why I do it.
•  Him: (to the male crowd) Aw, come on what do you guys think? C cup? 
• —a few males start to shout out cup sizes as I stand there looking at this guy like this has to be a fucking joke, then look at the crowd and see that no amount of witty banter or fiestiness will stop making this whole thing fucking dumb. It was clearly a ploy to single out cosplaying women to get them to talk sexual innuendos and flirt with this asshole and let him talk down to them simply because they were in costume and were attractive. Whether I’m in a skintight catsuit or not, I’m a fucking professional in everything I do and I don’t need to play nice for this idiot.
• Me: This is not an interview, this is degrading. I’m done. (I walk away)
• Him: (clearly dumbfounded and surprised) ..Come on, it’s all in good fun!
• Me: Being degraded is fun? That was unprofessional and I hope that isn’t your day job because you can’t interview for shit, my man."

 Read the full article here


So here's the thing. Even though cosplayers look hot and sexy and everything, guys, it's NOT COOL to ask girls these kinds of rude questions. It's same how you won't ask a booth babe at a trade show these things, you won't ask a cosplayer these things too.

Cosplayers ARE NOT porn stars. If they are then that's another story.

Girls, if people do ask you inappropriate questions that make you uncomfortable. BE VERY FIRM THAT YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE and TELL THEM. YOU DO NOT LIKE IT.

I know in Asia, people are shy, it's not in our culture to fight back but in this case, YOU ARE BEING INSULTED and DEGRADED. FIGHT BACK.

There are all sorts of people at a con and not every fanboy is weird but there will be weird ones out there and some of them will say weird stuff to you like above. Walk away when you feel grossed out.

Just saying my 2 cents
 

Article - Why People Can't Tell You What To Cosplay - Nerd Caliber

TOO MANY CHARACTERS

I apologize that there's not much awesome stuff to report on until.. NEW YORK COMIC CON HAPPENS THURSDAY! MUAHAHAH. Wish I could be there. : (

In the mean time, Nerd Caliber has this great article that talks about 'Why People Can't Tell You What to Cosplay'

I've seen this happen a lot of times on forums where people ask 'eh.. I dunno what to cosplay, suggest me something'... and.. people don't really know what to say. Here's why.

In summary of the article

1. We honestly doesn't know what you look like

2. We also probably DO NOT want to know what you look like (unless you really are smokin hot, your photo would be everywhere)

3. The internets folks don't know you in real life

4. We also don't know how skilled you are crafting wise

5. We don't know how much $$ you're willing to spend

6. We don't know how much time you're willing to spend crafting, tailoring

7. We don't know when your nearest con event is

8. THERE'S JUST TOO MANY FRICKIN CHARACTERS TO CHOOSE FROM. 

9. People also don't really want to read a character profile of you.

10. End of the day, be really honest with yourself - read my previous article 'Know your look and cosplay to it'

Great article by  Shauna Leva - aka Sheik : )

Article - Curse of the Artist Mind, How to become AWESOME at your Art/ Craft

 
Artists And Their Moods

Artists are creative people. They like to fill their heads with interesting images, ideas, fiction, music and then some. Artists need to create and make things in order to feel like they have meaning to their lives.



Because artists utilize a lot of inner feeling and inspiration from their head and the outside world to create art, their artist minds can work against them. They have THE MOOD THING

"Aww I don't 'feel' like doing this today."
"I don't have the skills to do this"
"It's gonna suck..."
"I wanna do something else today."


This 'mood thing' can be a serious problem if left unchecked. Work doesn't get done, instructions aren't listened to, appointments with people forgotten about, time management all out of whack, logic and reasoning super wonky, overly emotional about being criticized, emotionally unstable etc.

I have an artist mind, I still have this Mood problem, I've seen it in other artists. And seriously, this problem needs to get addressed.



The Right Brain Left Brain Thing

Artists are mostly Right Brained people. Some more so than others. It is possible to find people who are successfully whole brained who can be rational and orderly as well as artistic.

I'd say hardcore cosplayers (the guys who make their costumes from scratch!) are kinda whole brain. They are able to look at a costume, break it apart, make all the bits that come with it (take measurements, fit LEDs, make sure things don't fall apart) and then they wear it, put on makeup, become the character, act IN CHARACTER, perform etc. That's fully utilizing both parts of the brain.

Really Right Brain people think that the Left Brain (and people who are mostly left) are dull, unfeeling, boring, evil, regimented, communist etc. and so they WANT to REBEL against the Left Brain and all that it stands for.

And that's when artists get in trouble.



How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Left Brain

 


Repeat after me: THE LEFT BRAIN IS NOT EVIL. HE IS YOUR FRIEND.

The left brain is Mr Organized. To first tap into him. CLEAN UP YOUR ROOM/ WORKSPACE.  Once you do, he can think straight and help you set your life in order.

If you don't clean up your workspace/ room, your brain is just frazzled and confused. It can't find things, it sees stuff everywhere, it's like there's just static in your head.

And magically once you clean up your area - sweep, dust, vacuum, re-arrange things, it's like you feel ready to work.

Seriously man, you can't work like this.

So GO CLEAN UP YOUR ROOM / WORKSPACE NOW.

.
.
.
.
.

Have you done it? If you haven't GO DO IT. 

TELL YOUR RIGHT BRAIN TO EFF OFF AND STOP WHINING.
.
.
.
.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Set a Goal. Not just 1 Goal. MANY LITTLE GOALS.

Imagine this. Imagine there's a soccer game. WITH NO GOAL POSTS. That's pretty stupid right? If you don't set goals for your project, that's like playing in that soccer game with no goal posts. You're just messing around, kicking the ball about FOR NO APPARENT REASON.

You really can't keep living your life like this

Yes it's true, messing about and discovering things is nice sometimes but you do need to work to a project or something to actually get somewhere.

Oh yeah, sure, I can set a goal. Like saayy there's a convention coming up next month, I'll prepare my cosplay outfit for that day!

The problem with far away goals is the further the goal is, YOUR RIGHT BRAIN WILL MESS WITH YOU.

"Oh it's so far away, I can muck around."

And then you realize too late like you have 1 week and then realize. "Oh crap, don't have my outfit ready in time, next con then.... : (   "

That sucks, you didn't fulfill your mission. 

Of course there are times where things don't go according to plan like really important life stuff cropped up which you really didn't expect, then that's an 'oh well.'

But it really does suck if you do an 'oh well' when you had ALL THIS TIME TO PREPARE and you blew it.




So here's what you do.

You make many LITTLE goals.

"Oh nooo I hate goals" whines your Right Brain. Yeah tell him to eff off.

First set a Master Goal. Like say, a convention day.

Then you set a Weekly Goal - In This Week, I need to finish this piece of my cosplay outfit.

Then you set a Daily Goal - Every day, I need to do a little bit of my outfit. Even though I am FREAKIN TIRED or whatever, you HAVE TO WORK ON IT.


Then YOU HAVE TO STICK TO IT.

Think of your project like ICO, you can't leave her alone to fend for herself.

Sticking to your goals is the hardest thing for Right Brained people to do. Right Brain people LOVE to get distracted by ANYTHING. When you find yourself getting distracted. YOU HAVE TO SAY NO.

When you work

Shut yourself in your room
Turn off all distractions - no games, no facebook, no chat messaging, no TV, no music
JUST. WORK.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO EAT AND DRINK SOMETHING.


The Reward System

You know how RPGs work? Someone gives you a quest, you go do it, then you get a reward.

You could try implement something similar for yourself when you hit your WEEKLY goals. (Don't do Daily goals cause too many rewards for really tiny things can mess you up)

Like when you find you hit your milestone for the week, you could go do something you really like for a while like go play your favorite video game or go watch some TV shows. But don't over do it of course.



Why Artists Fail Sometimes

I think what messes up artists and creative people (at least speaking from experience) is

The Production Part of Any Project IS THE MOST UNCREATIVE BIT.

Artists love the concept bit, the idea, the thought of doing something creative but their main problem is the actual DOING and MAKING THE IDEA HAPPEN.

This is you before starting your project

THIS WILL BE YOU WORKING ON YOUR PROJECT

And this sometimes puts them off from making awesome things because they have this brilliant idea of what they want, but find that putting in all this effort can be really hard, boring, difficult, not working out etc. And then they give up, produce shoddy work, not make the deadline etc.


THIS IS WHY YOU NEED YOUR LEFT BRAIN.

Think of your Left Brain as Mr Spock

Your Left Brain is Mr Discipline. He's also Mr Fix It and Mr Logical. You need him to help you keep going. You NEED HIM TO HELP YOU FIX PROBLEMS WHEN THEY COME UP.

It's easy to just down tools, give up a project and say 'Oh this is too hard, eff this shit.'

That just makes you a loser. You ran away from the problem. You didn't fix it.

COOL PEOPLE FIX PROBLEMS.



Hooray! You reached your Master Goal?! Now what?

AWESOME WORK! (Echow88)

Yeaaahh! You finished your outfit! You paraded it around at a con and it was AWESOME! It's easy to put your outfit away, start another project and keep going but you need to do just this ONE THING in order to take your artisan skills to the next level.

THE POST MORTEM

You know how in crime shows like CSI and Law and Order, the forensic guys go investigate how someone erm, was horribly murdered?

Quite similar to your project, you take it apart and analyze what you liked about it and what you didn't like about it and what could be improved.

Then you strife to do better on the stuff that wasn't good.


Also, compare your outfit to someone who was really good. Why did that outfit look awesome? Was their material better? Was there more detail on the outfit more than yours? Maybe she fit the look better?

Note these things down and strife to do better on your next project.



Dealing with Criticism. (Tell that Right Brain to SHUT UP AND BE COOL.) 

YOLANDA. BE COOL!

Artists love to make stuff mostly for them, like I said, art is a very personal and emotional journey. When you finish a project, you mostly put it up for the world to see or at least show it to your friends.

THE FIRST THING PEOPLE WILL DO IS JUDGE IT. 

They will usually tell you all the things that are wrong with it before all the things they like about it. If they're only telling you all the nice things about it, it usually means they're just being nice.

Artists usually get all angry and emotional when their work gets 'torn apart' by the public  because it's just your Right Brain FREAKING OUT.

"How DARE they hate my work! Do you know HOW LONG I SPENT DOING IT!?"
"They don't UNDERSTAND ME?!"
"I'm not listening, I'm NOT LISTENING."

And that's when artists don't grow at all and don't learn anything.

So tell your Right Brain to CALM THE EFF DOWN AND BE COOL.

People are just trying to help you improve.



Here's what you can do to improve

When you show your work to others, grab a small note pad and ask them.

"Ok, here's my work, what do you think?"

Jot down all the comments that people say on your note pad. Ignore the retarded comments like "SUCKS BAWLLZ" "BLOWS MANZZ"  That's not useful criticism.

Then look at your work accordingly. Hmm maybe that finish didn't look right on that weapon, maybe I shouldn't have used that cloth.. or.. yeah.. maybe I just don't fit that character look. I really need to lose weight etc.

And that's how you grow and improve as an artist. This journey doesn't happen overnight, there's no instant pill that you can take to be an awesome artist. It takes time, acceptance and A LOT of effort.

BE PATIENT. BE REALLY PATIENT.

Feng Zhu did not become this awesome overnight. He's a 12 year+ veteran concept designer. 12. YEARS

I think that's pretty much all I can think of. I wish I knew this stuff earlier, it seems easier said then done but it's not impossible. I just somehow woke up and saw this after I cleaned up my room and thought, yeah, I've been doing it wrong for what 20 odd years in my life?

Now that I realize, I'm gonna be smarter and I want YOU to be smarter too.



So learn to love Mr Left Brain, he's not evil, he just wants to help you. Tell Mr Right Brain to SHUT UP sometimes. He's too emo and gets nothing done.

Article - How to Be A Budget Smart Cosplayer

Cosplaying is not a cheap hobby. You do need a certain amount of money and time to achieve a certain level of quality and detail in a costume.

It's easy to go crazy and spend lots of money on just 1 outfit and then you get distracted and spend lots of money on outfit number 2, and then maybe 3 and then by then you realize, YIKES! I'M BROKE!


So I thought I'd write a short article about being budget smart when it comes to cosplay. Not saying be ultra cheap that your outfit looks like crap but rather spend money on a few good outfits that you can see yourself reusing a number of times and maybe sell them off just when that particular show/game/anime trend dies off.

Outfit trends

Maids don't go out of style

Any anime/game/comic/ pop culture thing comes in 2 categories - Classic and Trendy.

Classic Media

Remembered for years to come

Star Wars
Star Trek
Universal Monster Movies
Mega Man
Street Fighter
Mortal Kombat
Mario
Zelda
Disney characters
Marvel characters
DC characters
Astro Boy
Evangelion
Classic Gundam
Military cosplay
Historic cosplay
Steampunk

Trendy Media
 
Any popular movie, game, anime that's come out in the last few months.

What you choose to cosplay can help save you some money especially if you know that your outfit doesn't go 'out of season'.

There's nothing wrong with going trendy but be prepared to spend money on new outfits once your outfit goes out of style.

He's not going to go out of season

Why choosing a classic character saves you money

Because classic stuff DOESN'T DIE. The Joker will still be popular for years to come, so will Cammy and Chun Li from Street Fighter. And so will any Star Wars stormtrooper. That's the magic of classic media.

Even if you say haven't got a trendy outfit planned, you can still hop into a con in your classic outfit and you'll feel right at home with all the other outfits people are wearing.


The grand question - making stuff yourself Vs commissioning, which saves you money?

I think at the end of the day  - do you want to spend more TIME vs MONEY. Making stuff yourself does save you money, you will however need to spend a lot more TIME to get something to look right. Unless you're super confident of your abilities as a tailor/ crafter, go right ahead. If you can't afford your hand crafted stuff to look a bit wonky or unprofessional looking, then maybe it's best to pay an expert to do it for you. And that's what will cost you because commissioned work is an artisan service.

Artisan work does also take time to make as well as it does get expensive. Place orders early so that you don't get put on uber wait list. Sometimes you can't rush jobs no matter how much money you throw at an artisan/ tailor. 

If you can, re-use bits from other outfits

FF7 Sephiroth

Fate Zero Irisviel

It's easy to go crazy and go, 'oh I need these shoes for this character, and this jacket and these gloves' and then you realize that actually could have used an element from another outfit instead and that would have saved you money.

If you can re-use things like shoes or wigs or jacket or socks etc. from another character, do it. It'll save you some $$

What you also can do is do 'alternative' outfits for a character you've already done. eg. Fate Stay Saber Vs Fate Zero Saber

Fate Stay Saber

Fate Zero Saber

Ok maybe the wig is slightly different but maybe you can be creative and restyle, I don't know.


Try to buy stuff that's general purpose

This can sorta be used for something else too

Ok this is a bit tricky because lots of stuff is unique to certain characters, but if you're smart and notice something that you think can be used for a variety of characters - like certain boots, shirts, pants, contact lenses etc. there's a higher chance of you reusing that particular article of costume and saving yourself some money.


Borrow stuff from people

If you're doing a one-off cosplay that you probably won't be doing again, you can always borrow stuff from friends - maybe a certain wig or skirt or pair of shoes or earings. Least it saves you some dough rather than having to buy it and keep the costume element only to never use it again.


Rent an outfit if you're not a serious cosplayer

There are costume rental facilities out there that allow you to rent some outfits. Sure the selection probably isn't very great but if you just want something to wear to a con to join in the festivities but don't want to spend all that money making an outfit, just rent an outfit. Or if you know a cosplaying friend who's roughly the same size as you, then maybe you can wear his/ her outfit.

Or like I said, keep a few classic outfits and then use them interchangeably at conventions if you like.

Budget your outfit! 

It's easy to get caught up and say splurge on a really awesome prop that has LEDs that looks really cool, and then compromise on the rest of your outfit and you look really crap. Pick materials that you can afford and decide how detailed you want to go on your outfit. But please note, the less detail and accurate an outfit looks, the more cheap it will look overall. If you do want a certain standard, you will have to be prepared to put down money / time for it.

If you're buying materials for your outfit - buy on sale/ use discount cards!

 
Hey, if you can save a bit from the art store with their special discount card, why not? If you don't have one, you can always borrow a friend's. Buy stuff on sale..save up coupons, you know the drill 

Outsourcing your outfits is cool but only trust reliable companies and people

There are a bunch of places in China and Hong Kong that do really good replica outfits of  pretty good standard, however, there are many of them and it's tricky to know who is really reliable. What you don't want is getting something that totally looks different from the picture or you can't wear it cause the sizing is wrong. Check Ebay for reliable people and ask around on forums for recommendations.

Note that forum artisans are usually just 1 man shows and they can take pretty long to finish your stuff so be patient.


Check thrift stores

Thrift Stores are great because there's so much awesome cheap stuff around. Like Daiso - the $2 store, in Singapore is a really great place to get stuff or maybe your nearest Salvation Army may have stuff that people have given away. You can also go to garage sales and see if you can pick up things.


Check Around the House for Odds and Ends of Things

You never know what you may find from odds and ends in your home. Jam jars, bits of fabric, coke cans, if you're the handy crafty sort, maybe you can utilize these things to make your outfit?

If You've Cosplayed Something Trendy - Sell Off Your Outfit Before the Trend Dies

Haruhi was a big deal in 2009. But now it's 2012

I know, I know, it's easy to get attached to your outfits but really, when the trend dies, ain't nobody is going to wear your outfit, and you'll probably be planning other outfits. So best to clear off stuff before its too late.

You don't have to be obsessive detailed about some things 

Retrolicious

 If you find you can skimp on some things like say a really tiny object that's hidden on your belt or say certain contact lenses, let it slip. Don't get all obsessive about it. If you really feel that you can't let it go, then you'll just have to pay money for it.

If you've got anymore tips, do let me know at coskulture@hotmail.com

Quirky!- Icelandic Mayor Cosplays as a Jedi - Iceland

So cute! XD

Here's something interesting! lezgetreal.com reports that Icelandic Mayor, Jón Gnarr Kristinsson, who's also an actor and comedian, dressed up as a Jedi to attend the premiere of 'Comic-Con IV: A Fan's Hope' in Iceland!

That Jedi is a Senator I mean Mayor!

Jon Gnarr the Iceland Mayor of Reykjavík

The article goes on to question: What would happen if US politicians cosplayed and would that be a good idea?

Nnoo. Probably not, as the media would probably rip them to shreds. 

Check out the article here