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 - Survive a Con, while Cosplaying - Comic Impact

 
October is Con season and if you're a seasoned cosplayer, you probably already know the drill for surviving a con in your outfit. For those starting out, Comic Impact has a really good guide to help you enjoy the con in your outfit (and not burning out)

In summary:

1. Check your packing list, and TWICE! (if you don't have a list, use Cosplay Tutorial's UBER list and make one!)

2. Check your cosplay ref photos before you head out to make sure you don't forget to bring/wear clothing articles/ accessories

3. Don't forget civilian wear! - Being in costume is fun but sometimes not very comfortable. Note that in places like Asia/ Japan, civilians don't like to see people in costume traveling to a cosplay event. Generally the etiquette is change into outfit at the venue and change out when you're done.

4. Personal hygiene please! - deorderant, tissues to wipe your face with, hand sanitizer if you're very particular etc

5. Band Aids/ Plasters - walking around in certain shoes/ boots that aren't comfortable cause blisters and this can get VERY ANNOYING. Good to have plasters when you really need them.

6. BRING FOOD AND DRINKS - Snacky things, nuts, fruits, packed lunch etc. Save yourself some $$ and don't spend on theme-park priced convention food.

7. Bring a outfit repair kit - Sometimes stuff just happens, popped a button, spill on outfit. If you have a repair kit, that would help patch up your outfit instead of let it be a disaster.

8. Schedule your day - You can wander about aimlessly but you can also schedule which panels, booths you want to go to rather than just hover about.

9. Get a minder friend - Not all events have coat check ins/ baggage areas. Get a friend to hold your stuff for you rather than hold it all day. Minder friends are useful to make sure people don't step on your outfit or hit you or prevent people from stealing your stuff etc.

Extra tip, if you know a friend who has a art booth or something, you could leave your bag at his/her booth ^_^

10. Bring the camera! - don't forget to take photos at the event too!


Here are my additional tips

11. If you're a serious cosplayer, don't forget your cos cards! - Cos Cards are like Cosplay name cards that Japanese Cosplayers first came up with. It's good to pass them out to fans, other cosplayers and photographers so they can check out your portfolio of other outfits.

12. Give yourself a time frame to be in costume - as much as cosplayers love to be in costume, cosplay outfits are not exactly the most comfortable things to wear. Also, sometimes you don't want to be mobbed by photographers and the public all day that you can't enjoy the con. Give yourself maybe 2 hours to be in outfit, then change out and enjoy the rest of the con.

13. You don't have to go to every event day - Some people are really hardcore and want to go EVERY DAY OF THE CON from Friday - Sunday. Trust me, you will burn out and get ill. Pick your days carefully and just have fun. You don't have to go to ALL THE DAYS.

14. Don't forget to rest your feet! - Walking about at the con is tiring work. Seriously, 4 hours of standing can kill your legs. Don't forget to sit somewhere or get a drink or rest your feet somewhere.

15. You don't have to pose for photos for more than 5 min! - So you chose to wear that really cool Gundam suit, but now you're stuck standing there for over 5 min! It's ok to give a signal to everyone that you want to move on. People will understand.

16. GROSS! Pervert guy took an UPSKIRT photo! - Stuff like that does happen so to prevent upskirts, try wear a kind of bloomers or something. There are weird people at conventions. Believe me.

17. If you need to smoke, try do it somewhere far away or out of costume if possible. - As much as we like out-of-character cosplayers, sometimes smoking mario just kinda kills the image of the character.

18. Be cordial to everyone, don't turn down people who want to take your picture - Hey! You're in costume! People WILL take photos of you! Don't be shy and run away and stuff like that. Also, please don't be rude even if you're really tired or having a bad day or something. Even if people get your character wrong.

Check out the original Con Survival Guide list by Comic Impact

Useful - The Cosplay Packing Checklist - Cosplay Tutorial.com

Unlike regular con going folks, cosplayers have A LOT of stuff to remember to prepare, pack, bring to a convention. The ULTIMATE. ABSOLUTE. WORST NIGHTMARE. is

You forgot an important component of your outfit


and of course your convention ticket/ passport or something else dreadfully important.

Never fear! Cosplay Tutorial has this EXCELLENT webform that you can fill in and print out so that you'll never forget stuff to a con ever again!

Check out the link here!

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

Article - Know Your Look and Cosplay To it!

Instead of reporting Cosplay news, I thought I'd write an article about knowing your 'Cosplay Look' and running with it.

Let's be frank: Everyone has a look. Some are sexy, some are cute, some are badass, some are bishounen. Some people are curvy, some people less so, some people are mr muscles, some people are elvish.

Cosplay is not just about wearing a costume and pretending to be said character, it IS about the look. The people who are able to get as close as they can to said character's look makes a great cosplayer. 

If you break down popular comic/ game/ anime characters, they all fall into different categories. Let's start with Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII

Cloud is slim built athletic guy. He has muscles but they're not super action hero huge. His face is rather effeminate for a heroic male character.

It's true, finding guys that actually look like Cloud is quite challenging. Which is why lots of girls have attempted being Cloud.

pikminlink as Advent Children Cloud

 pikminlink who mostly does Link from Zelda did this amazing cosplay of Cloud from FF7 Advent Children waay back. He fits the body type, the face shape and his overall costume is great, plus, he's smart to use shades cause you know, everyone loves shades and he's able to preserve the cool tough guy look for Cloud.

Let's look at Super Heroes from comics in general. Most times, the ladies are all very athletic and curvy. Let's look at Jean Gray from X-men

Jean Grey has very fiery red hair, an athletic busty build, and has a tough girl but sweet kind of face when she's not kicking ass.

gillykins as Jean Grey

 Here's gillykins as Jean Grey. She has the tough girl but kind face for it, also the body shape and yeah she looks great overall!

Alright alright, Grimzy, you're being unfair! You're picking all the good looking people! It's true, we're not all given great looks and fantastic bodies but if you play to your strengths right, you can cosplay characters that fit you.

It's true, there aren't many plus sized characters about but if you do find them and if you fit the look, then that's super awesome!

Like look at King Pin from Marvel Comics

Kingpin is a HUGE guy. He has a suit, a cane, a cigar and he's a badass!

This guy is just perfect

Then what about big girls! It's true there aren't many big girl characters in comics and games HOWEVER big girls are the funny characters!

Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time

Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time looks like a blob but this can work to your advantage when you're a bigger girl!

PERFECT!

This girl is just PERFECT. The outfit, the purple gown, that priceless expression. She's NAILED it.


Also another thing is side characters are more forgiving than iconic characters. You can still have fun cosplaying!

Crazy 88s from Kill Bill are easy!

hey Hey! Team Rocket grunts! - Pokemon

FF7 Shinra Guards!

If you know some people and they're really good armor crafters, you could attempt armored characters. Armor however is not easy to make and things do get quite expensive so don't attempt if you're just starting out cosplaying.

Halo Spartan

Then what about THE GLASSES PROBLEM. It's true most characters don't actually wear glasses and people like me absolutely hate putting any foreign object like contact lenses into my eyes. There's always characters with glasses to choose from. Of course there is some limitations but still. You work with what you've got.

Quistis from Final Fantasy 8

Quitis is very bookish, she has blonde hair, blue eyes and she has glasses! She's also very prim and proper, slim (and she's also my all time favorite FF8 character)

Not too bad at all!

 I mean, generally, play to your strengths.

If you have the curves, do the curve thing
If you have the muscles, do the muscle thing
If you're small and cute, do the cute thing 
If you don't have boobs, you could do bishounen characters (guys that look like girls). Or you could do military, armor, stuff that doesn't show off boob.
If you're a big person, you could do big characters or mascots, fur suits, armor characters etc.

But of course, everyone is choosy and wants to be someone they're not but hey, we gotta work with what we got to make a great cosplay!

Photographing cosplayers IN JAPAN - How to not get yourself in trouble

I was fortunate enough to go to Winter Comiket in December 2 years ago and was quite surprised to hear from my brother that they do not allow video recording of any kind at such events because privacy, to Japanese people, is very important.

Rocket News, a popular Japanese culture website, reports the things you can and can't do when you're taking photos of cosplayers in Japan

In summary of the article

1. Take photos. DO NOT VIDEO ANYONE

2. COSPLAYERS ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL MODELS. You can't direct them and ask them to pose a certain way etc. (unless you specifically paid them for photo shoots etc.)

3. Some events you need PERMITS before you're allowed to take photos of cosplayers

4. Please ask before you take someone's photo (But of course there will be lots of latcher ons who don't do this.)

5. Don't be a TIME ROBBER. Take the photo, or a couple and move on

here's an extra one I'm going to add in

6. Please don't take pictures of cosplayers ON THEIR SMOKE BREAK. (it's funny but its out of character and not fitting)

And of course there's the please ask before you upload photos online but if you're a foreigner then I guess you won't really need to ask them.

Full article here

Cosplay 101 - How To Start Cosplaying (and not end up looking like crap)

This is an old article but a great one that was recommended by a friend

It was written by Sarcasm-hime back in 2007 but I believe the info is still relevant today




In a quick summary of what she says

1. Please use good IMAGE REFERENCE

2. Give yourself TIME and Enough PREPARATION

3. Choose the RIGHT FABRIC

4. If you're making your outfit - Choose something OF YOUR SKILL LEVEL

5. Choose an outfit THAT SUITS YOU

6. Don't forget to make YOUR HAIR up too!

7. ANKLE LENGTH HAIR only looks fine IN ANIME

8. Good Make Up can also boost your overall costume

9. Don't ignore FOOTWEAR

10. Sexy + Cheap = TRASHY

11. PLEASE POSE when people want to take your picture

Check out the rest of her article here