14 Comments
Here's a list of the most frequented websites I use related to cosplay. This listing is slightly tailored for Canadians/Americans but many of the stores listed do ship internationally. [Square brackets] are used to indicate the store's country. Currency listed is CAD dollars. CONTACT LENSES
CORSETS Farthingales [US/Canada] - Corset supplies including boning, coutil, tools, books and patterns Elizabethan corset generator - To make your corset to your measurements. Plug in your numbers and it will tell you how to make a pattern. WIGS Arda Wigs [US + Canadian Store] - Price Range: $30-$90 - Color variety and unique styles - Lacefronts - Accessories and styling tools Epic Cosplay [US] - Price Range: $30-$70 - Color variety and unique styles - No lacefronts Wig is Fashion [China] Price Range: $20-90 –Colour variety - mostly unatural colours / big selection of lacefronts Cosplay Wig USA / Gothic Lolita Wigs / Rockstar Wigs [US] -Price Range: $30-100 -Colour variety and custom styles -Market tailored: by that I mean they have specific wigs for specific geek communities "Lolita wigs" for example. -Lacefronts Others eBay.com , Aliexpress.com , and Taobao.com [mostly China] - You can often find character specific wigs on these sites - Check feedback before ordering and consider shipping times. Two or more months in advance is a good idea. - Quality greatly varies - watch out for sellers who have multiple watermarks belonging to other stores - Unless you can read Chinese characters, I suggest using a reseller for Taobao. They charge a fee to process orders on your behalf FABRIC
Note: The camera used to photograph the fabric and the calibration of your screen affects what the colour looks like on a monitor. When in doubt order a swatch if it's available. PLASTICS CosplaySupplies [US/Canada] – Worbla, Transpart, wonderflex, Fosshape, friendly plastic YayaHan.com [US] - Worbla -Also be sure to check out local plastics stores in your area, you may be surprised at what you find. I get my styrene from a signs shops. BUYING IN BULK Beads, feathers, fabric, trims, lace, wigs, etc AliExpress.com [China] - Check the feedback of the item before purchasing, which is conveniently found on the item page itself - If you run into a problem with a product be sure file a complaint, you will likely get a partial refund. -Check for coupons, they often have store specific and site-wide coupons. eBay [Worldwide] - Check the store's feedback before purchasing and try to find feedback on your item. Taobao – [China] You may have to order from a reseller who will charge you a handling fee. TUTORIALS CosplayTutorial.com -Has a great collection of tutorials broken down in categories and sub-categories, such as: Accessories, wigs, shoes, armour, dyeing, and sewing. Replica Prop Forum - Mostly props focused - Look up people's builds and post questions Cosplay.com's Forums - Search available tutorials or post a question Instructables - General how-to website that has many costume oriented step-by-steps Google - Put your search skills to use - Search "character name" AND "tutorial" to see what comes up - Use different terms while searching for a tutorial - Bilingual cosplayers, switch languages and see what results pop-up I was only at G-anime for Saturday but I had a great time. I spent the morning hanging out in Vickybunnyangel's room getting my costume ready. After doing some running around and errands I got changed. I ran in Elemental shooting my friend Amurita in her Mask salesman costume. We also snapped a few quick photos before I was settled in the greenroom. I got to hang out Jayuna Cosplay and Kudrel while we waited our turn on stage. It went smoothly except for a little trip on my way off stage. I wrapped up the day by having dinner with friends. All in all a good day. See you next year. Greenroom photo by Katya Perin Stage photos by Pretty & Deadly Photography Anyone who has a fanpage for their cosplay work has probably been approached by another cosplayer to engage in a "share for share" or "like for like." If you have not been approached then consider yourself lucky because it is pretty rampant. The share for share explosion is a reflection of how cosplay has changed over the years. There is definitely a greater focus on visibility and getting your brand out there. It may even be a goal that people have when starting this hobby. A goal which was unheard of 5 years ago. I hold no ill will against people who do this. I understand there is pressure to get some name recognition to get more opportunities, such as invitations to events and visibility to potential collaborators. That pressure can be overwhelming at times and it can be discouraging to see others get social media success as you remain stagnant. I also understand the joy of people accepting and encouraging you and your work publicly. When I decline a share for share it is not something personal. It is not a reflection of the quality of their work or the content of their page. I do it because of a long list of reasons and because I don't think the process really helps anyone. I'm going to detail most of the advice I give out at "Cosplay on a Budget" panels, which are almost a permanent fixture at cosplayer heavy conventions. If you ever get a chance to check one out at your local convention, do it! They may have even more tips to give you, especially ones specific to your region. Some of my tips refer to Canadians/Americans companies, but overall it is general advice for all. More blogs in the 10 year Cosplay Retrospective Series: Week 1 -Wigs | Week 2 - Make-up | Week 3 - Armour | Week 4 - Cosplay Closet Purge | Week 5 -Planning | Week 6 - Inventory | Week 7 - Controlling Cosplay Costs | This blog details some of the advice I give at panels for cosplay beginners such as "Cosplay 101" or "How to start cosplaying" since not everyone can make it out to Canadian events. I hope you find it useful. More blogs in the 10 year Cosplay Retrospective Series: Week 1 -Wigs | Week 2 - Make-up | Week 3 - Armour | Week 4 - Cosplay Closet Purge | Week 5 -Planning | Week 6 - Inventory | Week 7 - Cosplay on a Budget
Comfort & Assistance Is your costume comfortable or uncomfortable? Will you need assistance getting around the event? Is your vision limited? The comfort of you costume will determine how long you can wear it, so you should budget your time accordingly. Prioritize your events (gatherings, panels, etc) to make sure you can attend and enjoy them. Inconvenient or awkward costumes may require you have an assistant (aka handler) to help you navigate the crowded con floor. Be sure to check the convention policy on large costumes, as some events require you have an assistant for large or vision impairing costumes. Consider some back up options to deal with uncomfortable costumes. I often bring a pair of flats if I'm wearing painful high heels. Also, you can make certain costume parts easily removable for maneuvering through crowds, such as wings or armour. I sometime bring a tote bag with me to carry certain costume pieces from one event to another. Bathroom Can you go to the washroom in this costume? How much time will it take you to go to the bathroom in this costume? This is very important because with cumbersome cosplays where you need to set time for washroom breaks. Respect your bladder and go to washroom whenever you have a window of opportunity. My Shiva costume was 30+ minutes ordeal to go to the washroom and that's not including putting everything back on again. I made sure to capitalize on some free time while waiting in the greenroom when I was competing in the masquerade. Materials Choices Knowing the properties of the fabric you need to buy for a costume will help you narrow down which one you need to purchase. Here's what I consider before I settle on a fabric.
Some examples: Charmeuse silk would be classified Shiny (somewhat)> Light > Opaque > Smooth > non stretch > Solid and/or pattern (depending on the costume) > dyeable > high budget. Compare to satin which can be heavier, have slight texture, can be stretchy, can be dyeable (only with polyester dyes), and low budget. If you can determine which attributes best describe your fabric, someone at the fabric store can probably help you pick something out. Having a reference photo handy always helps, especially if you have a hard time naming fabrics. Sometimes it's hard to say goodbye Unless they have unlimited storage space, eventually cosplayers have to go through their cosplay closet and make some tough decisions. I'm throwing this blog in the "retrospective" series because I find this is an activity I've done repeatedly throughout my cosplay life and a little wisdom helps make the process easier.
More blogs in the 10 year Cosplay Retrospective Series: Week 1 -Wigs | Week 2 - Make-up | Week 3 - Armour | Week 4 - Cosplay Closet Purge | Week 5 -Planning | Week 6 - Inventory | Thursday Calamity and I were travel buddies for the weekend and we had the joy of getting to the airport for 5am to catch our 6am flight to start our journey. We landed in Atlanta after noon and went straight to the Hyatt to check into our room then meet up with our friends at Hooters. It was my first and last time going there. The food was bland and the service was horrible. We waited forever for our food and even longer for our bills which eventually made me miss out on a planned shoot. Anyways, the rest of the day was spent wandering the event and eventually partying the in the Marriott at night. Friday Friday morning I got straight into my Sharla costume for a shoot with Jason Chau Photography. It always nice to collaborate with new photographers :D Keeping with my trend of forgetting costume pieces, I forgot to put on my weird club thing on my left arm - which you can barely miss since so much is going on there. I changed out of it immediately after the shoot to easily move through the event. Afterwards we grabbed lunch with a bunch of photographers and friends. It was nice catching up and meeting even more new people. Calamity and I spent the afternoon browsing the dealers room. There was so much to see although I was not a fan of the layout. I much prefer open warehouse like settings for dealer's room because they are easy to navigate. There is also a noticeable variety of goods in the dealer's room compared to the typical anime convention mostly: Lots of leather, quality kimonos, belly dancing attire, pocket watches, and corsets, corsets, corsets. Friday night I had a great dinner at Ray's. It was little expensive but the food was great! I then spent the night hanging out with friends at the Marriott lobby again. |
MeltingMirror's Cosplay BlogLearn more about my experiences in the cosplay world, from conventions to photoshoots and everything in between. Categories
All
|