Beginners Guide
to Cosplay
A
fter visiting Colossalcon 2015, here
in Ohio, I decided that it’s important
to write a short guide with tips and tricks
on how to cosplay for conventions, parties,
photoshoots, etc. Now, before we begin on
how to cosplay, let’s start by learning what
it is. Cosplaying is similar to dressing up
for Halloween, except it’s a little crazier and
a lot more complicated. It is turning yourself into someone else… usually someone
from a fictional story or TV show. It means
dressing your body and your mind up. It’s
an escape, an ability to be someone you’re
not… even if it’s just for a day. Now, there
are three really basic steps to cosplaying:
Choosing a Character, Building your Costume, and Final Details.
he first step to cosplaying is choosing
a character. A lot of people who cosplay pick some of their favorite characters
from books. When I went to Colossalcon
this year, I cosplayed as the Cheshire Cat. I
picked him because Alice in Wonderland
is one of my favorite books and stories,
and I’ve always had a magnetism to the
Cheshire Cat. Other people pick a character because they already look like that character or have traits resembling that character. Eventually I’ll cosplay as Belle from
Beauty and the Beast, because I have long
brown hair and I LOVE to read! No matter
what reason you have for picking a character, it is incredibly important to choose
one that you are familiar with. You definitely do not want to cosplay a character
that you know absolutely nothing about.
I would never cosplay a character from
T
Death Note because I’ve only watched the
show a couple of times. Always choose a
character that you are comfortable mimicking, especially when you pose for pictures or speak for interviews. It is vital to
be able to create a feeling that you ARE the
character you are portraying!
econdly, is creating your costume. This
is the hardest, most expensive, and
most time consuming part of the cosplay process. It’s frustrating, irritating, it’ll
make you want to quit, and throw things.
It is absolutely worth it in the end, though.
There are two roads you can travel when it
comes to acquiring a costume: purchasing
or creating.
S