Cosplay and all its variants, have become very popular in the last few years. It is now much easier to source materials and tutorials that will help you become your favourite characters. However, every so often I still hear the question “Ok, I want to cosplay where do I start?”
This question can be answered quickly or not. To begin with, you don’t need to make the cosplay yourself, there are plenty of stores and cosmakers that can make the cosplay for you. There is no shame in buying a cosplay or parts of it. However, if you have decided to make your own thing but you are still not sure on where to start keep reading and hopefully you will make up your mind.
1. Choose something you love
I believe this is a rule of thumb. When you cosplay you want to show your love for a character. I often see people in forums asking “Hey, who do I look like?” or “Who should I cosplay as?” I could give you a thousand and one answers and it still wouldn’t matter because you wouldn’t feel any attachment to them.
Don’t get me wrong, you can still go for any of those ideas, I have cosplayed characters before based just in looks, but when choosing your first character to cosplay you want to portray someone you feel a connection with.
If you choose with your heart you won’t be wrong. Idranel was one of my first cosplays. I paint Warhammer 40K, I was playing Dawn of War II at the time, and I was obsessed with eldar (I still am!) My Eldar Farseer Idranel has been so far my most worn cosplay and I wore it to many conventions until it got worn off. I would still wear it today if I had it!
2. Start small
Probably my best advice when you start cosplaying is to start small. Choose something which isn’t too complicated. You can start using preowned clothes. You will have time later to move on to drafting patterns and creating armour pieces. Choose easy to sew fabrics and simple builds and make them more elaborate with time.
Look, this is me wearing my first cosplay ever. It may have not been amazing but people recognised me. My Tifa Lockhart cosplay wasn’t too complicated as I mostly used things from my wardrobe, but I felt satisfied and accomplished when I first wore it. I had already been cosplaying for many years when I created my Velvet Crowe cosplay, which has lots of details and handmade pieces including a giant demon hand that moves!
4. Consider time and materials
If you want to make a good job, plan your cosplay in advance. Even the simplest of cosplays takes time to build. Furthermore, you are going to need to get materials and also get fabric for cosplay. Finding resources takes time and money. Finding the perfect thing is not easy.
You can tell my Persocon cosplay was done in a rush and without a lot of thought. This is me improvising the day before the con for a cosplay. The colours are wrong, the details are wrong and everything is wrong. I got a terrible wig from the store as I didn’t know you can get many types of wigs at the time. Indeed, it would probably have been much cheaper and better looking to buy a wig online. My Hana cosplay however took me a full year to complete, I spent hundreds of pounds on it but I was very proud of myself when I finished it.
If you have never done a cosplay before I recommend you to start planning and researching right now. Also, make sure you have enough money to get all your materials before you commit, it can be really frustrating when you can’t finish a cosplay because you run out of money.
5. Get some help
Wait, you don’t need to make it alone? Actually, no. You may have decided you want to make your cosplay, but that doesn’t mean you have to make it on your own. It is ok to get help. Very often your mum, grandma, aunt or best friend will give you a hand.
My father helped me to build these collapsable wings for my Kindred Vampire cosplay. We had so much fun working together on this project. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him. It is great to get help from someone, however, always remember to be fair and reasonable. These people are not your slaves! Remember you will eventually need to start learning and making these things on your own.
Even if you have noone to help you, there is plenty of tutorials and information online. You can actually search my blog on tutorials on how to get patterns, where to buy fabric , friendly materials for beginners and much more.
6. Be aware of your limitations
It is very easy to get carried away and start with a very big build. Everybody wants to make something amazing and unique. Probably, you even want to enter the cosplay competition. But let’s face it, unless you are a genius or have a very long background on arts and crafts it is very unlikely to get it perfect on your first attempt.
This was my first cosplay armour ever. Yes, I know, you have never seen it before. Yes, I know it is awful. No, it never saw the light. I spent hours and hours making this cosplay of one of my favourite characters (there were more pieces, I promise). The day I had to wear it I looked so awful that I decided to bin it without a second thought. Remember when I said start small? This is the reason why. Don’t get me wrong, I learnt a lot making this armour, specially how NOT to make armours. After failing miserably with my Banshee I decided to make my Farseer and it did work! Do not get disappointed if your cosplay doesn’t look perfect the first time, just keep trying, it does get better.
It doesn’t matter if you want to make an armour or a pretty dress. You can’t expect to get it perfect the first time. It took me almost ten years to be able to construct something like my Wonder Woman cosplay and you will improve with every single project you make. Don’t give up.
7. Be proud of yourself
No matter what, be proud of yourself. Do go to the convention, do enter the cosplay competition and have fun. Little mistakes are not important. Don’t be afraid of what others may say or think, you are doing this because you like it. Making a cosplay is hardwork. It doesn’t matter if it is not perfect. What matters is that you did it and that you tried and that you enjoyed. Pat yourself on the back and start planning your next project. And most important of all, have fun.
Improvement takes time. My friend Larxenne and I kept entering the same competition year after year until we finally managed to win the first place with her Miaka and my Yui Hongo cosplay. It took us a lot of effort but we eventually made it!
Final thoughts
As you see, nobody starts knowing how to cosplay. It takes a lot of trial and error to get better and it is always a good idea to go a step at a time, but if you keep trying you will get eventually there. Also, if you have a chance, do cosplay with your friends. I miss the old times doing cosplays with my friends Haru, Jujo and Larxenne. But I am looking forwards to make new cosplay memories with even more friends.
If you need some patterns to start cosplaying feel free to browse my collection. And if you are still thinking “Cosplay, where do I start?” you will also find lots of help and tutorials in this page. And what about you? What was or will be your first cosplay project? Was it difficult? Did it look good? Let me know in the comments and remember to share this post with someone that just wants to start in this awesome hobby!
