Cosplay discussion thread!

We don't seem to have a cosplay thread for talking about doing and appreciating cosplay! I hereby attempt to change that! (This might fit better in Troper Covens, but I figured it's historically tied to Japanese pop culture and I'd have more luck finding actually interested people here.)

Granted, I have an ulterior motive, as I want to attempt my first cosplay in less than two weeks! And I have yet to do any work on it because I've been busy with rather more pressing issues.

I'm thinking I might want to cosplay a Gallade gijinka. I initially wanted to do Lucario and go with a friend cosplaying as Cynthia, but she redecided and I'm not that big on the Luke anyway. I'm a much bigger fan of Gardevoir, and, uh, to be honest I kinda want to cosplay a fighter so I can show off my muscles, haha.

I've got some white aladdin pants and a huge, green Arabian scarf that I can wear like a sash. Beyond that, things are looking difficult in the resource department.

One important thing is that I'd like to have white skin. (Like, white white. I'm already white-skinned.) Do you need some super-special body make-up for that? (I have some normal theater make-up, but it doesn't cover terribly well at all.) I know there's some things you have to keep in mind when applying loads of body paint like that, but I don't remember what they are...?

I'll also have to put a lot of work into all those pointy, stick-outy parts Gallade has. For the smaller parts like the red bit sticking out of his chest and back, could I just cut layers out of thick cardboard and stick them together and harden them with a healthy helping of glue (like paper-mache but without shredding it to bits first)? I know I'll need some solid wood or a thin pipe or something as the basis for the blades, particularly since I'll be swinging those around and I need to attach something to grab them by. I think that should work out, though.

Any tips on how to attach stuff like the red chest bit and that sail on its hat to myself? I figure some sort of bandage-like contraption should do, though the chest-and-back things will require some solid feet in several directions so they don't just wobble around. I have no idea what to do about the head-sail though. In fact, I'm not even sure what to do about the helmet at all. Any ideas?

Sorry for making this all about my own troubles, but I think a place to discuss cosplay at will be nice to have if there's interest!

edited 1st Mar '14 6:10:49 AM by Fawriel

As I recall, the main thing about body paint is first, make sure you aren't allergic to the stuff. Different colors and brands use slightly different chemicals, and some people are sensitive to one body paint when others are okay, while other people break out from all kinds.

For white body paint, I'd do some research on what professional clowns and mimes prefer. They wear that stuff for a living, so should be able to give you a good consumer briefing on which brands work well.

I recall reading about something Homestuck cosplayers in particular tend to get wrong where they end up smearing their make-up everywhere. I guess it's probably just a matter of getting the right paint.

Good point about the mimes! That does seem like a good place to start.

Bumping because I need some feedback.

I'm planning to cosplay as America from Hetalia in the future (after Thanksgiving weekend, my spending money's going towards cosplay gear). I can't sew for shit, and I really doubt that I'll have any luck at Goodwill finding a jacket that could work. Therefore, I plan to buy the jacket plus a wig. I'm wondering if it would be acceptable to wear jeans for my cosplay. I'm not planning to pose for photos for hours, but rather just take goofy photos and videos and crap (plus, I hate khakis).

Looking at some of the Alfred pictures I took at a con it is complete permissible to wear jeans.