A New Page
It’s just too boring to stick with one topic… so I’ll add in a new page for the sake of keeping this blog alive while I push Granado Espada aside to concentrate on my studies. who knew, I can actually do it! 8D
This page is a link to my cosplay projects, so have a look around there when you have the time. It’ll be a collection of past, present and future projects on costumes and props. Photos will be added in too for those who crave a little visual entertainment.
For the clueless: If you have some unnamed questions regarding cosplay, I hope this little FAQ will give you your answers.
- What is cosplay?
- What do cosplayers do?
- How much does an average cosplayer spend on a costume?
- Is this hobby worthwhile?
Short for costume play, cosplay 1st came from Japan, the heaven and place of birth of Anime and Manga. You could classify this as an hobby. Do not mess up cosplay from dressing-up, for they are 2 complete different things. Cosplay comes from putting on costumes, wigs and make-up of a certain character that appeared in a published Manga/aired Anime. Dressing up is simply the donning of clothes that one does not wear everyday, like Lolita and Punk clothing. Props and accessories relevant to the costume can be worn with the costumes for both aspects. Thus, if you happen to bump into a Lolita-wearing young lady, take a good look at the costume before calling her a cosplayer. She could be just someone who loves to wear a dress of frills and laces, unless you can see that she is cosplaying a character from an Anime/Manga that wears a Lolita, i.e. Rozen Maiden.
This is a typical day for a cosplayer at an event:
Meet up with teammates (if said cosplayer is in a team) or friends. Head to event location. Walk around the area, accepting requests to take photographs from photographers (both casual and professional). Watch the programs on stage (Optional). Have dinner with friends or teammates (if said cosplayer is in a team).
Simply put, cosplayers show off their gear at the event and accept photo-taking from various members of the public. To be embarrassed in front of cameras or a crowd is something a new cosplayer has to overcome.
An average cosplayer spends a few hundred on a costume, but this amount can be a very huge range. You can spend literally nothing on a costume (Death Note’s L, in which you happen to have everything you need in your closet) to more than $1000 [Trinity Blood and/or Granado Espada's range of elaborate costumes (Yes, Kai, this is taken frm your case :P)]. It all depends on the source of your costume and if you opt to make a complicated prop. Some tailors give really good prices for high quality clothes, so always ask the ’seniors’ for the best tailors to approach. Props can be a pain in the neck, so ask for help before starting to do a prop. In the process of asking for help from a tailor, the printer’s your best friend. Try to print some pictures that provide a good view of the costume you plan to do for the tailor to refer to while making. If you can get shots of various angles (like the basic front, back, side views), all the better. It’s better to provide more than less.
In my opinion, yes – Cosplay is a very worthwhile hobby. Many people warn you about the dangers of meeting online friends, but in this case, you can consider meeting your team members and forum buddies as a must. New-comers who join this hobby will find it scary at first to cosplay alone, thus having some friends to tag along will be a very good thing. Take this chance to meet with that gal in the forums who humoured you so much or the guy who gave you priceless tips on making your prop realistic. This is just the same as friends you see around you, whether in your workplace or school. You also get to be in the limelight with that costume you painstakingly worked on just for that day and spread a sensation across the community of cosplayers and fans. Who knows, you might bump into your classmates while being amongst the group of cosplayers who shared happy memories with you. If you do not wish to spend a whole lot of money on a costume, bring your camera and spare batteries and memory cards, a few friends and head down to an event and experience being amongst cosplayers. You will never forget that day.
If you wish to be part of the cosplay action, here’s a forum that majority of the cosplayers gather in.
http://sgcafe.com/ (set in Singapore)
For the old pros: VegaHighwell from SGCafe greets everyone from the forums who bumps into here~ XD
