"Cosplay", Costume Playon a Dime

What is cosplay? Like the name implies, it's 'costume play'. Popular at anime and video game conventions around the world, it's the art of dressing up as popular anime and video game characters. Conventions often hold photoshoots and masquerade competitions for cosplay, and it can be a great way to meet fellow fans who share your interests. Some people even make a career out of it, though it's very difficult and requires years of skill and experience - not to mention a backer!

Mostly, cosplay is a hobby. And despite how intimidating it may seem, it's an easy hobby to get started on.

There are dozens of how-to guides on cosplaying all over the net. But I've found that hardly any give advice on how to cosplay with a limited budget. Everything talks about high quality fabrics, what to use and what not to use, where to get the top of the line sewing machines...

What about those of us who aren't interested in winning and Masquerade prizes? What about the college students, the once-in-a-while cosplayers, the ones who just don't want to spend hundreds of dollars? I'm one of those. I cosplay for fun, and I do it cheaply. But a cheap cosplay doesn't have to look cheap.

Where to begin? Thrift stores are your friends. All of my costumes began in thrift stores. I frequent Goodwill myself. There you can fine old prom dresses for five dollars, perfect for dissecting to get fabric. Large, bell like skirts are wonderful for providing a good yard of quality fabric. Just remember to always, always cut along the seams when you're dismantling a piece of clothing. Otherwise you end up with jagged, ratty hems that will sheer precious inches off of your fabric.

Now you have fabric! Something that could have cost you upwards of twenty dollars to purchase at a fabric store, in your hands for as little as five dollars! All you need to do now is sew it together how you want!

But what if I can't sew, you ask. Don't worry - I couldn't sew when I started, either. Thrift stores are still your best friends. Altering an existing piece of clothing is a cinch, even for someone with no sewing experience. Find a dress, shirt or pair of pants that somewhat resembles what you're going for. Color and general style are what you want to look for. If you find the right style but not the right color, dying fabric isn't as hard as some guides would lead you to believe.

Once you have your starting outfit, there are a few tools you're going to need. Number one: fabric glue. It's cheap and easy to find at any convenience store. Fabric glue is exactly what it sounds like - glue for fabric. This eliminates the pesky problem of not being able to sew. You can glue together seams, glue up hems, and generally use it for anything you'd use a sewing machine before. Be suer to use a thin layer of glue and press the fabric firmly together, to keep from unsightly lumps of glue.

You're going to want plenty of reference pictures before you begin. Print out pictures of your chosen costume from every possible angle you can find. It helps to make a poster board displaying all of your reference pictures, for easy reference. Keep it displayed while you're working. Start with the simple adjustments. For my first costume, I needed to turn a high V neck collar into a low square neck. Using my reference pictures and a pair of cheap fabric scissors, I simply cut a square collar an inch narrower than need be. I folded the edges under, so the cut end was on the inside of the dress and glued the edges down. There was my smooth, evenly hemmed collar! Next, I added slits to a solid skirt. Again, I cut along the seams and simply glued under the cut edges. The sleeves were shortened in the same manner, and by the time I was done and I had a completely new dress. All made with nothing more than fabric glue and scissors.

Metallic accessories are just as easy. What you'll need for anything metal is simply some air drying sculpting clay and some metallic paint. Sculpty brand clay is lightweight when it dries and takes metallic paint very well. I've used this method for armor, collars and headpieces. Once more, you'll need plenty of reference pictures. Mold the clay into the desired shape, holding it against yourself if need be to make sure you're making it to the right scale. The clay should be easy to work with and hold together even when rolled thinly. Leave it to dry. Once dry, evenly coat the clay in metallic paint and allow the first coat to dry. Then apply a second coat. Your clay should now look like metal - silver works best, the gold can sometimes have a fake looking sheen to it. Try mixing it with a pale brown matte paint to cut down on that. This is also a good trick for making fake weapons.

Let's move on to shoes. Boot covers are an easy solution to the elaborate boots a lot of costumes have. Get a pair of old boots at a thrift store - it doesn't matter what they look like, just that they're the right height and have the right heel. Pick up an old dress that matches the fabric of the boots you want to make - vinyl works well as a leather substitute. Now you're going to cover those old boots you bought with fabric, using your fabric glue. Lay one boot down on your fabric and trace it, to get the general shape. Cut the shape out, making sure to leave a couple of inches around the outline for leeway. Repeat this step so you have two matching boot shapes of fabric. Then simply glue them to your boot, smoothing down the edges and seams and tucking the loose fabric at the top down into the boot. Add hems or whatever other designs are needed with your fabric glue. (Or sew them on, if you're handy with thread.)

And there you are! A complete costume for under fifty dollars. You don't need a whole lot of money to pull off a good costume, just some creativity and a little know-how.