Anime Cosplay Help

[kalon]

I've never cosplayed before, nor have I been to an anime convention, but my friends and I are planning on doing both this year. Now, I want to do something that's fairly simple, and fairly uncommon. As in, I'm not going as anyone from Naruto/Sailor Moon/any other crazy popular over-cosplayed anime. Also, I'm a pretty big girl, which mean I can't exactly pull off a little school girl uniform (nor would I want to).

So, any tips for cosplaying or character suggestions would be helpful. I've never done this, so I'm going to need a lot of help. (Luckily, the convention is not until April, so I have a little time.)

[Panda]

I'd love to help you! I just need a bit more information.

When you say fairly easy are you looking for some closet cosplay (using stuff you can buy and with little to no effort change it into a costume), commissioned cosplay (buying costume from someone) or do you want to make a costume from scratch?

If you are making a costume from scratch what are your sewing skills like? Do you hand sew or machine sew?

Are you willing to crossplay. Cosplay a character of the opposite gender?

I know you say you don't want to cosplay from an over-done series, but what about a manga only character from a popular series or a character that is rarely cosplayed?

Oh, and just out of curiousity, which con are you going to attend? It's not Sakura-con by chance is it?

Ok, I'll let you get started with those questions. Cosplay is so much fun and it really does make the convention experience more enjoyable. At least in my opinion it does. :D

[kalon]

Well, I have a friend whose mom is excellent at sewing, and she'd help me with the actual making of it. So, it's not exactly commissioned in the normal sense, but I probably wouldn't do any sewing myself, except for maybe some hand-stitched details. I'm pretty good at hand-sewing.

I'm definitely willing to crossplay. I was just having a conversation with another friend of mine who wants to go, and we were discussing dressing up as Host Club members. She wanted to be Kaoru, and I wanted to be Kyouya. So, costumes of either gender would work. I'm not really "girly," so boy costumes might work even better for me.

If it's a character that's rarely cosplayed, that would be fine. I mainly just don't want to go as a character like Naruto, because I know I'll be seeing several dopplegangers. I'm not opposed to suggestions of video game characters, either. (Preferably something with an anime flair, like Tales of Symphonia.)

So I'm open to almost any suggestion as long as I'm familiar with the character/story (and I know a lot of anime, so that shouldn't be a problem). It's mainly knowing where to start once I do decide on who to go as.

And I'm going to MTAC, the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention. It is, as far as I know, Tennessee's [i]only[/i] anime convention.

Thanks for the help!

[Panda]

It's very nice to have your friends mom help with the costume creation. I do totally understand your feelings of over cosplayed characters. There is a fun side to that. The multiple Narutos can just say they are doing a cloning jitsu! MTAC from what I have heard from friends is a fun con. I was hoping you were going to Sakura-con since I'll be there in April.

Now let's see. One of the first things that came to mind was cosplaying from Ouran. I've done a Kyouya cosplay and it was so much fun. That is definitely an excellent choice. My next Ouran cosplays are going to be Nekozawa with Beelzenef and probably will make a Loberia Zuka Club fangirl costume and a plushie squid to go with it.

Another good choice would be any of the characters from Final Fantasy 3. They aren't over cosplayed like other FF characters and their chibi appearance in actual game play means that even chubby girls like me can cosplay them without being too far off from the actual characters look. One that I personally really like is the Devout. The hood with ears is just so cute!

It's tough helping someone chose a costume. A good way to help decide what you want to do is think about all your favorite series and games. What characters do you like? Are any of them ones you would feel comfortable cosplaying? Remember cosplay is about having fun. I'm a chubby gal and I've cosplayed a tall thin bishonen guy to a 10 year old girl. If you feel comfortable doing it, I say go for it! As long as you aren't breaking any decency laws that is! LOL

When you do decide the first thing you need to do is get as many references as possible of the character from as many angles as possible. This will help make things easier. You can then take those pictures with you when shopping for the correct type and color of fabrics. You may also want to look through pattern books to see if there is an existing pattern that could be altered to create your costume. It just makes things a bit easier for the person making the costume. Making a list of all the other items you'll need: buttons, clasps or prop parts will help when you go shopping as well.

Well, hope that helps you some. Sorry I couldn't think of more characters for you but in the end you are the one who is going to investing your time and money into this costume. You should cosplay who you want.

Best of luck with your costume and definitely have fun at your first con!

BTW, here are some tips on cosplaying and cons in general.

- If your costume is big (ie wings, large props, etc..) be aware of the people around you. Convention halls and the dealer's room can be very crowded. Having a costume ruined or poking someone in the eye with your costume can really put a damper on your fun.

- Don't be smelly. This goes if you are in costume or your regular street clothes. Some people go to cons and forget that after playing DDR all day that they aren't the freshest flower in the greenhouse. This smell is referred to as "Con Funk" or "HOBO". HOBO stands for Horrible Otaku Body Odor.

- Watch your stuff. If you stop to pose for pictures and need to put your bag, camera..whatever down, put it between you and the photographer. Placing your stuff behind you means someone can come up and swipe your bag while you are posing. It's happened to many an unsuspecting cosplayer.

- Drink water and eat good meals. You cannot survive off of Ramune and Pocky alone. Being sick with dehydration is not a good way to spend your convention weekend.

- Find out via the convention message boards when group photo gathering aka Photoshoots are taking place for your favorite series or the ones you are cosplaying. It gives you a chance to get pictures with others in the same series as well as a chance to make new friends who love the same anime or game that you do.

- When taking pictures of cosplayers always ask first. No one like snipers who sneak pictures while they are adjusting their costume or eating.

- No glomping! No matter how much you love a character a cosplayer is not that character. A flying hug can catch a cosplayer off guard resulting in ruined costumes, broken props or ever worse, a broken cosplayer!

- Cons are generally very safe places but it's always good to be on guard. Many times people get caught up in the atmosphere and forget that there are bad people in the world. If someone does something that makes you uncomfortable seek out security or con staff. They are there to help.

- If someone asks to take your picture move to an area that is not in the center of a busy hallway. Moving to the sides or even to another area is going to give you a higher chance of getting a good picture. Plus, it won't annoy all the other con goers who are trying to get down the walkway.

- Have fun!

[Delta]

[COLOR=#656446]^ Also, be nice to the other participants.

[center]~o~o~o~[/center]

[quote name='kalon']Also, I'm a pretty big girl, which mean I can't exactly pull off a little school girl uniform (nor would I want to).[/quote]
This could work to your advantage. You could cosplay as [b]Tsunade[/b]. Yes, I know, you said no Naruto but all good Tsunade cosplays I've seen so far were by big ladies. Why Tsunade?
[list]She wears enough material to cover her arms and legs (problem areas for us big girls) and the cut of her robes redirect focus *elsewhere*.[*]Her costume is pretty easy to make. Heck, every department store carries tons of pants with similar cuts as hers.[*]You won't have to construct wieldy weapons. [*] You'll save up on hair styling mousse.[/list]

If Naruto reaaaally isn't your thing, how about cosplaying as Matsumoto Rangiku from Bleach instead. Again, a really easy costume to make.

[center]~o~o~o~[/center]

PS: Can you give us a more accurate description of yourself?[/COLOR]

[kalon]

Thank you for all the tips, Panda and Delta! Luckily, HOBO and foodstuffs should not be a problem. I live about 45 minutes away from where they're holding the convention, so we're going to drive up everyday. And my friends and I are all goody-two-shoes sixteen-year-olds, so we'll be nice.

I just started playing FFIII yesterday, and I'm already in love with it. I think I'll go looking for pictures of all the class outfits, since a lot of those are petty simple and cute.

I do love Naruto, I just want to stand out a little more. But Tsunade would be a good costume since she's not as commonly played, and because a lot of her stuff is simple, it would save my friend's mom work on sewing. Plus, I love Tsunade as a character, and I would love to make my friends call me Tsunade-hime. (Two of them already regularly call me sensei.)

As for a more accurate description of myself, I'm around 5'7" or 5'8", and wear a 24 in jeans. (ALL of my weight is centered around my hips and thighs.) I look more compact than I am, if that makes sense. My hair is really thick and about eight inches past my shoulders, but I can pin it up pretty well if I end up going as a guy with shorter hair. (I'm not opposed to cutting my hair, either. I need to cut off at least ten inches for Locks of Love, and it won't bother me to have it slightly shorter than shoulder length.)