>>4976201
OP here again. I'm also wondering, how do cosplayers pick the characters they want to cosplay? Just randomly? Perhaps a character they like?

If I do it, I want to do a good job... not a sloppy half-assed cosplay... so >___>

Your first 2-3 costumes WILL be bad. /cgl/ will probably make fun of you because we're assholes. But you'll get better. Check progress threads to see what people do.

>>4976210
so I shouldn't even bother asking for advice then >.>?

>>4976201
For starters, stop with the ascci smilies, this isn't the place for that.

Second of all, to answer how I pick characters, I just cosplay characters that I like. That doesn't mean I cosplay characters that are too short for me, to muscley for me or too fat for me. Find a character that you like and that your body type fits. I'd be cautious of who you pick in terms of how well recognised you will be and weather your character is a character you could legitimately do by yourself. An example of this would be trying to cosplay Lawrence from Spice and wolf with out a Horo, some characters just can't be done by them selves.

Secondly, don't post your first few cosplays on /cgl/, they'll save them and bring them up two years later to try and dieter you, it's just the say lonely people work.

And as for starting? Well, just find a character you like, whip the costume together, make what you can, buy what you don't feel confident making and away you go. Be sure to use a wig and be cautious of foot wear, although the later can have a bit of tongue and cheek to it. Then I suppose the final step would be going to a con and seeing your reception.

>>4976218
If you've got the guts to ask for advice - knowing that people may ridicule you for not being up to par just yet - go for it. Always, always, always go for it.

There's much to learn from people's inputs, and even if your cosplay isn't great, if you make it obvious that you're new to cosplaying and that you're actually trying to learn to get better, most people on /cgl/ are extremely willing to share tutorials, advice, or anything they can do to help from across a computer screen.

As a beginner, it's probably best to, as Shuckle said, pick a character that fits your body time and your interests, and go from there.
General tips:
1. Always, always, always wear a wig.
2. Don't wear tennis shoes with any cosplay, unless it's 100% certain that your character does/wears that kind of shoe.
3. /cgl/ may frown upon it, but if you're just getting a feel for the cosplay scene as a whole, buying a cosplay isn't a terrible idea. Make sure you don't claim to have made the costume yourself, of course; but a bought outfit can help you see what it's like actually cosplay without putting in the hours it takes to create a cosplay through modification/from scratch.

Otherwise, keep in mind that many cosplays are continually under construction; there's always little bits and pieces that need to be repaired, could be upgraded, could have been done better, and so forth. Take note of the things that people point out that you can improve upon, and if you work at it, you'll definitely get better.

>>4976257

Thanks for the post.

I was wondering what exactly you mean by
> I'd be cautious of who you pick in terms of how well recognised you will be

as in personally famous cosplayers? Or like... famous characters?

>>4976262

Why do you say
>1. Always, always, always wear a wig.

Would you do this even if the hair color/styling is similar to what you normally have?

The very fist thing is to find a character you like that you think you could look like. Don't go for anything too complicated just yet, though. Look for characters that are recognizable, but with somewhat simpler designs.

Now if you're not too good at sewing yet, or don't have much practice with it, closet/thrift store cosplay and commissions are both viable options. If you do decide to get one commissioned, do your research and find someone good. Too many out there do shoddy work and overcharge for it.

If you already know how to sew, and are ready to start making your costume, then the very next thing to do after deciding on a character is the research, You will want to find as many detailed reference images as you possibly can. Go to cosplay websites and look up what other people have done for that character. Try to think about how that characters outfit flows as they move around, too. That, along with the best reference images you can find, will help determine the fabric you'll want to use.

Fabric choice is incredibly important and can mean the difference between crap, decent, and damned awesome costumes. Look for deals, but do not settle on the cheapest just because it is cheap. Think about the time period or the setting of the character as well. if you're doing a period cosplay, you'll want fabrics that would be appropriate for that time.

>>4976268
At this time you'll also be looking for patterns. Since most cosplays have very original designs, you won't be able to go to the store and pick up patterns that shows you exactly how to make every costume you want. Many cosplayers make their own patterns, but if you are just starting out, I recommend looking through existing patterns to find things that are similar, and then modifying them as need be. Many patterns will tell you the best fabric to use for it, but again, keep your character in mind first.

Remember not to skimp on the details. In the sea of cosplayers all wearing the same thing, its often the ones who add the small details and go for the best accuracy that are the ones that stand out.

There are a lot of tutorials out there, and many ways to get started. Cosplay.com is often mocked for its weebooness at times, but there are a great many resources available there that will help you out a lot.

And one last note for now, remember that this is a very expensive hobby. If you cheap out, your costume will look like crap. Doing the amazing costumes you see around here will cost you quite a bit. That is not meant to be a deterrent, but when you do start looking at the cost of fabrics, patterns, wigs, shoes, makeup, prop making supplies and everything else you'll need, you might be tempted to cheap out, which will show in your work.

>>4976263
Ah sorry about the ambiguity there, I mean try not to cosplay totally redundant and unheard of/un recognisable characters. Not sure of what gender I'm dealing with here but an example would be Haru from Yosuga no Sora. For starters the anime in unappreciated but alos he's clothes and hair are generic and un-recognisable. If however you were to cosplay Haru with someone else cosplaying Sora, now your character becomes recognisable because Sora is less generic as a character.

Sorry if that still makes no sense, words rarely say what I want them to.

I suppose a simple, more main stream comparison would be Hei from darker than black and Kyon from Haruhi, I needend say which of the two characters would be more reconisable going on their clothes alone.

>>4976265
Yeah, always get a wig.
Even if your hair is just right, get a wig, it always looks better. The one exception is some males with short hair, zolo from one piece, for example, could never be done with a wig.

>>4976270
thank you very much.

Just for the record, and hopefully further discussion, I am an Asian male.

>>4976269
Would just like to confirm what exactly you mean by "Patterns"? I assume the designs on the clothes/outfits themselves, but correct me if I'm wrong.

You also brought up the topic of price, which is of course, a very important factor, and one I was about to ask as well. While I understand that there will be a WIDE range of prices depending on the outfit, I'm wondering if you can give me an idea of what I could be spending on my first few outfits?

>>4976268
Regarding the point of "A character I could look like," tbqh, nothing comes in mind at all. I guess I could "cheap out" and do a Monster Hunter one, that had alot of cosplays today, because its generally recognizable, and doesn't rely on the cosplayer as much as the outfit.

>>4976269
As for the last part, mentioning how expensive it is, I tend to disagree entirely. I do vouch for what you say about materials though. But I made(ish) a sanji cosplay for little under £40 which turned out half decent. I just bought a suit at a charity/thrift shop and modded it up into what it is today, bought new buttons and of course the wig. The shoes were no problem, I'm sure everyone has smart black shoes.

I'd say the price sets in when you start to think about accommodation.

And one more side point that often makes a good cosplay fall. Be weary of using cotton without any lining. some characters it works very well for, Menma from Anohana for example I could see with a thin dress. However someone more like Hei from darker than black would look ridiculous in something as flimsy as cotton. Think about the physics of their clothes in reality and make a judgment on what it'd be made of.
(I'd tend to stick for cotton, wool, linen or felt, felt being rather expensive though.)

>>4976278
(I like this thread apparently)
For starters we'll hit off with the 'character I look like' part. Disregard the hair aspect, wigs cover that one (even if your hair is just right, trust me.) I'd say you only need think about four aspects, height, skin tone, fat and muscles. Considering you've said your asian I'd say you can get away with light skin characters as well as some of the darker ones.
Moving on to height, not too important, unless the character is characteristically tall or short you needn't worry to much. Most characters are on the same weight, if you're larger there are still characters out there for you and finally muscle, if you have it, do who ever the fuck you want, if you don't, don't do Adam blade from needless and characters like him. It's all judgement. (Think of them more as a silhouette and see if it would be at all smiler to yours.)

As for price, I'd say spend between £40 and £100, that will cover most characters unless you're going for some one like Jin, see picture, which I wouldn't suggest as a starter cosplay in the least.

>>4976284
thank you very much for this post. Very informative, and will definitely help me out.

regarding the topic of muscle, do any of you "change" your body type to cosplay? For example, if you decide to cosplay a buff character, weight train, and if you want to cosplay a slimmer character, lose weight, etc?

Should I even bother with this? (Although it would give me a reason to work out/not be lazy.)

I should have specified that I am east Asian and have rather fair skin. Darker skinned characters may be a little tough.

>>4976298
I'm far to lazy to be bothered to hit the gym or anything like that. I've started blacksmithing a few months back am I'm thinking that it should thicken me out a bit, no process yet though.

No problem about all the help too, I only got half decent at cosplay this last year so I was in the same boat as you not so long ago.

I've lost a good deal of weight to be able to cosplay, but not for a specific character. Though I did consider tanning to match a character once, I decided not to, as it might limit my cosplay options later on. Remember, if you're getting into cosplay you're probably going to want to play multiple characters eventually.

Being an asian, you do have a lot of options, especially in the Anime genre. It shouldn't be that big an issue for you to find plenty of characters you would fit well. More important is gauging how well you'd be able to create the outfit, whether you'd have the crafting skills necessary.