Adventures in Cosplay!

[Grimarg]

I just bought the fabric for my brohou eirin cosplay, i'll post more info later, when i start the cutting and sewing

[YamaOfParadise]

I suppose i've always been interested, but there's a few problems I see; I'm a guy, for one, which makes cosplaying much harder. Two, cosplaying good is hard and i'm a perfectionist. And there's the unchangeable factor that your body itself is a dependent factor on that; i'm not ugly, nor am I fat, but i'm not a skinny person. The third issue I see, and arguably the most fixable, is that i've never exactly gone to a con or anything of the sort, and I don't actually know anyone who does, although I do have a friend who cosplays, although she has.. issues. Anyways, I don't really know how i'd get started whatsoever.

[Mimachiro]

I suppose i've always been interested, but there's a few problems I see; I'm a guy, for one, which makes cosplaying much harder. Two, cosplaying good is hard and i'm a perfectionist. And there's the unchangeable factor that your body itself is a dependent factor on that; i'm not ugly, nor am I fat, but i'm not a skinny person. The third issue I see, and arguably the most fixable, is that i've never exactly gone to a con or anything of the sort, and I don't actually know anyone who does, although I do have a friend who cosplays, although she has.. issues. Anyways, I don't really know how i'd get started whatsoever.

If you're new to cosplaying, you should pick an easy character to start. I don't see how being a guy makes things difficult, since most of us guys posting about cosplaying here are cross players. If you look up pictures, you'll find we come in all shapes and sizes, so I wouldn't worry about your body size beyond measurements for making the costume. It would probably be a good idea to get some help from someone who has experience, if you're making a costume. Keep in mind cosplaying isn't a cheap hobby; you're going to be spending some money. For reference, my complete costume set me back about 330 USD.

If all else fails, you could always commission someone to make a costume for you.

[triangles]

I just bought the fabric for my brohou eirin cosplay, i'll post more info later, when i start the cutting and sewing

Do you have a reference image you are using?  I'm making this for my husband so I'm curious on how others are approaching it as we're working around some pieces he already has to cut down on my workload (totally didn't start yet since it's for a con in 5 months)

Anyways, I don't really know how i'd get started whatsoever.

Pick a character you like is the first step!  Many male characters have outfits that you can assemble at least partially if not entirely from clothing you can get second hand at a thrift store (heck, the picture in the OP is mostly store bought and modified!)  If you wanted to be A Touhou, that's probably a bit harder to do yourself if you have no sewing ability.  And hey, there's always Halloween to cosplay at for the first time :V

Like Gen said, you can buy a costume online, with prices and quality all over the board.  Many people go down this route if they are short on time or skill.  For comparison, my Mami Tomoe costume linked a few pages back probably cost about $130-150 all said and done (though I have lots of extra fabric and materials that can be reused) and I don't want to toot my own horn, but it's way better than the complete Mami cosplays you can buy for $200.  If you have the sewing skill or someone who can help, it's definitely cheaper that way, but I definitely started small with very simple patterns with lots of mom-help and real-clothing pieces whenever possible.

[Grimarg]

Do you have a reference image you are using?  I'm making this for my husband so I'm curious on how others are approaching it as we're working around some pieces he already has to cut down on my workload (totally didn't start yet since it's for a con in 5 months)

I'll stick with the same shirt and change the skirt for pants, and instead of the cap I'll wear an eyepatch, like the doctors of those crappy soap operas that my mom used to watch

[Reddyne]

I'm shocked how much work on Ran's outfit I managed to get done in the last week. This is a huge contrast in comparison to how shocked I was over how little progress I got done on the tail harness the two weeks before that. Just needed a break and a change of pace, I guess.

I just bought the fabric for my brohou eirin cosplay, i'll post more info later, when i start the cutting and sewing

Heck yeah.

Things.

Most everything's been pretty well covered by Gen and Triangles, so I'll pitch in my 2 cents for actually starting out. Learning the basics of sewing is actually the most difficult step. Once you have the basic process down, knowledge and experience come with the materials and things that you're working with. As soon as you can push fabric through the machine on a relatively straight line, everything else is easier. Once you've fiddled with trim or bias tape once, you'll have that stuff down and can just continue to build upon that. Absolute perfection is next to impossible, but you learn to live with it. As for commissions and such, personal preferences and needs can vary a lot, but I prefer to do the entirety of a project by my own hand and through my own research because it feels like so much more of an accomplishment and I've always enjoyed making things.

But yeah, a lot of those things can be overcome with a little change in mindset. As for making costumes, a little experience goes a long way.

I'll stick with the same shirt and change the skirt for pants, and instead of the cap I'll wear an eyepatch, like the doctors of those crappy soap operas that my mom used to watch

The little reflector disk, right? I wonder if there's anything you can do with it beyond what it is.

[Grimarg]

Oh, I forget... The cane and the House attitude

[Yucari]

I ordered my wigs for Utena and Takano last night, and I'll be fitted for Takano in about a week when I go up to NY. Utena's all cut out, but I don't know if I'll have enough time to really start sewing her together before the end of baseball season, since I'll be working every weekend this month.

[Marokuu]

I don't know if I'm crazy or just kinda tired right now, but I suddenly got the urge to make a costume of... Doc Scratch (Ahahah the url made his name turn white :getdown:)

I dunno just something about walking around with a giant cue ball on my head amuses me. Plus he's kinda awesome.

[gammaraptor]

Gonna start working on Rinnosuke sometime, very complicated and a lot of patterns, quite a step up from meito anizawa...

[Grimarg]

Updating info.

*Grim starts sewin'*
*Grandma comes in*
"You're doing it wrong! Give me that"
*Grandma takes fabric away from Grim*

:V

[Reddyne]

"You're doing it wrong! Give me that"

I remember a friend trying to rush a costume out the door in a 48 hour period. I tried to help, but things went south real fast. We sorta gave up when right before the trip to the con we gave up on a half-finished shirt which prominently feature a sleeve sewn into the neckline. We were supposed to get help from another friend of his who happens to be quite keen at these things, but she had (wisely, in hindsight) abandoned us to our fate.

Also, OOH, OOH! How about instead of leaving the reflector disk as-is, you put a moon made of reflective tape on it if you can find one. IT'S SYMBOLIC!

[gammaraptor]

"You're doing it wrong! Give me that"

I remember a friend trying to rush a costume out the door in a 48 hour period. I tried to help, but things went south real fast. We sorta gave up when right before the trip to the con we gave up on a half-finished shirt which prominently feature a sleeve sewn into the neckline. We were supposed to get help from another friend of his who happens to be quite keen at these things, but she had (wisely, in hindsight) abandoned us to our fate.

Also, OOH, OOH! How about instead of leaving the reflector disk as-is, you put a moon made of reflective tape on it if you can find one. IT'S SYMBOLIC!

Eek. It took me at least 2 weeks to make my costume.... and i was still working on it the night before... i ended up with a pair of mangled gloves  :V

[Momiji]

I've been busy working on making a Mamizou outfit.  I just finished the skirt tonight.

[Bobsixtyfour]

I must say that I saw you guys at Otakon (my first con) and I think I'm inspired to cosplay as a Brohou at Otakon 2012

I also took a ton of pictures, so I might have a picture of you guys if you want me to post em. (Sadly, didn't know about the first touhou photoshoot, but I was there on Sunday).

Question: Reddyne, did you paint the dragon design onto your touhouvania  meiling costume or did u actually sew it in?

Also, to any other Brohous: I've been wondering... but what do you wear underneath a skirt if you are cosplaying a character with a non-short skirt (Aya Shameimaru length)?
Shorts + mens underwear? Panties?!? Just men's underwear?

[Momiji]

Panties

[Reddyne]

Whoops! Rushed the last post during lunch and it shows. There we go.

I've been busy working on making a Mamizou outfit.  I just finished the skirt tonight.

That was fast! Good work on the details. Also, you and I are going to have to get several pics of us bickering when I'm cosplaying Ran.

Question: Reddyne, did you paint the dragon design onto your touhouvania  meiling costume or did u actually sew it in?

I put those on with fabric paint. Simpler details are best done with appliques while details that complex lend themselves much more to simple fabric paint. I'll be painting the details on Ran, too, which could probably be done with appliques but I already feel pretty comfortable with fabric paints so I'm going that route anyway. I'd prefer to use the rest of the fabric I have available for a hat and covers for the shoes I'll use for Ran's booties.

Also, to any other Brohous: I've been wondering... but what do you wear underneath a skirt if you are cosplaying a character with a non-short skirt (Aya Shameimaru length)?
Shorts + mens underwear? Panties?!? Just men's underwear?

Boxers. I can't wear anything else. Besides, most of my costumes either don't have or wouldn't work well with pockets, so I have shorts for that purpose.

[triangles]

Not a Brohou, but maybe bike shorts if you want to avoid any sort of wardrobe malfunction?  That's what we all did with the Catholic school skirts back in the day :V

If you plan on going the full mile and shaving your legs (some guys here do and many Brohous definitely don't!) maybe go for some flesh colored dance tights?  I will never ever not wear stockings, even if the skirt is like knee length, because it'll photograph nicer.  I don't know if this is true for guys too....?

[Bobsixtyfour]

I'm asian, very little leg hair

[Gramity]

Leg shaving yeah maybe if I cosplay a "leg-revealing" touhou character I don't know which method I'll do but I know one thing for sure I won't do it like mamizou did ^^

[Bobsixtyfour]

O.o
What did mamizou do? Horror story? Do tell?

Also while we're on the topic of shaving... Armpits? Shave or no? (if cosplaying a character with detached sleeves)?

[triangles]

Someone made the mistake of using Nair instead of shaving since it appeared easier.
Except Nair has that sensation of a burning itchy acid spill on everyone I ever knew that tried it, teenage girls trying it for the first time and Brohous alike :colonveeplusalpha:

[Reddyne]

I shave everything anyway. It's actually real comfy. At the very least I'd tidy up places that have any chance of exposure.

And Nair can and will eat away at you if you let it. The stuff that's in it is pretty non-specific in terms of breaking stuff down, so it'll itch and burn if you leave it on too long. It does work, but it's just easier to go at it with a proper razor, though the razor takes longer.

[Iryan]

Someone made the mistake of using Nair instead of shaving since it appeared easier.
Except Nair has that sensation of a burning itchy acid spill on everyone I ever knew that tried it, teenage girls trying it for the first time and Brohous alike :colonveeplusalpha:

* Iryan looks up Nair

* Iryan reads calcium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide as important active ingredients

...no wonder it feels like an acid spill. It is one, only it is actually the opposite of one, which is arguably worse.  :colonveeplusalpha:

[Bobsixtyfour]

Panties

Your actually a girl aren't you
Are you the same Momji that Yucari was hanging around with at Otakon 2011? That or are you the Momji with the sunglasses?

Edit: After looking stalkerishly at your youtube video, it appears that you ARE the other Momji with sunglasses.... if so... seriously panties? I dunno if I can actually put forth enough guts to both wear a dress and panties...
I'm like the guy that's from the Welcome to the NHK anime.

[Jana]

Someone made the mistake of using Nair instead of shaving since it appeared easier.
Except Nair has that sensation of a burning itchy acid spill on everyone I ever knew that tried it, teenage girls trying it for the first time and Brohous alike :colonveeplusalpha:

I tried Nair-product before Otakon and had the opposite problem... It wouldn't kill my roots, so my legs were just as pokey in a couple of days as if I had shaven.

[Momiji]

Your actually a girl aren't you

seriously panties?

What's that supposed to mean?  >_>

What did mamizou do? Horror story? Do tell?

Try epilating.

[Grimarg]

well, I use boxers, and as I never wore a skirt, because I change them for pants, i leave my legs hairy like they are

[UncertainJakutten]

Someone made the mistake of using Nair instead of shaving since it appeared easier.
Except Nair has that sensation of a burning itchy acid spill on everyone I ever knew that tried it, teenage girls trying it for the first time and Brohous alike :colonveeplusalpha:

Nair is how I enter spring. It doesn't seem to hurt me .

Epilating is utter hatred and you should feel bad, Momi.

Oh, so, uh, still haven't started on that AT-4 =D! Also, I lost my tights in the flood so I have to make another set D:.

[Bobsixtyfour]

What's that supposed to mean?  >_>

I thought u were trolling me lolz. So hard to tell who people are online XD. (Especially when you have less then 10 posts. I didn't wanna spam up some other thread to get the ability to see profiles quicker so I can be more creepy and stalk more quickly MUHAHAHA)
Edit: Errrr you ARE a girl? Got confused because the question was for brohous


Oh and epilators sound like fun. I googled em awhile back to see if there was an alternative to shaving every day (I swear my facial hair grows like mad).

edit: hurry! My 10th post. Time to find an avatar