|
You guys have really ambitious-looking costumes.. Mine are all whatever I can sew, knit, or do jewelry for. I haven't cosplayed in a couple of years, and it's been even longer since I've made anything, but I'm considering making a female archbishop from Ragnarok Online this year for Fanime: I made a high priest costume about six years ago, which has seen a few conventions, and a larp out in the woods that I was dragged to once. It's pretty much the only costume I've ever made that I'm still proud of, so I'd like to expand my wardrobe a bit.   One of my favorite aspects of cosplaying a MMO character is that you can take a lot of artistic license with it, like leaving the obnoxiously puffy sleeves off your dress if you don't feel like sewing them, and wearing whatever hairstyle you prefer. The dress doesn't even have to be the same color, since most servers allow you to change your costume colors. I'm thinking of making my archbishop navy blue, since it would suit my skintone better. For hair.. anything other than blond, because it looks terrible on me.  Not sure how I'm going to do the props yet. Fortunately, priest classes can carry several different weapon types, so I'm not stuck with making a wand. Probably going to get some thick cardstock and make a huge fuckoff book instead, which would double as a purse if I left it hollow. I borrowed a book like that from a friend a few years ago and it was a pretty nice prop to have. I'm also working on a knit beret, and I'd like to have some devil horns under it if I have time to make them. Budget is about $150, which I think I can do if I shop only the sales at fabric stores and use some of the materials I already have on hand. Hopefully I'll have time to get everything done, since the convention is in two months!
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2012 12:37
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 06:25 |
|
|
McPantserton posted:Mizufusion, you should totally do the archbishop! The sprites are by far my favorite of the 3rd tier classes. I used to play a lot of RO, I did a high priestess costume roughly 100000 years ago (although your dress is way more detailed than mine). I totally just brought a gigantic bible from Goodwill to carry around. I also liked the fact that I could pretty easily make a bunch of different head accessories to swap, I did craft foam angel and demon wing bands, heart pin, and a few other quick ones. Yeah, I found that most of the third tier costumes weren't very appealing to me, and they have a lot of ridiculous details. I liked making the high priest dress because I could add my own details without it looking like a total clusterfuck. I was about 2" short on some of that gold trim, though. Oops. For headgear I made a mystic rose out of fake flowers, since I enjoy doing floral work. My mom was a florist and taught me some basics, like how to make corsages. It's a pretty random skill to have, so I like to make use of it. Unfortunately I don't have very good pictures of it, since I haven't been able to find it the last few times I wore the costume. One year I just wore a cheap lolita-style headdress that someone gave me. Maybe I'll just make a new rose.  And yes, I did use the Bible/Book of Mormon from the hotel room as props that year. You can also see that the dress fits a little odd in the shoulder, because the fabric I originally used was pretty cheap, and the collar was all sorts of wonky. In my defense, I made that dress while visiting family in rural Ohio, and the only place to get fabric was Walmart..  Veila posted:Mizufusion - I have done a ton of sew only stuff I just decided recently to branch out into other stuff besides props. I know the value of a good deal in fact there is a joann's app that is loaded with coupons and is probably my most used app on my phone. Yeah, I keep meaning to check the sales since I have a dumbphone, and keep forgetting. I did get some patterns that I think will work for the basis of the dress for $1, but I may have gotten the wrong size. I put on a little weight since last time I made costumes, so I might have to do some adjustments. Thankfully they were cheap so it's not a total loss, but I'm going to kick myself if I have to buy new patterns.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2012 08:05
|
|
|
McPantserton posted:I felt like most of the 3rd tier outfits were tackier, worse-looking versions of 2nd tier, with the exception of Archbishop. Especially Rune Knight, man. What did they do to my beautiful Lord Knight!? But yeah, I think the Archbishop dress has a lot of opportunity to make a really cute, flowy dress with creative accents like that back ruffle that you don't really have to be super strict with. I did a stalker costume like that once where I added a lot of beads, feathers, etc. and just went nuts with really beautiful embellishments and it was sooo much fun to make! I totally love the mystic rose, I think it matches the look of the outfit really well. Thank you!  Rogue/stalker is actually one of my favorite classes, but I haven't worked up the nerve to wear something midriff-exposing yet. Your version sounds exquisite, though! I'd love to see it, if you have any pictures.I think I just sentenced myself to working on the costume this weekend. I have the hat almost done, but I'm not too happy with some parts because I improvised most of the pattern so I might redo it. I have plenty of suitable white cloth for making the the jacket, so I'll probably get some muslin and work on the rough draft of it. I took a nap earlier and had dreams about trying to get to the fabric store because of this thread!
|
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2012 02:16
|
|
|
HardDisk posted:How does one get started into cosplaying? I got started when I was in middle school (preteen years), and my mom did most of the sewing for me. Some of the costumes were from scratch, some were modified from other garments. I think either way is acceptable, depending on what you're making and the quality of your source garments. If you're concerned with accuracy and fit, it's probably better to make your own garment, though. I learned the hard way that modifying things can be just as much work as making them when I tried to turn a coat into a Revolutionary Girl Utena jacket one year.. If you know what class you want to play, I can possibly give you ideas. I've done a high priestess so far (pictured earlier in the thread), and I'm planning an archbishop right now. The nice thing is that if you don't get the costume design just right, you can always claim "artistic license" because it's an MMO character. I've actually seen pictures from one cosplayer who did three different versions of the female archbishop costume, complete with accessories. 
|
|
#
¿
Mar 26, 2012 12:58
|
|
|
HardDisk posted:I played a lot with High-Priest/Archbishop, and loved every second of it, even if I had to party with people that sucked balls. But there was something about support class that clicked for me, so yeah. I actually stopped playing before the third tier jobs came out, but the archbishop design is so pretty. McPantserton has some pretty good advice; that's probably the same thing I'd do. I also like to start planning by finding as much source material as possible, and trying to sketch out the front, back, and other details of the costume. This can be a little tricky since there isn't much official artwork for Ragnarok characters, but it will also be immensely helpful. There's a lot of variation in character design between the official artwork, fanart, and even the game sprites. Figuring out what you want to do before you do it will save you a lot of hassle later. Looking at other people's costumes will also give you a good idea of what works and what doesn't. And the jacket I modified for my Utena costume? Terrible. Not the worst thing I've seen at a con, but I'm embarrassed to think about it now. The jacket was nice, but it wasn't fitted like it should be and the collar was all sorts of wonky. Also, my wig and accessories were awful. I had a generic halloween-store wig and sword. And I acted like a total otaku when I saw the director of the movie in the hall.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 28, 2012 09:38
|
|
).
|
HardDisk posted:So, I've been looking into the Arch Bishop costume and I think this pattern might be a good starting point. I think you would be better off with something like a priest's frock, with a taller collar. If you look at the way the fabric is layered, it looks like the tall portion of his collar is connected to the blue coat, and the white part of the costume is a totally separate piece. This would also make sense if you observe the other branches of the priest's job tree. The basic male priest costume is a brown robe with a tall, gold-trimmed collar.  A high priest wears a similar brown coat, with a red and a white coat over it.  It would be pretty safe to assume the archbishop's costume is constructed in a similar manner.  (More artwork here.) Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any official artwork that shows the back of the character. This has is ups and downs, because it may be frustrating to a perfectionist, trying to copy details from the sprites, but you can also take a lot of artistic license here and do whatever you want. Butterick has a priest robe, and Simplicity has a Matrix-style coat that have a shape similar to what you want. I think the Neo/Matrix coat looks like it would have a better shape and be easier to sew, but it's hard to tell just by looking at a picture of the package. If you go to a fabric shop and ask someone working there, they'll probably be able to tell you better than I can. You can probably also get away with buying one pattern for both the over- and undercoats. If you make a copy or trace the pattern one size larger (possibly two if you use heavy material) you can use that for the overcoat. You can make the over- and undercoats one piece if you want, but it might be hard to piece together. Sewing the red and white fabric for the bodice of my dress together was a bitch and a half. Whatever you choose to do, definitely test it on cheap fabric like muslin before you try this on your real fabric! You want to make sure everything fits and is comfortable to move in before committing to something more expensive, especially if you make any alterations to the pattern.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 29, 2012 13:23
|
|
|
Bean posted:Okay, walk me through glue. Not sure if it'll work on insulation foam, but I've always said if you need anything glued to anything else, try E-6000. A small tube doesn't cost much and you can always experiment on scrap pieces.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2014 08:16
|
|
|
Those remind me of the awful roll-up sunglasses the optometrist makes you wear after an appointment, so you don't fry your freshly dilated eyes as soon as you go outside.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2014 13:44
|
|
|
A few years back a friend of mine made a Dalek costume and just scooted around on an office chair inside it all day. Maybe not as fun as a mobility scooter, but it's a bit more practical.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 10, 2016 12:05
|
|
|
Ugh, costume checks are the worst. Thankfully I haven't had to deal with them personally, but friends of mine have. Several years back, a rather busty friend of mine was wearing a super skimpy getup at our local con and staff members kept stopping her every 15 mins or so to make sure she wasn't going to have an "oops". After the sixth or seventh guy made her bounce up and down to see if she'd pop out of her top she was on the verge of tears and started calling staff out for being sexist pigs that just wanted to stare at her chest and were hoping for nip slips. I have no idea if they ever changed their gross policies, but at least we didn't get stopped and harassed the rest of the day..  And for the record, yeah, it was always a male staff member asking her to do this.
|
|
#
¿
May 20, 2018 09:36
|
|
|
Eh, it kinda depends on the project, how much time/money/effort I want to spend on it, and whether I plan to wear it more than once. Also, dyeing fabric can be a bitch and a half depending on what type of material it is, and you almost certainly won't get the threads dyed the same color as everything else. Many years ago I tried to help a friend dye a corset (who the hell buys a random color corset and tries to dye it anyway??) and literally nothing worked. It was some kind of synthetic material that even red wine wouldn't stain. Eventually she just ended up painting it and it looked kind of terrible but oh well. As for your costume, I think it would depend on the character or how you choose to interpret their design. Is this a character from a live action series where you're trying to match a certain outfit 100%, or is it a cartoon/anime/game character where you have a little more leeway for artistic interpretation? Hell, is your character someone who would even care about perfectly matching clothes? I wouldn't sweat it too much unless you're trying to enter a competition, or you actually do want to do some sewing. Meanwhile, I'm the sort of person that just bought fabric to make a tshirt and shorts that are probably never going to be seen by anyone because they're the undergarments for a costume I'm working on.. oh, and the convention is next week and I haven't even started on the outerwear because I'm still trying to modify the pattern to suit my needs.. 
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2019 10:17
|
|
|
Ashcans posted:I'm always happy to buy clothes if they are 90% of the way there. Matching exact colors doesn't bother me that much because I feel like you are always going to get some variation. Yeah, normally I'm happy enough doing things the easy way as long as it produces something functional and aesthetically pleasing, but not for this costume. It has a jacket and pants that actually do have to match, and I figured I'd make the underclothes as well since I have a serger gathering dust that I really should learn how to properly use. Hopefully I'll actually get this poo poo done before the convention next week. 
|
|
#
¿
May 18, 2019 07:11
|
|
|
jmistajay posted:Haha, that pic is in my Cosplanner as ref! (You and your friends rule) Your what now? Oh god I just lost several hours making lists and uploading reference photos for costumes I want to make but never actually will..  Seriously I had no idea this was a thing. I used to go to Cosplay.com to manage my costume ideas but it's pretty much a wasteland now, and it's been years since I actually made a costume. 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 9, 2019 01:03
|
|
|
Deviant posted:Crossposting here because poo poo, normally half the fun of conventions is sneaking booze in. I think I would die if you could drink openly. Getting blazed at Fanime during late night programming was pretty sweet, though. And Crunchyroll Expo is coming up soon. God bless California.  
|
|
#
¿
Jul 11, 2019 23:46
|
|
|
blastron posted:Can anyone recommend a cheap-ish source of flexible hose of varying diameters? I need three or four different diameters, one of them ribbed: Aquarium tubing, maybe? It would probably be about the right size for the smaller tubes and it's generally rather cheap. Not sure about the other sizes, though.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 17, 2019 00:02
|
|
|
So I ended up buying several wigs last weekend because there was a decent Black Friday sale (and also it was my birthday present to myself  ) for cosplays I have planned but have done no other work on. Now I can't decide what to start on first and oh god I want to make all the costumes at once whyyy  On a related note, who the hell knew adding wefts to a wig was so drat hard? Not me! But that's not going to stop me from trying. Right? 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 7, 2019 08:58
|
|
|
Best of luck to you! I want to do some colored lenses for a couple costumes, but I've never worn contacts and I'm terrified of putting things near my eyes. I plan to talk to my optometrist about it at my next exam (finally have vision insurance for the first time in 10+ years!  ) but I'm not sure I'll ever get over that squeamishness. Oh well. Right now it's just wishful thinking, but it's really frustrating how hard it is to find plain red lenses that look.. normal? I don't want crazy flames or Naruto symbols or anything, I just want it to look like my eyes are naturally red..  I guess on the upside, I can finally work on some things now that all of the Christmas decorations are put away. My apartment is pretty tiny so my sewing desk/crafting table always doubles up as a Christmas tree stand every year..
|
|
#
¿
Jan 6, 2020 03:34
|
|
|
Mad Dragon posted:The important part here is to have an optometrist write a prescription for the correct size lenses, so you don't permanently damage your eyes. Yeah, I've never worn lenses but I at least know that much. Though it would be sort of ironic if I damaged my eyes with lovely lenses while cosplaying someone who is strangely protective of their eyes..
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2020 03:19
|
|
|
Acid Reflux posted:This Humble Bundle is a shitload of cosplay-related ebooks. Welp. There goes my  I already have the basics of sewing down but it never hurts to have more books (that I will honestly probably never read). Foam armor and prop-making sounds pretty cool, even if none of my planned costumes have any of those elements. Mostly though, I'm hoping for some good info in the wig-styling books. Someone tell me how to get perfect bishounen bangs already! E: okay even if I never actually use any of this information, there are some gorgeous loving pictures in The Art of Extreme Wig Styling. Money well-spent.
Bees on Wheat fucked around with this message at 04:22 on May 29, 2020 |
|
#
¿
May 29, 2020 04:12
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 06:25 |
|
|
Thanks for bumping the thread and reminding me I never used any of those books..
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2020 01:52
|
|