Hydaelyn Role-Players
Costume help and advice sought! - Printable Version

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Costume help and advice sought! - Leencat - 09-25-2013

I'm directly copying and pasting this from another forum I posted this on, where I've gotten no replies three days later. I get the feeling I'll find more luck with this here, maybe. Thank you in advance for any replies!

I haven't done anything for Halloween since I was really little. I've since never gotten excited about Halloween. Over the years, between lack of friends (baww), and being busy, there's never been reason. I was happy to let Halloween pass each year without acknowledging it.

This year, a friend turns 21 on Halloween and another good friend is moving away at the end of the year. My few "real life" friends would like to celebrate Halloween in light of both of these things. I'd like to actually enjoy it for once; I don't get out enough, really. I'm sick of having worked through every holiday for the past three years at my job and I'm actually pretty excited about it.

In the past week, several friends have "discovered" Welcome to Night Vale, something I'd recommend to anyone. I first had my closest friend texting me random quotes from it, then my boyfriend gushing about it over Skype, followed by another friend online mentioning his girlfriend telling him about it, and finally having a good friend at work ask me about it, saying she had just started listening to it a few days ago. I'm getting the feeling that it's starting to catch on with a lot of people, and that they might recognize things from it.

So, my boyfriend and I were talking. He's part Hispanic, and I was joking he should be Carlos for Halloween (at this point, I'm making no sense if you aren't familiar with the podcast, so I'm hoping some people here are and can help me out). And he said that it would be adorable if we were Cecil and Carlos for Halloween (mind you, I'm a girl, so I'd be cross-playing).

Well, I have no knowledge of costumes, and I haven't dressed up since I was some Disney character or something at about six years old, so I don't know where to begin, and I have to obviously start buying things really soon. I was browsing DeviantArt for fanart of the series, and as can be seen here, many people have a similar vision of the character Cecil Baldwin.

I really like him as he's portrayed as a blond man with purple eyes, with the strange eye on his forehead. I like the idea of a "business casual" sort of outfit with a tie, and/or suspenders, but as a girl, I don't know where I should look for those pieces.

Here specifically is someone's cosplay of Cecil that I really like. I'd prefer purple eyes over the pale ones, but I like the outfit idea. I think it's cute. I'd also really like to know where I could find a wig like that; I'm not dying my hair, I just murdered it with dye and bleach fairly recently and its recovering.

If people could link me pieces for the costume, I'd deeply appreciate it. Here are the specific things I need "expertise" on:
- Where should I look for the outfit pieces? I specifically like a "dressy" shirt as shown in the sample cosplay, along with a tie (which I know I can find ties anywhere), possibly suspenders, would it be easy to find those things for a girl without looking outright "costumey" (I kind of want the outfit on its own to look like I could wear it casually)?
- Where should I consider for purchasing a wig? What sites do some of you recommend that you've used? I also like the hair shown in the cosplay linked.
- What would I use to draw on that eye on the forehead to ensure it doesn't just wash off on me? I might be going out, walking around, sweating...being very drunk. I'd like my costume to stay semi intact.
- Where should I look for the contacts that won't cost me a million and a half dollars?
- He's also seen with glasses a lot in drawings, so I'm considering that, too. Suggestions for that? Where would I get glasses as seen in some of the art?

Any other suggestions are welcome. I always do things on a budget, but I want to look nice and "polished," as in the linked image example, but I know nothing about costumes. I also don't have any sort of sewing abilities, so none of that. I'd like to believe people will recognize the character, as I see the series gaining recent popularity in time for Halloween, and that's how many artists are portraying the character. What else might complete the costume? I was considering getting a headset to wear around my neck, portraying the studio headset Cecil might be wearing while on air, but I don't know if that would just be pointless.

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm pretty excited about this and actually want to commit to doing it.

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Brave - 09-25-2013

Wow...

That's quite a wall of text there, BUT I may be able to help you.

Cosplay.com has a plethora of knowledge regarding things like tutorials etc.  I like to check them out for their market place on most things.

http://www.cosplay.com/marketplace/index.php

I normally buy my contacts at convention centers >< BUT I'm a big fan of:

http://www.foureyez.com/

Although I'm used to shelling out like... 25-60 bucks for contacts... (depending on what I'm trying to snag look wise)

As for your "third eye" I've had a lot of success with "printable" tattoo paper.  Take the image of what you're trying to make and use a color printer to print the image onto this special paper.  It's just like those old temporary tattoos you (may have) had when you we're a kid.  You'll get the eye to look exactly like your reference picture as well as close to the color you want.  (Without having yourself or a third party try to get it drawn right on your fore head)

Other than that... you'd be surprised what a good amazon.com search would yield for things like suspenders and glasses etc.  If you feel something about his outfit is really "iconic" and you just can't find it anywhere, cosplay.com has several talented cosplayers who do commission work.  Just be mindful that halloween is a busy season for them... so you'll have a hard time getting it imo (even though you started searching a month in advance).

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Leencat - 09-25-2013

Is there a sort of art makeup you can use to draw on things like that and tattoos that will not easily smear or come off without being washed (or using special remover)?

Also, I'm good on a wig, just ordered one, so that's out of the way, at least.

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Brave - 09-25-2013

Well to be honest there are a couple of theater style paints you could look into.

The tattoo paper really takes to color though.

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/212/f/7/crystal_by_awnry-d599rpy.jpg

That's a picture of one of the people I cosplay with.  The black design on her arm was using that tattoo paper I was telling you about.

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/214/8/e/Snow_Villiers_by_pixiekitty.jpg

This is another cosplayer I follow who used the tattoo paper for his L'cie brand.

But I know a lot of cosplayers just use come pretty serious eye brow pencils to get some nice lines.

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/157/a/8/rinoa_heartilly_make_up_tutorial_by_eyes_0n_me-d52ikel.jpg

The Rinoa cosplayer above pretty much used one to make her eyes pop out more.  The website I showed you (cosplay.com) has a huge forum of web help too.  All sorts of things to check out. =D

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Leencat - 09-25-2013

I went ahead and bought contacts I liked off the site you recommended! Thank you!

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Brave - 09-25-2013

No problem!  

I didn't think about it till now, but they did post their prices in Euros when I last shopped there. ><

I really hope you caught that when you bought them.  They are QUALITY though.  Man I was a huge fan of their silver and white contacts.

*edit* just checked their site again and saw they had a "currency" selection option at the top >< WHEW!

That could have been scary >< lol

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Leencat - 09-25-2013

I had to check, too, because I just about had three heart attacks simultaneously, especially since in the same night I bought computer upgrades.

But thank you for double-checking for me and making note of that!

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Brave - 09-25-2013

No problem.

If you need any other help let me know.  I do a little cosplay from time to time (although I follow cosplayers a lot more than I actually participate ><) BUT I enjoy talking shop and planning out things with them.

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Leencat - 09-25-2013

I'll take and welcome any advice. I've never cosplayed and as stated in the long opening post, I haven't taken part in Halloween since the age of maybe seven years old, and I'm 24 now. The only motivation to partake and maybe even cosplay someday is having friends to do it with, and it just happens that I've found something my boyfriend and I love equally right in time to do something as a couple and go out with friends.

At the moment, I'm pondering where to hunt pieces of the outfit I want that will fit. I'm thinking a white dress shirt with a tie under a purple sweater vest, but as a girl, how should I go about this? I was also thinking dark dress pants.

I also welcome advice for chest binding options; I might do that, I'm kind of busty and I'd rather it not be really noticed because otherwise, being average weight with pretty straight hips, I could manage looking fairly androgynous, which is what I'm going for.

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Torn Sky - 09-25-2013

Quote:- He's also seen with glasses a lot in drawings, so I'm considering that, too. Suggestions for that? Where would I get glasses as seen in some of the art?

I suggest getting some inexpensive reading glasses. You can easily pop out the lenses if you don't want them bothering your eyes while walking around.

For wigs:

http://www.epiccosplay.com/
http://arda-wigs.com/
http://www.amphigory.com/c/catalog/kword/short-medium-wigs
http://thefivewits.net/cosplay-wigs/

(If you have trouble picking out a wig to work with, I might be able to help)

These sites are all US based, so if you're in the US they should have no trouble getting your order to you on time. There are also many china-based wig sellers on ebay, but the quality of the item received and shipping time is always a bit of a gamble with them.

I second tattoo transfer paper for the makeup portion. I could talk a lot about bodypaints, but I'm going to go ahead and say if you want makeup that doesn't smear you would probably end up spending more on that than you would on the paper. Alcohol activated paints won't come off with sweat, but they cost a good bit. Oil-based makeups require a lot of sealing and are a nuisance to get off of clothing if you happen to get it on your outfit. Water-based paints are fun to paint with, but they are the quickest to wear off. For the latter, Kyrolan or Mehron paint and a good setting spray usually lasts me a whole day at a convention.

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Leencat - 09-25-2013

I'll take the info about the body paint, but I already purchased a wig I found that looked ideal for what I want! But I'll keep those references handy as they may have use in the future, for whatever costume things come up. Thank you!

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Brave - 09-25-2013

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/310/b/f/tutorial__basic_boy_make_up_by_chibinis_chan-d5k3sr2.jpg

That's a tutorial on boy make up lol (honestly... the lengths some people go to ><)

One of my fave cosplayers took down her "how to bind yourself" tutorial =/  But I'll see if I can find something else (unless you know how to already).

Regarding the dress shirts, if you're worried about them bunching up on you or being too loose, you can "pinch" the material together on the back and safety pin it.  You see a lot of "girl sweaters" (sorry I'm a guy I don't know what they're called ><) with strings on the back that do something similar.  It helps the shirt hug you a little more.  Since you plan to have a sweater vest though you might not even need to worry about it.

Men's Wearhouse will tailor fit a shirt to you (at least mine does) but for a costume... I think that might be going a little over board.  Going to say it again but you'd be surprised what an Amazon search brings up.  For my Cloud Strife cosplay, it was pretty impossible to find a "men's" turtleneck that was ribbed.  I ended up just buying a woman's turtleneck several sizes larger and having a friend assist me with altering it.

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Torn Sky - 09-25-2013

(09-25-2013, 03:23 AM)Leencat Wrote: I'll take the info about the body paint, but I already purchased a wig I found that looked ideal for what I want! But I'll keep those references handy as they may have use in the future, for whatever costume things come up. Thank you!

Cool! Choosing a wig is always so stressful for me. Haha.

For binding, you've probably heard this a dozen times, but do not use ace bandages. It is possible to injure yourself.

DIY binder tut! http://marvinuniverse.tumblr.com/post/34631541789/tutorial-chest-binder

I did this for myself and it works pretty well, however I'm rather small-chested.

http://www.underworks.com/

You could also order a regular binder from here. There's one style that runs for about 30$.

I buy my pants and shirts and such for male characters at Kohl's, department stores, goodwill, thrift stores etc. If there aren't any actual men's sizes that can fit you, you can try getting larger sizes from the boy's section. A purple sweater vest might be a hard find, but if you see a white one- check the tag. If it's made of a natural fiber, you can dye it purple!

Cactuar

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Brave - 09-25-2013

I can relate to wig stress -.-

I have a pretty big head. So just because it looks great on the model, doesn't mean I'm not going to stretch it out or get it to cover the way I want it to.  Make sure you have a wig cap!  And if you have a lot of hair, how you lay it under the cap will make all the difference.  You don't want your wig looking lumpy.

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs29/f/2008/060/8/7/Tutorial__how_to_add_hair____by_chibinis_chan.jpg

That's a tutorial on adding hair to your wig (although it may be a bit complicated if you aren't into sewing etc).  A lot of the wig shops Torn Sky put up sell wefts!  Which may be easier for you to add later.  I know a lot of people who just stitch a weft in or even use a bobby pin to attach it, then have the original wig hair hide the evidence >.> lol

RE: Costume help and advice sought! - Asyria - 09-25-2013

For cheap clothes of all kinds, there's always those cast-off clothes stores (fripperie in French... maybe frippery in English too? I dunno).
You can be surprised by what can be found in those places at times and it's always cheap.