Costume help and advice sought!

[Leencat]

My only gripe on tattoo sleeves is that they so far are "generic" in that they're tribal markings or dragons, or skulls... I'm digging around though for the possibility of even finding something heavily purple.

 

I would totally make one myself but presently I lack the time to not only go fetch supplies, but find time between work to put it together. But I will tab that video for later, thanks so much!

[Leencat]

EDIT: I also want to grab a headset with a microphone on it, but that should be fairly easy, I figure, now that I'm figuring out how to actually utilize eBay (I can't believe I've never online shopped before!)

 

I did some searching on fake tattoo sleeves instead of taking time to draw on tattoos (especially considering it's looking like I might have to work a chunk of the evening on Halloween and don't want them all messed up). They actually have some neat ones, so the costume is 90% done!

 

All that's left is ordering the chest binder. I just haven't measured my chest/bust yet to accurately order (and waiting a couple hours for my paycheck to go through). I also need shoes, but I think I want to just grab a pair of gray Converse. My wig should be here in less than two days. I'm getting antsy about it.

 

I just want to thank everyone so much again for all the help here with this, being someone who's never done a cosplay-type costume before. Even though this was initially meant for Halloween, my friend I'm going out with expressed interest in going to Genericon together next year; I've never been to a convention in all my 24 years and it sounds exciting to me. Already I have a list of other characters running through my head I'd love to dress as for such things.

 

Whenever I decide on whatever I want to do next for a cosplay, I'll definitely be referring here again to all of you for your insight and advice. I have a nice little bookmarked list of various resources that I'm sure will help me a lot in future endeavors.

[Brave]

Conventions are a blast!  More importantly a lot of what you're doing now is pretty much the basis of getting any cosplay together.  Doing research, talking to other people in the "hobby" and when all else fails, trying your own hand at making something.

 

I'm glad to see all of your stuff is coming along.  I was going to point out that they do make a type of paper that lets you print a design, then apply it cloth.  One of my friends did this to get some of the Scott Pilgrim t-shirt design she wanted.  It's not as permanent as one would like after washing but for a costume it's almost perfect!

 

I don't know how well it would take to a stocking or stretchy material though... so I wasn't sure if it was worth suggesting =/

 

ANYWAY make sure to put up pics!  It will be great to see your hard work in action =D

[Torn Sky]

That's good to hear! I hope your first convention is a success. They are indeed incredibly fun. Most of my real life friends are people I've met via conventions. (I also met my boyfriend at a convention. Haha.)

 

Couples costumes are cute as heck! You guys are gonna look great together.

 

If you end up not being able to order the binder and are in a time pinch, one more thing I can suggest is sports bras. You can buy them a bit smaller than you would for normal purposes to get a bit of compression, or you can even pin them in the back to be a bit tighter. It won't be perfect, but you'll be wearing a couple layers of clothing so you might be able to get away with it. But the binder is definitely also a worthy investment if you're thinking you might be cosplaying more male characters in the future.

[Leencat]

I MAY actually skip the binding this time around because I'm thinking I can get away with one of my Genie Bras (they're like a sports bra type thing that feels like really not wearing any sort of bra), considering I'm wearing a small men's sweater-type top over a button-up shirt. I'm a very paranoid individual and despite the safe ways to bind, I'd rather avoid having to mess around with it too often because...well... I like my breasts as they are and fear whatever damage could come of squashing them in a binder. I think also that I'm concerned because the ultimate plan is to go out to parties, and I don't want to have a binder on and be careless while drunk. Thus, when I get a binder, it might be sometime down the road. I could use the extra money in my pocket, anyway. For drinks and whatnot.

 

I definitely aim to get pictures, to have a friend snap a few before we do anything. When Genericon rolls around, assuming my friend and I get to go, I'd either love to use the same costume or be Marshall Lee from Adventure Time (because it seems relatively easy to do and would be super fun).

 

On a completely, completely unrelated note (sort of?) all this time I've spent asking for costume help, I've barely played Final Fantasy XIV (lack of time available between work, really), and I'd love to catch some of you in-game on Gilgamesh because this seems to be one of the truly nicest communities I've hopped into in a long while.

[Brave]

I can relate to barely playing lately too ><

 

I had a 51 hour work week this week. Thankfully I can access the forum while at work and it isn't shunned =D

 

But I can't play games.  So it's like... torturing myself >< lol

Some guildies of mine (who joined the game AFTER I did -.-) went to Balmung though and are trying to rope me over there.  I might go there just because it seems Gilgamesh events seem to be mostly on Weekends and I don't ever get to go to them /sigh

 

Either way, the community here is great!  Conventions are AWESOME!  And so is cosplaying =P

[Leencat]

I wonder if I could benefit from hopping over to Balmung, because I am only level three anyway and I can't tell where the majority is hiding.

[Brave]

I'd recommend perusing the linkshell area as well as just seeing if there are characters who you think would be interesting to RP with.

 

A lot of us took what we could get server wise at first because things filled up crazy fast ><  I can say that the Gilgamesh community has been awesome.  They're really friendly and helpful and the OOC channel that Rock/Amaare has set up is just great.  It really lets you find the other interesting RP folk easily.

 

In regards to Balmung, I have noticed some real interesting characters over there and it obviously has Legacy characters around too.  Meeting with the Veterans of the game has always been something I thought would be interesting to do.

 

I know I couldn't pull my guildie over to Gilgamesh because he found a great LGBT LS group on Balmung.  So really I'd strongly recommend looking at the LS section and just mingling like you already have been.

 

To bring things back into the costume aspect of this post though, have you discussed what you'll cosplay at the Con you're going to?  Planning early is great, and to Echo Torn Sky, couples cosplay is adorable ><

[Leencat]

I vaguely mentioned in a previous post I'd bring in this same cosplay or doing something from Adventure Time, specifically Marshall Lee, but part of me has a subtle interest in being Princess Bubblegum in her lab outfit.

 

So, at the present moment, it's a tad undecided. I don't know if my boyfriend wants to go, or if he has something couple-related in mind if he did. I know my friend is talking about being Chell from Portal.

 

Total lack of certainty at the moment.

 

(Also, I rolled a Conjurer version of my character on Balmung and spent the last hour trying to figure out the game more, and I think I like Conjurer just a bit more than Arcanist already, so I might stick with it.)

[Leencat]

Bumping this silliness again, because I'm excited still about this costume thing to the point I need to babble about it and keep this updated. I got the wig, I love it, it seems to fit nicely (I'm pretty stupid with hair nets and figuring things out, so it was an honest learning process for me).

 

I didn't like the tattoo sleeves. Keeping them because I'll probably find some reason to be a dork and wear them, but I then ordered henna to try out and that should arrive in less than week (a tube of dark pinkish/purple was only five bucks). And I did a bit of searching on it first to know what to avoid in terms of unsafe chemicals; as far as I read the kind I picked should be fine, and I'm pretty excited about it.

 

Otherwise I'm just waiting for the headphones and shoes at this point in the mail. Still plenty of time left to pick up last-minute things, I suppose. I put on some of the stuff I have already and my boyfriend said I looked "androgynous" with the wig and clothing, which I'm perfectly okay with. I didn't necessarily want to look incredibly masculine or feminine.

 

Blah blah, anyway, that's it, if anyone here has personally used henna before and wants to talk about their experience with it, please feel free. I've otherwise just checked out some video tutorials to learn a bit about it and see what it does.

[Tobias Nightbringer]

Are you using a hair net or an actual wig cap? From what I understand, wig caps do a better job keeping your real hair hidden and in place. Also, not sure if you already know this or not, but using bobby pins to clip the wig to your hair and wig cap will ensure maximum hold. Careful though because if you get TOO good at doing that, you MIGHT have to end up taking mild pain killers because when I was cosplaying with wigs, my hair was pulled so tight to hide everything I got headaches

 

Umm, and not sure if you are using contacts for your Cosplay/costume, but this is the site I go to for most, if not all, of my contact needs.

 

http://www.pinkyparadise.com/

 

Also a quick coupon search on Google can help you save a little more on your purchases.

 

Unfortunately no experience with Henna, sorry D:

 

Oh, one more thing about drawing stuff on your face. Hairspray. It fucking SUCKS when you first spray it on your face and feels NAAASSSTY (to me at least) but it REEEEAAAALLLY helps to keep any stuff from smudging and/or rubbing off from accidental bumps or a little bit of sweat. Like even when I was BALLS DEEP in heat at Anime Expo, everything pretty much stayed in-tact.

[Leencat]

I do have contacts, thank you!

 

I have a hair net, but that bit about pins to clip the wig to my hair might help quite a bit. I just noticed slightly in the back, if the hair is lifted you can see the outline of the contrast of my black hair against the blond wig, but then again, the wig is just long enough in the back to really avoid it being any sort of issue, I think. I mean, the wig is comfortable.

[Brave]

I'm going to second Tobias here with the wig cap recommendation/bobby pins.  They're pretty great =P

 

Also do you have someone to apply the henna tattoo for you.  Doing it yourself will probably hella tricky ><

 

Previous cosplay issues I've heard horror stories about are not giving it enough to dry or accidentally smearing it etc.  I knew someone doing an FMA cosplay where they didn't allow enough time and completely botched all the hard work of the artist. =/

 

Anyway glad to hear your cosplay is still coming together well!  When you're a girl cosplaying a boy, Androgynous is the best kind of compliment.

[Leencat]

I made sure to note in the videos that you want to be careful, or if drawing yourself outline a design with a white eyeliner pencil or something first. I'll at least be smart enough to give it a good hour before I put a costume on and probably apply it in junky pajamas or something. I mean, I do a good job of messing things up even when I'm careful, but I guess half the fun will be figuring it out (?).

 

That's me trying to be optimistic.

[Leencat]

UPDATE: I don't think I like henna. I got it in the mail about four days ago and tried using it. It feels like it's easy to mess up. I like the vibrant, dark pink color, though, but I think I am opting to go without arm tattoos/drawings.

 

In other news, my boyfriend has not yet acquired a lab coat, but my mom is promising a friend of hers can spare one by Saturday or Sunday, and on one of those days, we're supposed to all gather in costume at a friend's house. I was hoping to go out for Halloween on the actual day of, but I am pretty sure I will have to work, bleck.

 

Either way, maybe I'll have pictures after this weekend? I hope so. If nothing else, I have learned so much about cosplaying basics from the help here. I am pretty set on taking this same costume to Genericon in 2014 with a friend, and in the time I'll have until then I might think of ways to make improvements or explore other methods of doing things (like the arm tattoos). I may even look up different wigs and things like that.

 

It's been really fun though. On a recent day off I put on my entire costume just to entertain myself and it's fun to wear, since it's fairly simple, comfortable clothing. The wig feels awkward because I'm not used to it. The contacts are especially fun. I can see why people love cosplaying and I regret having never looked into it sooner instead of just considering this for Halloween.

[AndreyTonteey13]

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