Cosplay

What is cosplay?
Cosplay is a Portmanteau of the words "costume play". It refers to the fan hobby of making costumes of a concept or person and wearing them at fan gatherings, though it is commonly associated with fictional characters from mediums such as anime, TV, movies, comics, video games, etc. At anime conventions cosplay is one of the most popular events.
definition by tvtropes.org





http://imgur.com/gallery/KP2ccX2
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Cosplay

Basically, cosplay is playing dress up. Some people are dead serious about it, some are just having fun, but either way cosplayers are taking childhood "let's pretend" to its penultimate conclusion. (The ultimate conclusion, one step further, is probably LARPing.)

http://www.sharenator.com/50_Awesome_Cosplay_Wins/#/35.html

What makes a good cosplay?
If you've seen any cosplays, you know that there are some really, really awesome ones and some ... really, really not awesome ones. And people can be extremely harsh when critiquing cosplays. So, should those without the money, skills or looks give up on cosplaying?
No way! For starters, if you're worried about what other people say about you, you're going to have a hard time surviving in anything but the most mainstream fandoms, cosplay or not. 
Obviously, the most amazing cosplays are those where the person already has the right look and also has the money or skills to put together an amazingly accurate costume. But what if you can't do that?
In the opinion of Tamari Surprise, there are two things which are essential to a good cosplay: research and heart. (That's right, we said heart. Captain Planet will probably be here any minute.)

Research, because if you don't know what you're trying to look like, you've already failed. Also, many characters have multiple looks and/or incarnations. Are you and your friends cosplaying as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the original comics, the 1980s TV series,  the live action movies or the latest animated incarnation? Sure, they're always turtles but there are variations.
And heart, because if you don't care, why are you cosplaying in the first place? We would say this qualification trumps any other. If your heart is set on cosplaying a particular character, then you cosplay that character! 

http://imironmanandyouarenot.tumblr.com/post/74053220062/hobbit-genderbend-cosplay-by-alexander-turchanin

However - if you want to kick it up a notch, then tweak your cosplay so that it suits you. It's much better to have a modified cosplay that really works than a completely accurate one that doesn't work at all. Figure out which components are the most important, and how you can incorporate those into your costume. 
Something I (E) say about costume design: If it works, it works. This applies to cosplay, too. Do the thing that works; that's all you really need.

And hey, if you can't do a full cosplay, there's nothing wrong with wearing a single iconic accessory, or a fandom t-shirt so your fellow fans can identify you.










What makes a bad cosplay?

http://geekologie.com/2014/03/one-mans-terribly-awesome-low-cost-cospl.php
(Actually, this guy cosplays badly on purpose, so he's cool.)

See above - if research and heart make a good cosplay, then the lack of these two things make a bad cosplay.
These things are probably tied together. The worst cosplays are by people who just don't care. You have to wonder, why they heck are they cosplaying? They obviously didn't do any visual research - they've got a lot of things just plain wrong about the character. They don't seem to have made any effort to get things right. (This does not apply to people who are deliberately getting things wrong in order to cosplay as a sarcastic parody. Good job, those people.)




Aside from people who aren't trying, here are a few of our cosplay pet peeves.

Adults who are obviously adults who are cosplaying as child characters. We're not saying it can't ever work, but sometimes it just looks gicky. Either it's too precious, or else it looks creepy. (If you're going for creepy, then great.) If your favorite character is a child and you aren't, maybe consider cosplaying as that character as an adult?

Using the wrong materials. This is nitpicky, but if you're going to bother making a custom cosplay, at least use the right fabrics. Please skip over the Halloween section at the fabric store - that cheap, papery satin is just sad. And if the costume isn't satin, don't use satin. Unless you're doing an eveningwear variation of the costume, in which case, do what you want.



Also nitpicky - out of scale accessories. We know, it's not always easy. If you're not a props designer, it may be hard to get your scythe gun just right, but your cosplay will be so much cooler if you do.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ejpphoto/10247040054/in/faves-btanner/

And this one is tricky, but cosplaying the obvious characters. Look, if you dearly desire to cosplay this year's hot hit show's main character, then make it good and go for it. But consider doing something obscure, or something clever, or something obscure and clever. Imagine how much fun you can have being scornful at people who have no idea who you're cosplaying, or the joy of running into someone who knows exactly who you're cosplaying. Plus, if you do something really popular, odds are that there's somebody else who is going to have the looks or the funds to do it better, leaving you lost in the crowd of so-so Levis or Batmen or whatever. 

What would you cosplay?
Ready for a shock? Although, as a costumer and a makeup designer we are ideally suited for the purpose, Tamari Surpise has never really cosplayed. Our reasons for this are highly complicated and involve things like "being totally broke" and "being too introverted to enjoy a crowded convention". So unless you count some Civil War reenacting and a Ren Faire or two (which, really, does pretty much count if you think about it), we haven't cosplayed.
However, that hasn't stopped us from thinking about it. 

E would probably pick Kagura from Inuyasha, because who doesn't like a good anti-villainess with a great kimono? The tragedy is that she would probably not be able to fly on her magic hair feather. Sad, but a limit one must accept in this world.

S'ra leans towards Hwa Soo-In, the delightfully wicked fire sorceress from Faith.  Because A. Totally decadent Josen-era gowns and 2. Fire! Let's face it, the villainess types are just more fun. 


As an alternate idea, one could make up a totally fake character from a non-existent fandom. Then, when people asked you who you were dressed as, you could stare at them in scorn for not knowing and then give them enough made-up information that it sounds completely realistic and interesting enough that it will send the person off looking for a show that doesn't exist. Bonus points if you actually mock up a realistic-looking manga or comic book to carry around.