Nivedita Ramakrishnan
Cosplaying is an art in itself and like any other art, it needs loads of practice before you attain perfection. For a beginner, cosplaying can be overwhelming. But make sure you follow these steps to ensure your way toward a good cosplay.
This is the most basic step. Make sure you do plenty of research before choosing your character of cosplay and when you DO decide, make sure you stick to that character. It is advisable for beginners to go with simple, and relatively easy characters for cosplaying. Going for a complex cosplay right now is very bad.
You need to build upon your cosplay one step at a time, not all at once. So make a list of each item you would need for your cosplay, including even that very tiny earring the character wears. Once you have listed everything out, research on how much it may approximately cost you so that you know beforehand as to how dry your wallet will run.
Once you've compiled a list of all materials you need for your cosplay, the next thing you must do is cut down items from the list. Sounds crazy? No, this is very logical--browse your list for items that you can make yourself, or that you have lying around at home which you can reuse for your cosplay. Strike these off your list--now, you have two lists. One having items you must buy, and the other having things you can make or reuse. You can save a lot of effort and resources with this! Borrowing from other cosplayers is a tip to win, too.
When you're stuck at any stage before your cosplay is ready (or even after that), feel free to ask for help in the online forums out there. So many other experienced cosplayers will be ready to help you out!
Set deadlines for all phases of your cosplay if possible: for the wig, the costume, the props and such. Make sure everything's ready at least two days before the big day.
How is it that people like Kaname, Reika Arikawa and Alodia Gosiengfiao made it big? Of course they all started small at first. Read up accounts of how they started out, get motivated!
Comic cons and cosplay events now take place in many places across the world. Make it to these events once or twice. Look around and note how cosplays are carried out. Note how really accurate or note a cosplay is, note the material used and the overall cosplay. There's a lot to learn from just that!
Whether online or offline, talking to someone who's cosplayed before is a must. They probably can clear lots of your doubts and even help you! You'd even end up making many friends this way.
If you're a beginner, stick to just the basic layout of your character. Don't make things too flamboyant and showy.
Dressing up as a character doesn't complete a good cosplay. Imitating the character by way of dialogues and actions, and of course, little skits is most important. Don't forget all this after spending so much time on just the costume itself!
Another teenager in university, having a penchant for Japanese, literature and all the small things in life that almost always go unnoticed.
