Cosplayers.... i have to do this, sry!

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ArtHritis's avatar
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Sorry if this turns out to be a rant, but i have to get it off my chest.
I think Cosplay was the thing that made me feel old for the first time, cause i had to look up the word.
We played dressup as kids too, but we called it dressup....
Seriously, nothing against Cosplayers.
Hey i dressed in Starfleet uniforms for conventions, too....
I have nothing against Cosplayers when they do fictional Characters / clothes / body morphing armour, whatever...
Actually, chapeau, chapeau for some of the costumes i found out there. i suck at sewing and it really amazes me how much time and effort (not to mention money) ppl pour into their costumes.
BUT....
if you Cosplay things like uniforms from different periods of history GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!
i'm a re-enactor, i do Napoleponic wars, i'm member of a british highland regiment.
my uniform isn't 100% authentic either, cause no one can afford 100% handwoven wool or things like that. but you can afford pure wool, and leather, there's stuff out there, rather cheap on ebay.... most books on the topic are available as free ebooks or really cheap on amazon.
By accident i found some napoleonic cosplayers yesterday (apparently some sort of manga plays during the napoleonic wars, i'm not into manga so i wouldn't know...)
I saw military hats made from some sort of rubber, white jeans as uniform trousers, uniform coatees made of some sort of synthetic shimmery things, crossbelts not of leather but made of fabric....
it made my eyes bleed. and i venture the guess those materials were even more expensive than the real thing.
when you put that much effort into a costume wouldn't you want it to look the part other than something you pull off a rack of halloween costumes?
*still shuddering*
alley
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noche-estrellada's avatar
Yeah, I know what you mean... if I'm making a costume, to those who don't know the term 'cosplay', I'll just say I'm dressing up or that it's a costume. (They won't think it's any less weird, but hey!)

But cosplay can be a very expensive hobby if accuracy is desired. Cheap satin or cotton material can sell for about £1 a metre in some places, so if there's any way in which some costume-making companies (or just regular costumers at home) will try and cut costs, it will be with the fabric, because that's the bulk of the costume. With my first costume, although the construction was passable, I decided to make the entire thing out of satin *cringes*. It cost me £23 in total; if I sought better quality cotton, it probably would have been double or triple the price, more than I could afford at the time. But, I had a costume in which I could go to a con and enjoy myself. I do agree, though, if you're going to do a costume, at least make it look accurate; even with bad fabrics it can still look good with a bit of effort!

'Costumes' which are just comprised of ordinary (wardrobe) items of clothing in place of a recognisable outfit are annoying, though. That just shows no effort at all.