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Cosplay Process: My General Methodology from Start to Finish

In this post I will share my (current) method for approaching a cosplay project. Every project has different challenges but this workflow tends to get me where I need to go.

I have a Google Doc Template that I sometimes use. 

Reference Gather

Once struck with the inspiration to cosplay a character, the first step is to look at a few references. Just something basic at first. I don't need every detail up front. Just enough to help me get a basic idea of how the costume looks. A full body reference is ideal for this. 

Analyze - Research 

With a couple of references in tow, I can start analyzing the costume and understanding how it works. To help with this I usually try to make my own references. I make doodle notes often making a front and back view. (I find tracing a reference can also help.) Drawing out the costume helps me focus on it with a different part of my brain. While drawing or tracing, I will notice which parts of the costume are particularly confusing or challenging. I will begin research as questions come up. The goal of the analysis is to have the costume broken out into parts. 


Organizing Research Findings

While doing the analysis, I'm researching how to do different parts of the costume. For example, How do I tint a visor? How do I paint a pattern on stretch fabric? What pattern can I use to make this dress? 

Personally, I start creating a private Pinterest board for the character. In there I can store links to tutorials and supplies I may want to buy. 

I used to just save things to my hard-drive in a folder but I find that pinning things is more effective. 

Princess Zelda Pinterest

Boards can be further organized into sub-folders which means I can have folders for each aspect of the costume. I tend to organize by part: Clothes/Under armor, Accessories, Hair/Wig, Props, Armor, Shoes, Special Effects, Make-up, etc. 

Making Plans/ Designing

While I may not have 100% of the information I need, at some point I start coming to decisions as to how I'm going to approach the project. This means doing the following: 
  • Writing down a Material List along with their prices
  • Identifying the most Iconic or Challenging aspects of the costume
  • Determining what I'm going to make myself and what I'd need to buy from someone else
  • Deciding on which tutorial, method or pattern to use. 
  • Organizing or dividing the costume into chunks, layers or parts to focus on. 
For example:
I wrote out this list for my Lotor Cosplay.
For this the Iconic parts were the shoulders, chest piece, skin tone and hair. 
The hair was also identified as the most challenging aspect. (Challenge is defined by you! I suck at hair styling!)
I decided to make the armor pattern myself. However, I decided to purchase yoga pants instead of making yoga pants. 
I decided on using a leotard pattern I found on Etsy instead of using the Simplicity pattern. And I was going to paint parts of the jumpsuit instead of making them out of fabric. 

Material Gathering

I gather materials needed to start one aspect of the costume. Depending on my mood it can be things that I think are going to be the most challenging, expensive or iconic. But sometimes I like to start on the easiest least expensive part for a quick, easy win. Everyone needs a confidence boost now and then. 

When shopping I use my list, but I may not purchase directly from where I linked in my Research. I may look around and see if I can get it locally or from some of my preferred supply websites. 

Production

This is where the rubber meets the road! I'm actually constructing the costume. I tend to work slowly. I maybe have a day set aside for making progress. Thanks to giving myself a long time, I can pick what to work on based on my energy level and supplies on-hand. 

At times, things may not go to plan and need rethinking. Which means going back to the drawing board. Plan something new and try again. 

As you can see, making a proper visor for Tali's helmet took a few tries to get right.

Testing and Touch-ups

During the process of production, I put the costume on to make sure things are coming along, fitting, and looking right. It's also good to practice to see how long it takes to put the costume on, so if there is an event, I can time it accordingly. 

For example, on Prince Lotor I was not happy with how the thigh armor kept sliding down. So I tweaked my approach and made the thigh armor out of spandex instead. 


Post-Mortem

After wearing the costume to an event, I can look back and think about how it all came together...or perhaps how it all fell apart. Most of us may just do this in our heads and take the experience into the next project. But I like to share what I learned so I write it down. Making note of what worked well and not so well for that costume. 

For example, my experience using a pre-purchased jumpsuit/zentai suit was great for my Halo Spartan armor, so I took it into my Tali cosplay. But that didn't work out so well. After that I determined that if a character had a jumpsuit or underarmor and the costume had a belt that it was easier to make it two pieces. 
 So when approaching Prince Lotor, I decided to split the costume in half (since he had a belt). That worked out much better! (Also, MUCH easier to take a biology break at a convention. ;)) 

Once piece Worked!
One piece almost worked...

Can you tell it's two pieces? 

Fin

That's all I got for my basic process. I plan on going into more detail about my costume analysis process and how I design costumes that are not based on a specific character. 
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