Cosplay Tutorial - Animation to Actually Wearable
From Animation to Actually Wearable: Altering cosplays to fit your body!
By Daikon Cosplay’s ‘Rioso’
Okay, let’s just be honest: 99% of the world’s population doesn’t look like an anime character. We don’t have eyes that take up half our face, our bust-to-waist ratio is NOT that drastic, and nobody has that long of legs (looking at you, CLAMP). But, that doesn’t stop people from cosplaying these characters!
And, with that, comes some insecurities for some people- ‘I want to do character x, but I don’t have the bust to do it!’ or ‘I’d love to cosplay character y, but I’m not skinny enough!’ well, let’s just halt that train of thought right there, friends! We just established that nobody looks like that, so why worry? But, if you are concerned on how flattering an outfit would be on you, there are lots of ways to alter it to fit you better and be best looking on you. As a plus size cosplayer myself, I use a lot of these tricks to emphasize the smallest part of me all the time! These are just things I use so I am more comfortable in a cosplay, and you certainly don’t need to do them, but I know they can help.
Waistbands!
Does the character have a belt, or a corset, or anything of accent around their waist? Use that to your advantage! Raising the waistband/belt to be at the thinnest point of your body will emphasize an hourglass figure and give the illusion of you being smaller than you are. Even if you lack an hourglass figure, raising the waist of something gives the illusion that your legs are longer than what they are as well. If you use a structured piece, you can also use it to smooth out lumps and any other things that may have you self-conscious. Even if a character doesn’t have a belt or something of the like, adding one is an easy fix and often not very noticeable to others.
Lengthening and shortening!
Crop tops not your thing? Not a problem! Lengthening a shirt to full coverage allows for your comfort, and it’s still going to be recognizable. Same goes for short shorts- we don’t have anime physics in this world to keep things from not showing- so you can easily add a few inches to some shorts. Remember, YOU are the one wearing this thing. YOU have to be comfortable. Shortening things will also help. If something is TOO long, or a skirt is an awkward length on you because of your shape, cut a few inches off- chances are, it will make a world of difference.
Color Swap!
Some people just don’t look good in some colors, but sometimes we really want to cosplay those characters that have an entire suit of that color that makes you look like a ghost or a cherry tomato. My example: Any blonde wig ever- but so many characters I love ARE blonde! An easy way to alter so that the color doesn’t wash you out, and so you can still cosplay those characters, is go for a different shade. It’s the yellow in blonde wigs that disagree with my complexion, so I found a less-yellow wig that looks good on me (arda-wigs platinum blonde, for those curious). On others, an ash or dirty blonde would still work well if just a couple shade difference isn’t cutting it.
Structure
Adding structure- like under garments, boning to a bodice, or interfacing in a panel of a top allows for the garment to stay crisp despite being slouched in and helps smooth out anything you may not want to be seen. It can be tedious, but the results are worth it!
Nude Fabric
Found a character you love, but they have a lot of skin showing? Like, too much to just lengthen a shirt? Well, you can fix that! Use some nude colored fabric or a unitard and make it a shirt in that way. It gives the illusion of skin, without you having the discomfort of flaunting your body. This is something that works for keyholes in dresses and shirts, and anything else!
These are just basics of course, and there are plenty of other ways you can alter a costume if you want! These are some techniques I’ve used myself, so I hope that they can help you guys out too.
Happy costuming!