New Cosplays! Many of Them!

Well. you may have noticed the new pictures that have shown up on the right side of this blog and are wondering when I'm going to be making those cosplays so here are the plans. This week, me and Bagle took the classroom part of Driver's Ed (get off the roads!), and having to sit through seven hours of graphic movies and things five days this week, we got just a little bit bored. So, we did challenges (EX: sit like L for as long as you can without falling off your chair) and we eventually ended up planning out all of our future cosplays. So we have a list of what we are doing and many pictures of chibis. We are working on finding ridiculous amounts of grommets for our Devit and Jasdero pants (so don't worry--they are coming soon) but we have also decided to slowly start gathering materials for future cosplays.
The first cosplay we decided on was Pikachu (I hope that you know that Pikachu is from Pokémon).Originally we were just going to get yellow clothes and edit them with fabric paint but them we decided that we could do something much cooler. So we decided to do a some variations of Pikachus. We hope that the end results will be awesome. If you check out my cosplay board (Please Click Here) you can see our general plans.
The second cosplay that we decided on was making Shinji's and Asuka's plugsuits (from Neon Genesis Evangelion). We came to that decision pretty easily. To put simply, Bagle wanted to make an Asuka plugsuit and I didn't feel like being Rei so soon after cosplaying as her (I wanted to make someone other than her so Shinji it is).
Last but not least, I decided my next cosplay (as in just me, not a group cosplay). I've decided on Seras Victoria (from Hellsing Ultimate). I'm not quite sure what color uniform I want to make but right now the yellow one is in the lead. That's about it. Pictures below (in order). Fun posts coming soon (as in not just decision-making but actually making stuff). Sorry for the all the waiting. MadDog out!

Altering Clothes for Cosplay

If you are new to cosplay and don't know how to sew (or you just stink at sewing), you are going to love the idea of altering clothing. We all know that there are tons of wicked awesome characters to cosplay who have wicked awesome crazy outfits but there are also characters who have much simpler outfits--outifts that you can make either completely with everyday clothing or by altering everyday clothing--and are still wicked awesome. Just to start you off and show you what I mean, here are some examples of cosplays you can make by buying and/or altering everyday clothing:

• Androids 17 and 18 from Dragon Ball Z
• Many Death Note characters (Light, L, Near, etc.)
• Fate/Zero masters also generally have ordinary clothing (hold of on the servants however as they are much more difficult to make)
• Pokémon characters (especially from the earlier seasons if you don't want to deal with the ridiculous hair)
• Ouran High School Host Club (the casual outfits in that show are fairly simple)
• Homestuck 

Hope this helps! MadDog out!

My Everyday Cosplays #1

Well. This is going to be a new thing. Every so often I will post a casual cosplay or a feature cosplay or a mix of the few ways you can cosplay every day or whatever on this blog. Today I am posting me as Android 18. In this photo I'm featuring a vest that I altered to look like hers and that's really the main part of this "cosplay." But I'm also wearing a denim skirt like she does and, although you can't really see it, a black-and-white striped shirt similar to hers. This everyday cosplay is a mix of casual cosplay and featuring. Hope you enjoy! (P.S. Don't mind the strange expression I'm making. I don't even know what to call that really. It is very weird. Sorry. Just pretend my face isn't there. XD)

Devit (aka Debitto aka David) Cosplay Part One: The Pants...

I'm going to make most of this cosplay by altering clothes. Just letting you know. That being said, I have decided that Devit's pants will definitely be the hardest part of making his outfit so that's why I am starting with them. Like a lot of anime clothing, Devit and Jasdero's pants a very bizarre (they are very bizarre and their outfits are very bizarre in general). If you are just jumping in now and have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a picture. (Jadero's pants are basically the same with the exception of them not being short on one side.)

Moving on. To start this, I ordered some leggings and some cord from Amazon. What I plan on doing is basically cutting open the front and back of each leg, sewing them so that the cuts are nice and straight, and then lacing them up with cord. (If that makes any sense.) Also, I'm going to cut and hem one side so that I have one long pant leg and one short pant leg. (Like Devit's.) To make the Jasdero's pants (Bagle will be cosplaying as him) the same method will be used with the exception of cutting one side short. Simple enough? And finally, pictures and links. (Sorry, stillhaven't had time to figure out the timer thing yet--final exams--so you're still gonna have to deal with awkwardly taken photos.)

Leggings:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NQ6V5U/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cord:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047BITWE/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Part Three: Original or Interpretive Cosplay

Original or interpretive cosplay can be done casually or it can be done full out for contests and things (at conventions). Most of this type of cosplay comes from gender-bending, style-changing, or both. For this example, we are going to use the character Matt (from Death Note).

GENDER-BENDING
This would really just mean turning him into a girl. A way you could do that is by taking his black-and-white-striped shirt and turning it into a dress. Keep everything else pretty much the same (with the exception of turning his jeans into leggings or something) and then you are done.
(Note: I don't think that it should really be called this but it's what tons of people know it as.) 
STYLE-CHANGING
This would be done by, for example, putting him in the 50s or making him emo. You'd change his style slightly to make him match general looks (just like making him a girl... but not).
BOTH
This would be like turning Matt into a girl and then making him lolita styled. With a cosplay like this, sometimes the suspension of beliefs will be pushed very far but I have seen it done well (so don't delete this idea from your head).
ALTERING
Another thing that you could do is, take something like Rei Ayanami's (Neon Genesis Evangelion) plug suit and turn it into a dress with almost or all of the same markings on it. (Just make it a dress instead of a full body plug suit.) This could probably go under style-changing but it's slightly different so I gave it this new section.

Props: How to Make a Stocking Cosplay Sword (Part Two: Completing)

Sorry for the wait, but now for the second part (Click Here for Part One) of Stocking's sword (katana...? thing...?). I finished it just like the last two steps (but I'll still walk you through them).

Materials that I forgot to mention (sorry):
Cheep bamboo skewers

STEP FIVE:
Create the guard from two pieces of cardboard. Then, cut a rectangle in one side for the blade to fit in.










STEP SIX:
Cover the guard with posterboard and tape. Make sure you cut out a rectangle corresponding with the one in the cardboard. Then paint that side and let dry.













STEP SEVEN:
Make the handle with two pieces in a similar fashion. Cut another rectangle in the guard for the handle and then paint the handle and let it dry. This is when you should also paint the other side of the guard.

STEP EIGHT:
Violently jab the skewers through the guard and into the blade. Hot glue them in place. Then proceed to do a similar thing whilst adding on the handle.

STEP NINE:
Slice open a few air enemies (and almost brake a lamp). And there you have. That's how to make a Stocking cosplay sword. Other final pictures up above way at the beginning of the post.












Well I hope this post helps in your adventure to making props. This method can work with a whole variety of props if you use it creatively. For example, if you want to make something more 3D, you could use two pieces of cardboard with a cardboard pillar in the center so that it doesn't collapse, and then cover up the sides with more cardboard and tape. Also, even if you don't need the posterboard, if you use it anyway in your prop-making process, it helps make your prop smoother. Spray-paint also makes for a very smooth finish but you should only use it if you have a solid or mostly solid colored prop. (If Stocking's sword was completely black, I would've just spray painted it but because it's blue and white, I couldn't really do that now could I.) Good luck! MadDog out!

Props: How to Make a Stocking Cosplay Sword (Part One: The Blade)

If you have no idea where to even start with making a prop, this is the post for you. Originally, I was going to show how to make a generic cosplay sword but I decided that, "why not make something that I could use in the future?" So now I'm going to show you how to make Stocking's sword.



Materials you will need:
Cardboard
Posterboard
Scotch Tape
Exacto knife
Pencil
Hot Glue Gun
Scissors
Paint
Paint Brush

STEP ONE:
Draw out pattern for blade (blade only) and cut out with exacto knife.

STEP TWO:
Cover blade with poster board. Make sure the poster board goes exactly to the edges. I find it easiest to cut out a rough section, tape it on, and then cut the edges nice and neat with an exacto knife.




























STEP THREE:
Tape all of the edges so that the side of the cardboard are smooth with tape.































STEP FOUR:
Paint and let dry.

(Well, my blade is drying as of right now, so when I get some more free time and it is all dry, I will finish this how to. Until then, MadDog out!)

Click Here to See Part Two!

Part Two: Casual Cosplay

In the last post about cosplaying everyday, I talked about featuring parts of a previous cosplay but you can also do something called casual cosplay. You can do this by wearing your normal clothes and a wig or you can do this following these steps:

STEP ONE:
Pick a character and figure out what generally makes up their outfit. As an example, through this post I will be using the character Link (from the Legend of Zelda franchise). He has a green tunic, baggy, tan leggings (oh, I can hear the controversy), some brown boots, a few brown belts, a green elf-hat, some brown pouches, and brown gloves. (He also has a sword and a shield and stuff but because those don't make up his outfit, we aren't going to focus on them.)
STEP TWO:
Don't make anything. Casual cosplay is supposed to be cheep and use everyday clothing. What you wanna do, is find articles of clothing that are similar to these things. They can be from your own wardrobe, ebay, or a the clearance rack at your favorite store depending on your "budget." After I browsed ebay for about ten minutes, these are things (down at the end of this post) that I found on ebay that are similar to his actual wardrobe.
To View...
Boots: Please Click Here
Hat: Please Click Here
Belt: Please Click Here
Pants: Please Click Here
Arm-Warmers: Please Click Here
Shirt: Please Click Here
STEP THREE:
Put it all together and you have a casual cosplay. You aren't featuring anything like how I explained in the last post, but rather suggesting a character with similar clothing choices.

More on How to Get Started

I'm putting up this post because I lot of you may be saying, "I've done steps one through four (of "Where do I Even Start?!") but how do I do step five?! You're telling me to start but I don't know how to!" Calm down. Here's what you do:

1) Order a wig.
Or acquire a wig or whatever, just make sure that you have a wig coming. Even if it's not coming in for a while, just get the ordering done and out of the way. For more information on where to buy wigs, Please Click Here. For more information on wigs in general, Please Click Here.
2) Make the hardest part of your outfit.
Just do it. If you get it over with, then you won't have to worry about it anymore and after making something hard, you'll be more confident in finishing the rest of your outfit. Right now, I'm working on a Devit cosplay (for more info on my own projects, Please Click Here) and I know that his pants are going to be the hardest part of his outfit. So I'm doing them first. Get. It. Over. With.
3) Make your character's prop(s).
(If your character doesn't have a prop, disregard this section.) Props can be very hard. But don't be discouraged because most props can be made out of everyday materials. Their real downfall is: they can take a lot of time. Waiting for things to dry can be very annoying and this means that making a prop can take a few days. However, you still don't want to rush or you are just going to have a crappy prop. Instead make sure that if your prop has a lot of pieces or is gigantic or both, that you make sure you have time set aside for drying paint and glue and things (not just build time). Most props can be made out of things like cardboard (cheep, easy, good looking) but you can really use anything if it looks right. And remember, there is a lot of experimentation in making props and the more you make, the better you'll get at it.

After you've done these three things, you can calmly go about getting your makeup, making other pieces of your outfit, styling your wig, and all that good stuff. I hope this makes your cosplaying adventure easier. And now... COMING SOON: How to Make a Cosplay Sword! (I'm doing this as an example of how to use an easy and cheap technique to make a simple prop.) MadDog out!

Click Here to see part one of how to make a Stocking sword--as it is now completed.

How to Cosplay Every Day Part One: Featuring (and an Introduction to This Page)

If you are expecting some sort of simple way to full out cosplay every day of your life, you have come to the wrong place. (However, at the end of this post, I will give a short list of things you can expect when cosplaying in public.) The title of this page should really be: How to Wear Bits of Previous Cosplay Without looking Utterly Ridiculous (Although Still a Little Anyway) to the General Public. Unfortunately, this didn't fit to well. Well anyway, I'm basically going to be showing you how to look like a cosplayer everyday without full out cosplaying.

STEP ONE:
Pick a cosplay that you really like and then pick a part of that cosplay that you want to "feature." I suggest not using a "one-piece" cosplay like a school uniform as there is nothing to really feature.
STEP TWO:
Pick out a few things from your own wardrobe that could match with this feature. For this I suggest picking articles of clothing that are not going to make your final outfit "busy." For example, if you chose to feature Stocking's stockings (because you knitted them or whatever) don't wear a frilly, neon-green top with overly distracting make up. Also, don't wear something that's going to hide your feature. I'm hoping this would be obvious but if you are featuring Stocking's stockings, don't wear thigh high boots and cover them up. (That would be silly.) Instead of these things, you should wear something more plain. For example, a solid tank, black skirt, denim vest, and flats (still going with the example of the Stocking's stockings feature). Kay?
STEP THREE:
After you gotten creative and come up with an outfit, do one final step and make sure that the focus of the outfit is still on your feature. If you aren't sure you can always send a pic to a friend and ask what the first thing that s/he notices about your outfit is. Have fun!

And now, as promised,
What to Expect (and NOT Expect) When Cosplaying in Public:
EXPECT:

• Many strange faces
• Small, shy children hiding from you
• Small, not-so-shy children being obnoxious to you
• A lot of questions (especially if you are waiting in some sort of line)
• No service (depending on how bizarre your cosplay is)
•  If you are near a group of old people, a lot of strange jokes that you don't get and a lot of sayings like, "Those crazy kids these days..."

NOT EXPECT:

• People to know who you are cosplaying as (unless you are wearing for example, a bright orange ghi)

Helpful Tips to Surviving Your First Convention

BEFORE YOU GO:

• Check the regulations and whatnot. No rule-breaking (especially on accident).
• Don't wear a cosplay that has revealing clothing if you are self-conscious. (Everyone will see you.) You will ruin it for yourself and people who want pictures of you and whatnot.
• DO NOT EVER wear a costume that was put together last minute (unless you did a freaking wonderful, amazing, excellent job and that's NOT taking into consideration that you made it last minute).
• Make sure that if you are not using the convention hotel(s), that you find a hotel near a convenience store (just in case) and bring snacks for your room.
• And before you leave, make sure that you HAVE A CAMERA!!! (and extra battery packs... and stuff) and a small repair kit. (Include a needle or two, some thread, a hot glue gun, etc.)

WHILE YOU ARE THERE:

• STAY HYDRATED!!! (Water. Not caffeinated drinks.)
• Always take a buddy. (Yay! Kindergarten!)
• Always ask for permission before you take a photo of someone.
• Make friends and exchange info.
• Check boards and official things often for photoshoots.
• Keep track of your spending. It's really easy to spend big money while you are there. (Ration money if you need to.)
• No stalking people (just, no) and don't act better than anyone else. (These better be obvious.)

(MadDog's Note: People have been emailing me about the bullet, "DO NOT EVER wear a costume that was put together last minute." They tell me it can be a blast freaking out and making costumes at the last minute and they are right. I'm revising my statement to, "DO NOT EVER wear a costume that was put together last minute TO YOUR FIRST CONVENTION." Simply because you don't want to ruin your first convention experience. Yes, this list can be used as a sort of checklist for all cons but it was made with the idea of helping first-time convention-goers so keep that in mind. Hope this clears everything up. Thank you. MadDog out!)