Starting in cosplay can be intimidating, but remember everyone you see at a con with a terrific outfit started out as a beginner too. The overall cosplay community is very welcoming and supportive to people who are getting into the hobby.
In this post, we’ll give you an outline of how you can prepare for your first cosplay whether you want to wear it to a convention or just do some pictures for instagram or twitter.
Pick a character
The first step is to choose a character that you like. You will likely get a lot of questions or have people talk to you about this character. For this reason, I suggest you start with someone from a show, movie or series that you really like. People may come up to and ask you questions or just assume that since you dressed as that character that you enjoy talking about them.
Second, I suggest picking someone that you can relate to. I am a 50 year old, obese man with a beard. So it’s far easier for me to dress as Captain Lou Albano, Moscow from Money Heist, or any of the characters from Squid Game. These are all great characters because I wouldn’t need to change a lot of my appearance.
The last item to consider when choosing the character is to consider how long you’ll be wearing the costume and how comfortable you’d be. In my example above, Captain Lou Albano has a blue vest, white T-shirt, and some rubber bands in his beard. Moscow would have a plastic mask and some pink overalls. Squid games could either have an aqua track suit or a pink jumpsuit with a mask.
All of these costumes are great because it’s fairly easy to swap out of them and keep your change of clothes in a backpack. One tip for people new to cosplay is to always have a plan that will allow you to change to regular clothes easily if you want to swap out at midday.
Research your cosplay
When I pick a new character the first thing I do is to create a private pinterest board where I can keep all the photos, costume components, and items I’d want to buy together. I will try to have at least 10 pictures of the source material, and more is better.
Once I get several pictures on the pinterest board, I’ll do a google search for “[Character name] Cosplay” to get an idea what other people have done. This is a great reference material because I can see what type of wigs, shoes or other accessories they use. It’s also helpful because you can see the impact of someone leaving out or replacing one of the items.
Another topic to google search and add to your pinterest board is “[Character name] poses”. This will get you an idea of how people pose for pictures. Do you need a special arm or hand gesture? Do you hold your face at a specific angle? If you can get 1-3 poses down, it will really help you sell the overall cosplay.
Break the Cosplay down to its components
I spent much of my professional career as a software engineer so this comes pretty natural. Instead of getting overwhelmed at creating an entire outfit, I divide it into the major parts and then decide how much time, money and energy I have for each element.
- Hair – Many cosplay outfits will immediately get elevated with a wig. Budget wigs can be purchased for under $10, and they are great for starting out. We’ve written an entire guide to buying a cosplay play wig for under $10.
As a beginner, you’ll want to choose a wig that’s the correct color, length and similar style to what you’re looking for. I have thinning hair that I buzz cut, but I can wear a curly black wig which really helps me sell the Captain Lou Cosplay. I am pretty recognizable without the wig, but with it there’s zero chance of me getting thought of as comic book guy from the Simpsons. - Face – When it comes to face there are a couple key items that can really help. The first is facial hair. At a recent convention, I saw someone dress as Gandalf, and their beard was spot on. This person has used a wig or artificial hair source to create the beard, and it looked perfect.
After handling any facial hair, you’ll want to determine if your character has a specific make up style. Do they wear bright red lipstick or something more subtle? Do they were blush, foundation, eye make up? Getting these details right will be very important if you are going to take a lot of pictures for instagram or twitter. I find makeup less important for beginners at conventions.
The final item to consider for cosplay in your face area is color contact lenses. These are often way outside the bounds for people just starting out. In fact, I suggest not using contacts when you are starting out. This is something that can easily be added at a later date.
If your character wears glasses that are different style than what you wear, a budget tip is to get some reading glasses and push out the lens. Reading glasses can picked up for less than $5, and removing the lenses will eliminate any glare from photographers. Also, you don’t want to get a headache from wearing reading glasses all day. - Torso – When planning any cosplay, look at the rules for the convention. There may be guidelines about how much cleavage can be showing. There may be rules against bikini style tops or rules about whether a cosplay can be armless and sleeveless.
Once you understand the rules, you will want to get as close as you can. As a beginner, you don’t need to exactly match. As an example, you may wear a superman T-shirt or a flash sweatshirt. These are both perfect because the shirt will be a distinctive color with an easily identifiable logo on the front.
When planning your torso consider how much walking around you’ll be doing, and how you’ll do with being either hot in the summer or cold in the winter. When I went to Phoenix Fan Fusion 2022, the line to get inside was over 3 hours. I felt so bad for the people who were wearing the full foam armor who stood outside in 100 degree plus temperatures.
- Legs – For beginners who are dressing as a male character, wearing comfortable pants or jeans is a great option. There are a lot of characters who would totally fit with pants that you have in your closet. This both cuts down on the cost and ensures that you’ll be wearing something that you feel comfortable in. For someone cosplaying as a female character a loose fitting dress or skirt is a great option. Something like Fionna from Shrek is a great example. If you decide midway through the day, you can put your accessories in a backpack, and just have a normal outfit.
For either gender when you decide to wear a more restrictive costume, I recommend carrying a change of clothes in your backpack. For me, this is usually just some light weight pants and a t-shirt. I don’t want something super heavy that I am carrying around all day. - Shoes – For your first cosplay convention, I recommend wearing comfortable shoes. At Phoenix Fan Fusion in 2022, I walked over 9 miles PER day between walking around the convention center to attend the various panels and shows. I also went through the vendor hall several times each day to get as many pictures for this blog and instagram page.
If you are going to wear shoes to a convention, I suggest wearing them for walking for at least a quarter mile to ensure they shoes are comfortable and won’t cause blisters. I’ve had so many friends not try on the shoes for their outfit until they arrived at the convention because they wanted to keep them looking as new and fresh as possible. When I am testing out shoes, I will wear them around the house or at an indoor mall. This limits the amount of dust or debris they pick up. Also, the harder floor of a mall will be more like what you’ll see at the convention - Accessories – These are often the iconic elements of a character that will make them identifiable. For example, someone with a white shirt and brown fedora hat isn’t that descriptive. However, as soon as you add a large prop bull whip, it becomes instantly recognizable as Indiana Jones. When planning a costume, I always think about what if any accessories that I’ll need to really make the outfit pop. I’ll also think if I have the ability to get this. My skills in building props is very low so I’ll often head over to Amazon to see if i can find one within my budget and checkout YouTube to see if there are any beginner friendly tutorials on how to make that prop.
Regardless of your accessory, always check to make sure you know the rules of the convention. They are very specific about what is allowed and what isn’t. A walking stick made of wood won’t be allowed at many cons; however, that same stick is allowed if it is made of PVC pipe and painted brown. The bullwhip I mentioned before won’t be allowed at nearly any convention; howver, you could get a nylon clothesline, dye it brown, and then super glue it into a loop. It will look like a whip on your hip; however, it won’t have the ability to be unfurled making it legal at most places I’ve been.
Picking a Budget
After I decide which components that I need for the outfit, I’ll decide on a budget. I may know going in that I have $100 for a complete look, and now it’s time to decide where and how to allocate the money. I’ll cover the various options at each price point.
Closet Cosplay (Less than $20) – At this level, you are mainly using items you find around your house. This can be wearing a t-shirt of your favorite super hero. A lot of people will wear a dress of suit they already own, with a cosplay wig. There are many characters from anime and cartoons that can be used as inspiration with regular clothes that are likely in your closet with a wig.
Premade Costume ($20 – $50) – Lycra and spandex full bodysuits are now super popular at conventions, and these have the complete outfit for less than $50. I believe I saw more spiderman full bodysuits than any other single character. These are perfect for the beginner because it’s a one and done purchase. It doesn’t require any sewing skill although it does give you the ability to adorn it if you want to personalize it. When buying a bodysuit, I strongly suggest reading our guide in what to look for in a spandex cosplay bodysuit and read the reviews for the product.
Create a costume yourself ($50+)– This is a great option if you have experience sewing or crafting foam armor. Even if you don’t, it can be a fun way to learn. Just don’t beat yourself up when the project doesn’t turn out as well as the people who make the videos on YouTube or post on instagram. Remember the people posting to social media have likely done many projects before. When they started out, they had to learn too. The cosplay community is largely supportive, and it can be great fun to show off what you’ve built.
My biggest suggestion for budgeting for a build yourself costume is to really think through what you’ll need and by 25% more material than you think you need. Expect mistakes which will mean that you waste material. It’s natural as you learn, and you don’t want to have a project totally get scrapped if you can’t get similar fabric or pay huge fees just to get a small amount.
Commission someone to build a custom outfit for you ($100+) I include this option because there are some people who have been in the community for a long time, but never dressed up themselves. They know they want to cosplay as a certain character, and that a quality outfit will get used many times. I had a friend spend over 200 hours creating a Dr. Strange cosplay. She meticulosly chose fabrics to match color and texture. She went so far as to mirror the decorative seams and use replica buttons.
Because it was custom made, it fit the person perfectly. The costume looked like something that could have stepped off a movie screen. If you’re serious about cosplaying a specific character and want to attend events in this outfit, getting a commissioned piece can be a great choice. Professionals will make something that lasts and it will look good.
The big drawback for a beginner getting a commission piece is that you’ll have control to decide what fabrics you want, and you may not fully understand the tradeoffs. If you do decide to get a custom piece as a beginner, I recommend talking through all the options with the seamstress or a trusted friend who is more experienced with cosplay.
Have Fun
When your in cosplay at a convention, you should expect people to come up and talk to you about the show or character. There may also be a lot of people who want to take a pictures of you or with you. Remember, Cosplay is not consent do that doesn’t mean you can touch anyone or that they should touch you. I suggest practicing some poses that you can use and be careful if you stretch out your hands. You don’t want to extended your arms or legs into someone else.
Conclusion
That wraps up our beginners guide to getting your first cosplay costume. Do you have any tips you’d like to share with our other readers? We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to tag us on twitter and instagram. Each month, we pick some of our favorites to share on our social media channel.
