Cosplay 2010 Ideas
I may make as many as four new costumes during the next convention season, but I'm having a terrible time deciding which characters/cosplay ideas to choose! HELP ME, FLIST!
Here are the costumes I’m seriously considering for this con season:
The Red Butterfly (young Kyoko Honda) from Fruits Basket
Pros:
-I’ve wanted to do it for a long time.
-I already have a wig that is a good match and a few other things I would need.
-It’s Fruits Basket. I love it, so I’d probably enjoy making it, and a lot of con-goers love it, so it would get a fair amount of attention if I do a good job.
-It could be a good competition piece if I hand-embroider the designs on the jacket.
Cons:
-It would be difficult to embroider the jacket, and I haven’t done much serious embroidery before.
-The copper-colored wig I already bought is beautiful and looks accurate, but that shade isn’t very flattering on me.
-It’s hard to find good reference pics, especially of the jacket design and the lettering on her skirt.
Hotaru Imai from Gakuen Alice
Pros:
-I look great with dark hair. And I already have a wig that could work, although a slightly longer cut and darker color would be more accurate.
-It would give me a good excuse to buy purple contacts.
-Several others form Baka Rose are planning to cosplay this series, so I’d be part of a group. This is HUGE trump card when it comes to cosplay. I’ll almost certainly do this costume for that reason.
-The costume should be fairly easy to make.
-I love the character.
Cons:
-The series is only moderately popular, so less recognition factor. However, groups are usually more recognizable than individual cosplayers.
-I hate wearing contacts and they are expensive. However, I could cosplay without the contacts, as her purple eyes aren’t really crucial to the character.
Gina from Porco Rosso
Pros:
-This outfit is gorgeous and if I do a good job I could wear it for purposes other than cosplay.
-I already have a wig that’s virtually perfect. And dark hair always looks good on me. (Naturally.)
-I already have fabric that’s virtually perfect.
-Several of the Baka Rose girls are doing Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli characters, so I’d be part of a group, although not quite as coherent a group as one in which all the characters are from the same anime.
-The character is a good fit for me, both in appearance and personality. I could use this costume for cosplay-themed singing/talent events, as she is a singer.
-I feel very enthused about this costume.
Cons:
-Might be a little tricky to make, especially if I want to make it good enough for non-costume wear.
Romeo from Romeo X Juliet
Pros:
-I have a friend who wants to do Juliet, so we’d get to go around as a pair.
-There’s the potential for great photoshoots with my Juliet-there are a lot of picturesque poses we could do.
-I love his color scheme.
-I love this anime.
Cons:
-I’ve only done crossplay once before (Haru from Fruits Basket), and I don't feel I was very successful at being masculine, so I’m not sure I can pull of the world’s most iconic lover, even in anime bishie style.
Harmony Bear from Care Bears
This wouldn’t be an exact costume, but a simpler version with the tummy symbol sewn onto a purple shirt or hoodie, and purple sweatpants, or maybe a cute skirt.
Pros:
-My SIL already made the tummy symbol and “butt heart” for me and everyone else in Baka Rose for Christmas.
-There’s a good chance others from the group will join in this more laid-back group cosplay.
-It’s purple.
-It would be comfortable to wear.
-It would be easy to make.
Cons:
-It’s a little goofy, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
-It's so easy that it's not that exciting, either. I sat out sewing a new costume for MegaCon, so now I want to go all out. I might save this one for Halloween or something else more low-key than a con.
Mei “The Mizukage” Terumi from Naruto
Pros:
-She’s really cool!
-Naruto is extremely well-known and highly recognizable.
-This might be a good competition piece.
-I feel more enthused about this costume than almost any of the others, except for Gina.
-See first bullet point under "cons". Depending on the timing of the anime, this could be a very timely costume.
Cons:
-She hasn’t shown up yet in the anime, so that hurts the costume’s recognizability. However, the timing of AFO is such that she might have been seen onscreen by fans following the Japanese release by then, in which case chances are good that she’d be the hot new thing that nobody has thought to cosplay yet but everybody thinks is cool.
-The wig will be wicked difficult to pull off, not to mention uncomfortable to wear.
-How shall I put this? I’m worried that my feminine figure is not adequate, especially in the bosom area. Of course, there are options for boosting my assets, so to speak.
-Coppery hair doesn’t look that good on me. But I might be able to get away with a darker brown, more like my natural color. It depends on if she shows up in the anime by then and what her coloring looks like onscreen.
An original costume in Lolita style inspired by The Fourth Doctor
Bizarre, I know, but I think this could potentially be a very eye-catching costume.
+
Pros:
-It’s unique
-The idea of it cracks me up. It also cracked up the two Dr. Who fangirls in Baka Rose when I mentioned it to them the other night.
-I would get to make use of my scarf-knitting skills.
Cons:
-The sewing will be tricky, especially as anything with the name “Lolita” attached should be high-quality.
-And the Lolita snobs might very well hate it because it’s still essentially a costume.
-It might be a little too bizarre.
Anita from West Side Story
Pros:
-It’s purple.
-It’s gorgeous.
-I have a good physical resemblance to the character.
-It could be worn for other purposes than cosplay.
-It might be done as part of a group of movie musical characters.
-It honestly doesn’t look that hard to make, but I may be underestimating the difficulty, overestimating my skill, or both.
Cons:
-It’s not anime or fantasy/sci-fi or cartoon nostalgia. It might not be recognizable enough to get much attention at cons. However, if I do a good job and post good photos, I might be able to make up for that with online love.
There are a few other runner-up ideas I’m thinking about, though most likely I will save those for another year or for other events, but these are the main ones I’m considering for AFO, Metrocon, and possibly Dragon Con (in the unlikely event that I go).
And now for the poll. Please help me narrow it down by voting for no more than four!
Poll Cosplay 2010
Here are the costumes I’m seriously considering for this con season:
The Red Butterfly (young Kyoko Honda) from Fruits Basket
Pros:
-I’ve wanted to do it for a long time.
-I already have a wig that is a good match and a few other things I would need.
-It’s Fruits Basket. I love it, so I’d probably enjoy making it, and a lot of con-goers love it, so it would get a fair amount of attention if I do a good job.
-It could be a good competition piece if I hand-embroider the designs on the jacket.
Cons:
-It would be difficult to embroider the jacket, and I haven’t done much serious embroidery before.
-The copper-colored wig I already bought is beautiful and looks accurate, but that shade isn’t very flattering on me.
-It’s hard to find good reference pics, especially of the jacket design and the lettering on her skirt.
Hotaru Imai from Gakuen Alice
Pros:
-I look great with dark hair. And I already have a wig that could work, although a slightly longer cut and darker color would be more accurate.
-It would give me a good excuse to buy purple contacts.
-Several others form Baka Rose are planning to cosplay this series, so I’d be part of a group. This is HUGE trump card when it comes to cosplay. I’ll almost certainly do this costume for that reason.
-The costume should be fairly easy to make.
-I love the character.
Cons:
-The series is only moderately popular, so less recognition factor. However, groups are usually more recognizable than individual cosplayers.
-I hate wearing contacts and they are expensive. However, I could cosplay without the contacts, as her purple eyes aren’t really crucial to the character.
Gina from Porco Rosso
Pros:
-This outfit is gorgeous and if I do a good job I could wear it for purposes other than cosplay.
-I already have a wig that’s virtually perfect. And dark hair always looks good on me. (Naturally.)
-I already have fabric that’s virtually perfect.
-Several of the Baka Rose girls are doing Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli characters, so I’d be part of a group, although not quite as coherent a group as one in which all the characters are from the same anime.
-The character is a good fit for me, both in appearance and personality. I could use this costume for cosplay-themed singing/talent events, as she is a singer.
-I feel very enthused about this costume.
Cons:
-Might be a little tricky to make, especially if I want to make it good enough for non-costume wear.
Romeo from Romeo X Juliet
Pros:
-I have a friend who wants to do Juliet, so we’d get to go around as a pair.
-There’s the potential for great photoshoots with my Juliet-there are a lot of picturesque poses we could do.
-I love his color scheme.
-I love this anime.
Cons:
-I’ve only done crossplay once before (Haru from Fruits Basket), and I don't feel I was very successful at being masculine, so I’m not sure I can pull of the world’s most iconic lover, even in anime bishie style.
Harmony Bear from Care Bears
This wouldn’t be an exact costume, but a simpler version with the tummy symbol sewn onto a purple shirt or hoodie, and purple sweatpants, or maybe a cute skirt.
Pros:
-My SIL already made the tummy symbol and “butt heart” for me and everyone else in Baka Rose for Christmas.
-There’s a good chance others from the group will join in this more laid-back group cosplay.
-It’s purple.
-It would be comfortable to wear.
-It would be easy to make.
Cons:
-It’s a little goofy, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
-It's so easy that it's not that exciting, either. I sat out sewing a new costume for MegaCon, so now I want to go all out. I might save this one for Halloween or something else more low-key than a con.
Mei “The Mizukage” Terumi from Naruto
Pros:
-She’s really cool!
-Naruto is extremely well-known and highly recognizable.
-This might be a good competition piece.
-I feel more enthused about this costume than almost any of the others, except for Gina.
-See first bullet point under "cons". Depending on the timing of the anime, this could be a very timely costume.
Cons:
-She hasn’t shown up yet in the anime, so that hurts the costume’s recognizability. However, the timing of AFO is such that she might have been seen onscreen by fans following the Japanese release by then, in which case chances are good that she’d be the hot new thing that nobody has thought to cosplay yet but everybody thinks is cool.
-The wig will be wicked difficult to pull off, not to mention uncomfortable to wear.
-How shall I put this? I’m worried that my feminine figure is not adequate, especially in the bosom area. Of course, there are options for boosting my assets, so to speak.
-Coppery hair doesn’t look that good on me. But I might be able to get away with a darker brown, more like my natural color. It depends on if she shows up in the anime by then and what her coloring looks like onscreen.
An original costume in Lolita style inspired by The Fourth Doctor
Bizarre, I know, but I think this could potentially be a very eye-catching costume.
+
Pros:
-It’s unique
-The idea of it cracks me up. It also cracked up the two Dr. Who fangirls in Baka Rose when I mentioned it to them the other night.
-I would get to make use of my scarf-knitting skills.
Cons:
-The sewing will be tricky, especially as anything with the name “Lolita” attached should be high-quality.
-And the Lolita snobs might very well hate it because it’s still essentially a costume.
-It might be a little too bizarre.
Anita from West Side Story
Pros:
-It’s purple.
-It’s gorgeous.
-I have a good physical resemblance to the character.
-It could be worn for other purposes than cosplay.
-It might be done as part of a group of movie musical characters.
-It honestly doesn’t look that hard to make, but I may be underestimating the difficulty, overestimating my skill, or both.
Cons:
-It’s not anime or fantasy/sci-fi or cartoon nostalgia. It might not be recognizable enough to get much attention at cons. However, if I do a good job and post good photos, I might be able to make up for that with online love.
There are a few other runner-up ideas I’m thinking about, though most likely I will save those for another year or for other events, but these are the main ones I’m considering for AFO, Metrocon, and possibly Dragon Con (in the unlikely event that I go).
And now for the poll. Please help me narrow it down by voting for no more than four!
Poll Cosplay 2010