Hello!
I decided to write this post since I often see many cosplay beginners asking for tips at Facebook groups etc and I wanted to list my own tips to possibly help beginners struggling with getting started in this hobby. Just a disclaimer! I don't claim to be an expert at this subject or saying that you can't be a cosplayer without these things, but these are just some really simple tips to make your cosplays look better and take your hobby to the next level by improving! But if you don't want to improve and are just happy with very casual cosplaying, that's perfectly fine too! So, let's get started!
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1. TRIM YOUR WIGS
...or at least the bangs! I know that the idea of cutting your brand new wig is frightening at first, but like in every thing like this, you wont learn without doing it. If you've never trimmed hair before, some really simple tips I have to give, are: Take it slow and steady, only cut a very small amount of hair at a time and use thinning scissors! Thinning scissors are perfect for cutting cosplay wigs, since they don't cut all the hair between the blades, but instead they cut in layers leaving some of the hairs the original length, and shortening some! If you have patience, you can cut and trim a whole wig with just thinning scissors and that is definitely the safest way, since they never cut too much away if you're careful.
But if you want to be a little more efficient and use proper scissors, always keep the scissor blades upwards while cutting! This way you can avoid leaving those clumsy looking straight lines where people can clearly see where you've cut. The technique to be used is of course defined by the style you're cutting your wig into. Most anime/game characters have sort of spiky hair, and for that thinning scissors work the best! And if the character has very clearly defined hair with straight ends of the hair, I would recommend using normal scissors. But really, just thinning your wigs bangs will make a huge difference!
2. USE MAKEUP
The cruel truth is that makeup makes everyone look better! And especially with cosplays, since you will be wearing flashy wigs that will make your whole face look 100% plainer, and you will most likely be photographed too. Pictures always drain 50% of your makeup, and if you're not wearing any....well, it wont be pretty. Of course using makeup is your own choice but the truth is, that your cosplay will look better with makeup.
Many people worry about using makeup for cosplays, since they don't use makeup on a daily basis, but you really don't need to! I have many friends who don't use makeup outside cosplay, and they've only learned to do it for cosplay purposes, so it really isn't impossible! Of course learning to do makeup can be hard, but practice will make you perfect! And even a really simple makeup can make a huge difference to how you look in your cosplay. A really simple makeup to do is to use some black liquid eyeliner on your top lid and brown eyeshadow on your lower lid! It doesn't need to be anything harder than that at first, but starting simple will most likely make you want to experiment more! And a good thing to do to help you learn how to do makeup, is to watch tutorials on Youtube!
3. CHALLENGE YOURSELF
A common thing among starting cosplayers (I had the exact same problem), is the fear of challenging yourself with the costumes you choose to make. Of course it's good to start simple, but you will never improve your skills if you don't take on harder and harder costumes! I would recommend always making your next costume a little bit more challenging than the last one, but don't jump from a simple casual cosplay straight to a massive armor with complicated details.
Even if you have little to no experience in sewing and crafting, I've noticed that when you face a problem you will find a solution to it if you think hard enough! The solution might be simple or unnecessarily complicated, but the most important thing is to just solve it! Every one of these situations will teach you something new and improve your skills, so don't be afraid of challenging yourself! Just don't bite off more than you can chew.
4. DON'T TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT
...when making your costumes! This is one thing I myself am guilty of, but I've really been trying to avoid doing that lately. Putting a little more effort and money into your costumes will make you much happier with the result! It might sting to put so much into one costume, but a costume like that will give you more than a costume that you hate wearing because of how it looks, or a costume that will fall apart after one use. And this is me speaking out of my own experience!
5. COSPLAY WHAT YOU LOVE
The only way to really be motivated to make a costume, is to cosplay a character you love, or a character from a series you love, I would recommend to never cosplay for anyone else, only do it for yourself! There are people who cosplay characters just because they're popular, and I have to say that I don't understand that way of thinking... It makes me much more happier to cosplay a character I love, but only a few people (or possible no one) recognizes than to be recognized and praised by many people for cosplaying character I feel no connection for. The compliments feel much more real when you really really love the character you cosplay and want to do justice to them!
I would tell you to cosplay any character you want whether or not the character suits you, but I don't follow that advice myself and it would be hypocrite to tell others to do so. Just do what you want and what makes you happy! I would hate to wear a cosplay of a character that doesn't suit me at all but you might feel different and that's fine!
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And that's all! I hope you will find these tips useful and if you have any comments, negative or positive, please leave them down below! See you all soon!
