Cosplay: Picking your cosplay character

Been a very long time since I've posted anything on my blog. I've been busy with exams, school, and being the lazy me =w= lol. Now is my only time to de-stress myself woo~

I've decided to share tips or rather my thoughts for picking characters to cosplay as. This has long time been in discussion, not a big issue, but it may be helpful to newbie cosplayers. It's alright to argue with the content of this because well, I'm not 100% accurate or correct in all ways. ^^

For newbie cosplayers/first timers, picking your cosplay character is the most vital thing ever because it gives you a starting point to improve. Of course, if your first cosplay is good, then that means shorter time to achieve awesome level right? So, take note~

1.     The character has to be of your liking/obsession

        If you love your character, you will be able to portray it in an excellent way compared to when you 

        choose a character that you hate. So your love for it is important. You'll understand when you start 

        cosplaying it. 

        (However, this does not mean that you can't cosplay the character you aren't fond of, it's

        just that I recommend doing so if you've been doing cosplay for awhile already.)

We, Nao(Ciel), Shio(Alois) absolutely are obsessed with Kuroshitsuji, especially our characters, so we pretty much can pull off it off, at least character wise =w=b

2.     Know your character  -   don't cos just because it's popular

        In order to be able to portray your character correctly, you have to already know how your character 

        behaves, how he/she walks, talks, poses. So this means, you've already done your analyzing  of that 

        character. Don't just cosplay a character just because it's popular (eg: Hatsune Miku) without knowing

        it's characteristics and basically story. You won't be as fun to talk about your character if you dunno.

Hatsune Miku, one of the most cosplayed character. Which from this photo, makes you wanna cos this character regardless of whether or not you know the character cuz of the appearance of the character, popularity and how
 cosplayers usually rock this character.

3.     Similar to your personality/your alter ego

        It'll be a hundred times easier to cosplay that character if it has similar personality as you or similar
        personality as your alter ego(self) that you've always wanted to show. So cosplay is a great way to
        show other sides of yourself. it's way fun!

        (eg: I chose Ciel Phantomhive because I've always wanted to boss people around and be cold to
        others hehe)

4.     Similar body type

        Body type and body size are two DIFFERENT things. Body type is more of your body proportion and
        or height. Whereas body size is where you're skinny/too skinny/chubby/cute size, or whatever you call
        it.  When I say this, I mean by choosing character that has similar body type as you; height, facial
        features, and etc.  This will add to your charm when you cosplay cuz you're similar to your character by
        physical appearance, which means more people will like it and they'll take more photos with you.

        I'd like to say that even if you're plus-size, you can still work your character like a boss, the key of
        course is choosing wisely (doesn't mean you have to choose plus-size characters, you can do skinny
        characters and pull it off still)

one of the great examples of similar body type, or in this case facial features is this Sephiroth cosplayer. See the similarity? Heck, I genuinely thought that it was the real Sepiroth and not a cosplayer when I first saw this.

Sepiroth cosplayer: his DA   , photograph from this person

Character: Sepiroth from Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children

5.     Choose characters with costumes appropriate to your budget

        Biggest problem with cosplay is budget. If you're a newbie, it'd be best to choose characters with
        simple costumes and stay away from dresses with lots of frills, laces, and gems or characters that
        generally have complicated costume design. If you choose to pick a character with a poofy dress like
        Rin Kagamine (Servant of Evil) and Queen Victoria (Kuroshitsuji), be prepared to use up lots of money
        which means you have to be completely good at managing your money. This applies to both tailor-
        made and DIY costumes.
        You should also take the character's props into your radar too. They can be pricey if you're buying
        them. Making them yourselves is cheaper(search for tutorials online)

Warcraft cosplay. Costume is too detailed and customized. First time cosplayers stay away. Only for experienced
 (doesn't matter if in fashion design or making it in general)

Cosplayer: Kipi. Character: Suzumiya Haruhi, costume is easy to make and to pull off. An easy starting cosplay character
 for first-timers.

And that is about what I can remember at this very moment hahaha. Remember before choosing, it's important to ask yourself these questions before going for it. Thanks for reading ^^ Do follow if you like my blog. Comment are also welcomed ^^


(Disclaimer: I own none of the photos above except for the Kuroshitsuji cosplay photo.)