Cosplay and Everything in Between!: July 2018

21 July, 2018

Recycling Costume Pieces

We cosplayers should also know how to be resourceful and creative with what we have~ Cosplaying isn't a cheap hobby after all! ^_^

Here are four cosplayed characters that I have done wherein I recycled a costume! I'll call them by first name: Serenity (Sailor Moon), Emeraude (Magic Knight Rayearth), Celestia (My Little Pony), and Celestia (Shining Tears X Wind).

* The base white dress I used for Serenity (SM), Emeraude (MKR), and Celestia (MLP) is one and the same! Oh yeaaah~~~ ╰☆╮ Emeraude's puff sleeves were used for Celestia, which "tails" can be removed (hand-sewn only). Most of the accessories were separate pieces so it was easy to change the look of the dress. However, I altered the base dress again into the Snow White (OUAT) maternity dress for my pre-natal shoot. So that was a total of five (5) characters using the same material. <3

* I also used the same wig for Emeraude (MKR), Celestia (MLP), and Celestia (STXW) just styled differently! Except that I already dyed it multi-colored for Celestia (MLP).

I also use old pieces of clothing (ukay) to make into costume pieces. Or borrow an accessory, glove, skirt, etc from another character to use for another one. Tee hee~ I'm a big cheapskate cosplayer lol.

I have posted this already on my page three years ago, but worth re-sharing again (I think hehe). https://bit.ly/2myxqYa

09 July, 2018

Storing Custom-Styled Wigs

As we progress in our cosplays, I can say that one of the major improvements that is easily noticed is our wigs. Custom-styled wigs are now readily available to buy from Taobao and other wig shops. But most of the time, the custom wigs we receive gets deformed or ruined from the packaging during shipment and that we still have to fix them ourselves or have our fellow cosplayers, who do amazing wig styling, to fix and re-style them for us. That is why it is important to have a proper storage for our custom wigs to preserve the style and keep it safe.

To store my custom-styled wigs, I made cardboard protectors.

For my wigs like Cinderella (with a bun), Ariel (with high bangs), Sailor Moon (high bangs, buns, ponytails) and other similar characters, one trick that I do is have a cardboard protection around the wig before putting them inside the ziplock plastic bag.

It is made of used cardboard taped together to form a fence-like rectangular shape. I also place a separate cardboard underneath so it is easier to slide the whole wig in and out of the plastic.

Remember that the measurement for the cardboard depends on the size of your wig and plastic storage. So make sure you check your ziplock plastic before cutting the board.

Mine is 4in x 6in x 8in for Cinderella. I also placed a thin cardboard flap to put hairpins on because I need to use a lot to hold my wig in place during cosplay.

Sometimes, you may need to provide a bigger actual box for more complex and larger wigs. For example, Rapunzel's wig, or wigs with spikes like Goku's.

I make my cardboard protectors from used milk boxes. But you can also use plastic shoe boxes, juice boxes, cereal boxes, or the cardboard that comes along with the wigs from the suppliers.

You can use two of white thin wig cardboard and put them together with tape. Once you have the cardboard taped together, you can customize it any way you like: cover it with colored paper, place stickers on it, write the character name - go crazy!

Cardboard protectors aren't good just for storage but also for handling the wig during trips to the event. You can easily pack it in your luggage without having to worry about your wig getting squished by your other costume parts.~

As an extra tip, here is how I pack my costume inside my trolley suitcase in hierarchy:

wig

light prop/accessories

fabric costume parts

shoes/heavy prop

So there! Wigs are totally love so let's do our best to take care of them.~