Cosplay Costume

Picking a Halloween costume is a decision you need to make just once every year, still, it proves to be a difficult and nerve-wracking process for many. Halloween outfits can be just about anything and for a lot of people, finding the perfect outfit for their Halloween festivities amid the endless sea of options is a tedious process. If you don’t want to go down the typical costume searching rabbit hole, why don’t you wear a cosplay costume this year?

If you were suffering from too many options for a Halloween costume before, in all honesty, narrowing your options down to just cosplay costumes doesn’t help much. There is a limitless number of cosplay costume options you could go with from movie characters, cartoon characters, books etc. Cosplay is dressing up as a fictional character, this means you could cosplay a character from your favourite movie, anime, book, TV series etc. Cosplaying, however, is a little more than just wearing the costume of your favourite fictional character, it’s more like becoming the character. So not only will you have to mimic their outfit, but likely their hairdo, makeup, and behaviour as well. 

The most common type of cosplay costumes is centred around the Japanese genre of anime. Anime has some extremely common titles and characters such as Naruto, Bleach, JJK and lots more. If you’re an anime or manga fan then you should consider buying the costume of any of your favourite anime characters and if you’re cosplaying with friends, you can buy multiple costumes from one anime or even different animes depending on what you and your friends want. Anime with a large fanbase like Naruto for example are popular at cosplay shows and events and you can purchase costumes of Naruto himself and any side character from the series from online stores.

Anime aside, superhero costumes are also a common form of cosplay. Kids in particular love superhero costumes and they can cosplay some of their favourite characters by buying their costumes online. Fictional superheroes like Spiderman, Captain America, Superman, Green Arrow and Batman are popular cosplay costumes among boys while ladies often cosplay Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Super Girl and Batwoman. Besides these, there’s also a long list of other superheroes for you and your friends to cosplay but it’s important to remember that cosplaying is more than just wearing an outfit, if you’re going to look the part, then you’ll have to act the part and be the part as well.

Besides superheroes, other movie genres also provide a primary source of cosplay costumes and entertainment. There have been many classic Hollywood movies down the years that have inspired popular cosplay outfits such as Shrek, Harry Potter, James Bond, Matrix, Pirates of The Caribbean etc. You should know however that pulling off a successful cosplay can take a lot of effort and time, so if you want to cosplay Jack Sparrow, for example, be prepared to get his entire outfit down to the detail as well as a trip to the hairdresser and a makeup expert. For ladies, perhaps you want to cosplay princess Fiona, you should be prepared to look as green as an ogre for one night!

While you can always buy costumes yourself, the true beauty of cosplay lies in doing it all yourself. Not only do you get to save a significant sum of money and put another feather in your DIY cap, but you also get the satisfaction of creating a cosplay outfit of your favourite character from scratch. Here’s a short tutorial on making a DIY cosplay outfit:

The first step of cosplay is choosing the character you want to become. If you don’t have your mind fixed on anyone, in particular, you can make a list of your favourite characters from video games, anime, Sci-Fi and other entertainment mediums. Next, you need to consider a few factors like which one is your favourite, which of the costumes would be a great addition to your wardrobe, which costume is easiest to make etc. When you weigh your options using these metrics, then you should have a clear idea of which character you want to cosplay for Halloween. The next part of the selection process is choosing the version of the character to play. Lots of fictional characters have multiple costumes you can choose from like Captain America’s 4 different suits or Goku’s different outfits. Once you’ve settled on a character, pick a costume design of theirs you want to roll with, preferably one you can easily make.

Making sure the costume you choose can be easily made at home is important. While there’s no limit to what you can create as a cosplayer, bringing some characters to life are far more difficult than others. Iron Man for example is a popular source of cosplay, however, an Iron Man costume will certainly have to be bought unless you have the genius of Tony Stark to make one in your garage. Also, make sure any costume you choose is appropriate for an event you might be attending. If your Halloween party has children around then you should steer clear of anything too revealing or gruesome and if you are cosplaying for an adult event then an outfit of a cartoon character, for example, might not blend in. Picking the right costume to cosplay is very important to enjoying your evening.

Once all this is settled, print out a picture of the chosen character in his/her costume as this will be the basis for making their outfit. Now, you can look up how to make the character’s outfit online or if you’re a crafty DIY specialist, you could already have a clear idea in mind. Make the costume, do your hair like them, facial features like beards and even their accessories should all be made or purchased. Once you feel you have the required result, go out and enjoy your night as your favorite character.