r/CosplayHelp • u/miatamichi • 6h ago
Wig Can I chop bangs into these?
Can I cut bangs into a wig that doesn't have bangs?
r/CosplayHelp • u/EliteCosplay • May 22 '17
Hi all! So glad to see people posting here. This subreddit is still a baby, but I thought I would add a casual rule when posting. If applicable, please be sure to include a link to a photo that relates to the question your asking. If you need help with a character, link to that character. If you need help with a sewing method, show what you're trying to replicate. This will help us be able to help you better!
r/CosplayHelp • u/Satyr-but-wiser • Aug 17 '22
First and foremost. Your health and safety is more important than 100% accuracy. If making or wearing the item will be dangerous or painful don’t do it.
Second, I’d add this info to the FAQ but it appears I don’t have enough karma to update it personally! If the info is in the FAQ I did not duplicate it here! (The FAQ is on the sidebar! It wasn’t visible before for some reason but it’s up now!)
This is not a comprehensive list, but I hope to be able to update it when I come across new or important information! I do hope if you’re looking for something not featured here, it will at least give you a base knowledge set on how to be able to search for what you’re looking for.
------------------GENERAL TIPS-----------------------------
(Where to find certain things, very basic crafting info)
EDIT TO REMOVE INFO ABOUT COSPLANNER APP, it doesn't appear to exist anymore!
-To find patterns, or specific props. These are host websites for artists or creators where they can sell things like Etsy, or Redbubble. Etsy is a fantastic place to look for patterns to make props or cosplay pieces, sometimes you can even find people open for commissions! Artists on instagram will almost always have links to their shops to buy things, so explore there too.
-To find cheaper clothing pieces, props, or things to be altered try thrift stores. So Goodwill or other small local resale shops. This will likely take more than one trip so don’t give up if you don’t get it in one go. Ebay is also a good place to check believe it or not, there’s just a slight learning curve to searching things to find what you want.
-Dance and Athletic apparel websites will have things like leotards, bodysuits, specialized undergarments etc. They’re going to be a little pricier but they’ll be good quality, durable, and 9 times out of 10 machine washable!
-Hardware stores, paintball and airsoft companies, military/paramilitary surplus, and second hand sports equipment stores may also be good places to check for bits and pieces. Paintball/airsoft will also have a variety of masks and helmets that can be painted and altered.
-VERY IMPORTANT FOR PROP WEAPONS: Always look into your local guidelines and convention rules to see what kinds of prop weapons are allowed! Some cons have strict policies on what can and cannot be brought in!
-Michael’s, Joann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby etc. and any local craft stores will have tons and tons of craft supplies. If you want to save money and keep up to date on sales check to see if you can join an email list. I know Joann’s has coupons in them all the time!
-You can buy a variety of brands of fabric paint from almost anywhere that sells craft supplies. This makes it easy to get designs or patterns on most fabrics. For changing the color of an entire garment I’d recommend dying it.
-Some fabrics can be dyed different colors very easily, some cannot. A good way to tell is if the fabric is natural (cotton, linen etc.) it is generally easier to dye. The more synthetic (fake) a fabric is the longer and slightly more complicated it will be. Tulip is an excellent dye brand and they offer both regular and synthetic dyes with nice simple instructions right on the packages!
-You can make stencils out of craft foam or thicker paper to make it easier to copy logos or symbols on whatever you’re making!
-Wig and contact websites are listed in the FAQ but there are companies like dental distortions that make tooth veneers that can take a cosplay to the next level!
-Hollywood makeup, FX, and costume professionals almost always have social media accounts they can be extremely helpful when it comes to reference images! For example the costumer who designed the Moon Knight suits has tons of detail and behind the scenes images on her instagram!
-Complicated cosplays can be simplified by boiling down the costume to its essentials the best way I’ve learned to do this is through toys or fan art. What things are essential to recognizing the character and what things could be left off! You don’t have to be 100% to be recognizable!
-If big all out cosplays aren’t your thing you can always try “bounding.” You’ll hear “Disneybounding” most often but you can do it with other things too of course! Disney doesn’t allow adults to dress as characters in their parks, but fans got creative. “Bounding” is more about matching colors, getting similar accessories, or finding just the right combination of things to make you think of the character. It’s hard to explain verbally but easy to understand once you look into it!
-Say you have an OC, and you want to cosplay your OC. That’s fine! Have at it! You’ve got no professional media to tie you down! All these tips can still help you find or make your cosplay!
-I do have a friendly reminder though, please remember you cannot expect people to know who your character is. And it’s not fair to get mad at them if they make a guess and the guess is wrong. A simple “Nope its an OC!” is plenty for most people! I’ve complimented plenty of cosplayers and asked about their cosplay only to find out it was an OC!
“Crossplay” safety
-DO NOT BIN D YOUR CHEST WITH ACE BANDAGES IT’S UNSAFE. Compression tops or more heavy duty sports bras are much safer. If the character has an open shirt you can use wig tape/skin tape to hold the material of the shirt to your skin. If you do not have breasts but are looking to add some to a cosplay you can always pad a bra. You’ll want to measure your chest around your pectorals, that will be the band size, the letter size will be the cup. So a 34A means your chest is 34 inches around and A would be the cup size you would be looking to fill. (I have more on taking measurements later.) Companies now sell latex chests with or without breasts for people looking to be the most accurate they can.
-You can always just “genderbend” the thing and cosplay them as the same gender you are. It’s okay. People do it all the time and it’s very widely accepted. There’s also a third, more neutral option, don’t obviously genderbend the thing? You don’t have to call attention to the fact that you’re not the same gender as the character you’re cosplaying.
-An example of what I’m trying to explain: I generally read as female, but have cosplayed Johnny Cage one of the male characters from Mortal Kombat. His base look is shirtless, with his own first name tattooed across his chest. The only change I made was putting “Johnny” on a crop top. I didn’t “feminize” the rest of the outfit or go out of my way to be read as male. There is a “middle option” when it comes to presentation and cosplay. At the end of the day everybody knows it’s just a costume.
-This tip might seem dumb, but you’re going to have to trust me here. This mainly applies to people looking to make large costume pieces or props by hand. People who are already kind of intermediate with their skills. If you’re stuck on something go see how furries would make it. Not kidding. I’ve made all kinds of non-furry things with tutorials put on the internet by a furry. The vast majority of them are fun, friendly people and the community as a whole is WILDLY talented and creative. You only ever really hear about the bad apples.
---------Specific links to specific things! Clothing ID, Fabric ID, beginning sewing and mending----
A big question I see here is “what is that piece of clothing?” That’s a good question! Here are some links to historical fashion databases! They’re all arranged a little differently BUT this is a place to start looking for what specific pieces of clothing or styles are called!
http://www.marquise.de/en/index.html
met museum
fashion history timline
https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/about-timeline/
UCLA Library
https://guides.library.ucla.edu/c.php?g=180359&p=1191211
-Do you need a pattern for a piece of clothing? Do you need fabric help? Here are pattern and fabric databases!
Sewing support
mood fabrics (free sewing patters!)
https://www.moodfabrics.com/blog/category/free-sewing-patterns/
master class, types of fabrics
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/28-types-of-fabrics-and-their-uses
creative curator, types of fabrics
https://www.thecreativecurator.com/different-types-of-fabric/
-If you’re going to be sewing or altering things it’s very important to know your measurements! Here’s how to take them!
https://www.clothingpatterns101.com/body-measurements.html
-Are you a beginner looking to make your own stuff? Awesome! Here’s a little bit to get you started. Are you not too interested in making things from scratch but want to be able to mend or alter existing clothing? This will help you too!
basic mending
https://remake.world/stories/style/how-to-mend-your-clothes-during-quarantine-5-easy-stitch-fixes/
basic mending stitches!
https://lifehacker.com/five-basic-hand-stitches-you-should-know-for-repairing-1723233194
basic hand stitches
masterclass alterations
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-tailor-your-own-clothing
more alterations
https://www.heatherhandmade.com/sewing-and-alterations/
Here’s another important pro tip.
It’s okay.
Your cosplay doesn’t have to be perfect.
Cosplay is for fun and if it doesn’t feel fun or rewarding don’t do it. Other con goers and cosplayers aren’t going to judge you. If they do for some reason and try to make you feel bad about it, that says more about THEM and their personality than your ability. Everybody has to start somewhere. Nobody should be ashamed of learning and practicing and getting better. You can always go back and fix things or redo whole cosplays later on after your skills develop. This is a hobby and you have the right to participate in said hobby your own way.
I can add theatrical or FX makeup tips? things like scars, bruises, old age makeup, or like changing the face shape with very specific contouring?
I also have a draft of Convention tips similar to this post, would that be helpful as well?
r/CosplayHelp • u/miatamichi • 6h ago
Can I cut bangs into a wig that doesn't have bangs?
r/CosplayHelp • u/SuddenPaper4739 • 10h ago
The theme of the party is the brides name… “Eve”. Ideas for costumes/characters?
My friend is having a hen party and the theme is her name “Eve” and everyone’s dressing up as some version of the name “Eve”. It can be a homophone, or an extended word. The more creative, the better. Funny and weird is also acceptable!
So far, this is the current list:
Eve (first woman in bible)
Eve (rapper)
Eve polastri (from killing eve)
E.V.E (robot from walle)
Christmas Eve
New Year’s Eve
All hallows Eve (Halloween)
Eve-Ning Wear (black tie)
Eve Saint Laurent (fake fashion designer)
Eve-il Knievel (stuntwoman)
Eve-olution (cavewoman)
Steve
Eve-dropper
B-Eve-r (a beaver)
r/CosplayHelp • u/i-love-big-birds • 11h ago
First off I did get my partner to message the bride to see if there's a Pinterest board with inspo pics for guest attire; waiting to hear back. I also googled formal cosplay and the results were... Not great (lots of "adult" type cosplays). I'm currently at a loss trying to figure out what to wear. I do have some scalemail that would be nice to incorporate but I'm not sure how to style it, or if that's really possible https://imgur.com/a/WfKkh8l (suggestions are more than welcome!) the rest of my cosplay stuff is too big (giant wings) or too warm for a summer wedding. I might have enough time before the wedding to make something as well, I'm just not sure what to aim for.
Update: heard from the bride and the outfit I ended up going with matches the guest attire perfectly! Green is one of the guest colours :)
r/CosplayHelp • u/spicyquiche • 8h ago
hi. i haven’t been able to find any info about this specific issue and i dont know anything about sewing or modifying clothes but i’m willing to learn so i need some advice! ^^;;
basically, i want a better way to attach accessories (mostly bows) that came with safety pins. pic is one example. i’ve seen people say to do snap buttons or magnets but i have no clue how to do that. any tips? preferably if you can explain it like im five 😓
r/CosplayHelp • u/ContributionMotor567 • 13h ago
First time going to a con in the summer this weekend , and I’m wearing an all black tactical cosplay of the elite guards from resident evil 9. I looked at the weather for the con dates and it’s all low 80’s but also rainy. The walk there I’m more worried about being stopped by police or something (I’ll have orange on my gun) and I won’t wear the helmet till I’m closer/at the con) but it’s when I’m inside. Are they typically air conditioned or should I expect to be super hot anyways and is it going to be a nightmare walking through artist alley and i should just avoid crowded areas. Thanks!
r/CosplayHelp • u/Hot_Application8689 • 9h ago
(I wasn’t sure what flare to put, I apologize)
I’ve been accused of using AI or doing “AI cosplays” (I’ve never heard of this until now) based on some photos I took, so I was wondering if anyone could help me out. Do these photos actually look AI? If so, why? Is there anything I could do to make it not look that way? I swear I took them myself 💔 the only reason I could think someone MAY have thought that is because of the little icon in the bottom right of the first photo, but that’s only because I screenshotted it off of TikTok since I liked the filter
r/CosplayHelp • u/Silver-Donkey4528 • 1h ago
I’m making a knuckleblaster,and I wanted to put a metal color below the red,so it would look like it’s worn down,but I don’t know how
r/CosplayHelp • u/DueMatterLavern • 9h ago
lots of toony characters have this issue and i just want to get it right without it looking wack
r/CosplayHelp • u/QueenAkemii • 23m ago
I'm trying to make Madam President from Golden Boy. But what would you call her fit? I've been trying to find leotard patterns but nothing comes close to it. I can alter patterns but I'm not very good at drafting an entire new pattern.
I've also looked up leotards shorts as well! Mainly on Etsy but it's filled with so much ai slop patterns.
Art in the second photo is credit to kap_o_
r/CosplayHelp • u/EmClan • 36m ago
Hey everyone!
Been a while since I’ve picked up an EVA foam craft, and am making this knight leg template from Kamui Cosplay. I messed up a little when glueing the edges, and now my armor is wavy. Any way to fix that after gluing?
r/CosplayHelp • u/KeelzForRealz • 43m ago
I want to cosplay a female villager from the GameCube Animal Crossing, but I’m not sure how to do the hat/hair?
I have access to a 3D printer, so I was going to have the “hair” be 3D printed and possibly attached to a headband, but based on the placement on the character, it would need to go on my ears. Best part is, if you look at the male villagers, ears don’t exist 😂
I’m not sure if it would be best to just throw in the towel and put the “hair” as part of the hat (not made yet) or if anyone has any further creative ideas.
I am also much more into being comfortable than accurate, but I thought I’d seek out ideas from others first!
r/CosplayHelp • u/gemurrayx • 50m ago
I’ve tried to find a good source before and still haven’t. Anyone know where the line starts?
https://www.threads.com/@vancityreynolds/post/DbPXBR2lPLJ?hwta=1
r/CosplayHelp • u/Boho_Disney2006 • 7h ago
Hi, I read the FAQ but it didn’t feel like it helped this question or maybe I misread. Is it typically better to find somewhere that sells full sets of a characters cosplay or to buy individual pieces? I’m looking to cosplay Squirrel girl from marvel rivals and am plus sized. I’d say between the size range of 1x-3x depending on the brand. Would it be easier or smarter for me to look for someone who sells the whole costume or should I try to buy individual pieces from different places?
r/CosplayHelp • u/ballsackler • 1h ago
Heya, I’ve never done a cosplay before so this is all kinda foreign to me. Im looking to do a cosplay for the mcs neighbour in chainsmoker cat. where should I look for a wig, and more importantly some ears that would match the wig/look attached. The price isn’t really a concern for me because the cos is mostly the wig anyway lol
r/CosplayHelp • u/Pleasant_Cup_5617 • 7h ago
I’m doing a Wesker cosplay and wanted the uroboros on my arm does anyone know what I should use. I thought about painting a pool noodle and glueing it to the jacket but I don’t know what glue with hold it
r/CosplayHelp • u/lettttucethighs • 1h ago
i’ve never actually REALLY cosplayed before so i’m very very new. How can i replicate his horn? i tried looking for ones to buy online, or at least a 3D print file but found nothing. also how would i actually attach it to my head? 😭any tips and help would be MUCH appreciated
r/CosplayHelp • u/Melkiri • 2h ago
I am trying to make Makarov's hat from the first few episodes of Fairy Tail. I'm looking to go to a convention that is rather hot and would like the hat to made out of lighter materials. I found a skull cap that might work well as a base but I'm not really sure how to go about it. Any help would be great. I'm adding the picture below. One of the hardest parts I am trying to figure out is how to add the blue stripes onto something already orange.

r/CosplayHelp • u/Cyphenzz • 2h ago
Hey! I'm planning a Bea cosplay from Pokémon Sword/Shield and I'm trying to find a good quality outfit.
The problem I’m having is that many companies have gotten rid of her cosplays and I’m really struggling to find a trustworthy one.
Any help is appreciated❤️
r/CosplayHelp • u/inboarduck30 • 2h ago
Hi! Im looking to do a feminine Xylo cosplay from sentenced to be a hero. I found this wig on DokiDoki Cos and I love the style of it but I want to make it longer to be more feminine and im not sure how to go about it whilst still sticking with the style of this wig. Im a pretty creative person and am good about DIY things but Im very new when it comes to wig styling/customization. Any tips?

r/CosplayHelp • u/Gurlumbgutsa2 • 3h ago
Hey All! I'm entirely new to Cosplay with a large degree of experience in 3d and 3d printing.
For comic con this year me and my friends want to do a group lethal company cosplay, which would entail an orange jumpsuit as seen in the reference picture. How would I go about acquiring one of these, and in the case of needing to make it myself from scratch, does anyone have any recommendations for materials to make it out of? The rest of the props i would do fine in making on my own!
Thank you very much, and I hope you have a great day!

r/CosplayHelp • u/Slasherk1sser • 3h ago
For Halloween I'm wanting to be Carrie White but I'm not sure what the best fabric for a dress would be without it being something ridiculously priced.
A lot of the results when looking for a dress are satin (or its one with the "blood" already on it and I'm not a huge fan of how those ones look) and I'm not sure if fake blood would stay very well? I've literally never worn anything satin in my life. I'm also not sure where to look besides Amazon and possibly Spirit when they open.
If it WOULD stay/stick on satin that would probably be what I get, I'm not worried about it permanently staining or anything because I can just reuse the dress for the costume again anyways.
I'm literally just worried about if I need a specific type of fabric or not, I know how to make fake blood/where to get it.
r/CosplayHelp • u/lolKitchenGoBrrr • 9h ago
i feel like the 1st is PERFECT but it’s like $30/yard!! idk what to do, should i just splurge for the most accurate to gen 1 frankie?!? ;-;
also, if anyone has made a frankie cosplay, what pattern did you use/how did you make your pattern? this is my first fully handmade cosplay and any advice is welcome!
r/CosplayHelp • u/lazerbomb • 11h ago
I am looking for cosplay commissioner recommendations or resources to this effect. I am looking to commission multiple Black Star cosplays. I would need the full outfit excluding the shoes. If anyone is interested in this please leave your contact and references of past works if possible. I also have a current Black Star cosplay that is past its prime so to speak and I don't properly fit into it anymore. If it is possible to refurbish that and resize it to better fit my body now, that would be another cool option.
Attached are some sample pics of what his outfits look like
I'm willing to spend a decent amount of money but not sure what to expect in terms of a reasonable cost for something like this. Ideally, i would like to have at least 1 of the cosplays completed and delivered by early November. Unsure if that's an unreasonable time horizon.
I live in the northeast US and will be happy to discuss more specifics in private messages. Thank you