TOO MANY CHARACTERS

I apologize that there's not much awesome stuff to report on until.. NEW YORK COMIC CON HAPPENS THURSDAY! MUAHAHAH. Wish I could be there. : (

In the mean time, Nerd Caliber has this great article that talks about 'Why People Can't Tell You What to Cosplay'

I've seen this happen a lot of times on forums where people ask 'eh.. I dunno what to cosplay, suggest me something'... and.. people don't really know what to say. Here's why.

In summary of the article

1. We honestly doesn't know what you look like

2. We also probably DO NOT want to know what you look like (unless you really are smokin hot, your photo would be everywhere)

3. The internets folks don't know you in real life

4. We also don't know how skilled you are crafting wise

5. We don't know how much $$ you're willing to spend

6. We don't know how much time you're willing to spend crafting, tailoring

7. We don't know when your nearest con event is

8. THERE'S JUST TOO MANY FRICKIN CHARACTERS TO CHOOSE FROM. 

9. People also don't really want to read a character profile of you.

10. End of the day, be really honest with yourself - read my previous article 'Know your look and cosplay to it'

Great article by  Shauna Leva - aka Sheik : )

UK, you guys gotta publicize your cons more! I didn't know this took place last Sept from 26-29th!

Eurogamer found this great fan vid of the cosplayers of Eurogramer Expo! Check it!

It's amazing what fans can do. A hardcore My Little Pony fan decided to get together with a bunch of fans and sang this HILARIOUS song about CONVENTIONS. As reported from io9

"Griffin Lewis and Jenny Nicholson wrote this song for last weekend's Canterlot Gardens. It's an amazingly well executed piece based on the Stephen Sondheim-inspired "At the Gala" musical sequence from the episode "Best Night Ever." Nicholson herself does the voices of all six central ponies, with other folks chipping in as the chorus (which takes everyone down a peg with a bit of gentle mocking). And each pony's convention expectations perfectly fit her personality. Now if only there was a press person pony who could sing about cosplay photo safaris and the joys of sleep deprivation."

I'm not a Pony fan but this song just takes the cake and describes EVERYTHING about the con going experience

Maya from Borderlands 2 (justaLITTLEbitter)

 
Now this con snuck up quietly! The EB Games Expo happened over the weekend in Sydney, Australia and where there are cons, there are cospayers!

Here are some cool ones that were Found at the Con!

 
October is Con season and if you're a seasoned cosplayer, you probably already know the drill for surviving a con in your outfit. For those starting out, Comic Impact has a really good guide to help you enjoy the con in your outfit (and not burning out)

In summary:

1. Check your packing list, and TWICE! (if you don't have a list, use Cosplay Tutorial's UBER list and make one!)

2. Check your cosplay ref photos before you head out to make sure you don't forget to bring/wear clothing articles/ accessories

3. Don't forget civilian wear! - Being in costume is fun but sometimes not very comfortable. Note that in places like Asia/ Japan, civilians don't like to see people in costume traveling to a cosplay event. Generally the etiquette is change into outfit at the venue and change out when you're done.

4. Personal hygiene please! - deorderant, tissues to wipe your face with, hand sanitizer if you're very particular etc

5. Band Aids/ Plasters - walking around in certain shoes/ boots that aren't comfortable cause blisters and this can get VERY ANNOYING. Good to have plasters when you really need them.

6. BRING FOOD AND DRINKS - Snacky things, nuts, fruits, packed lunch etc. Save yourself some $$ and don't spend on theme-park priced convention food.

7. Bring a outfit repair kit - Sometimes stuff just happens, popped a button, spill on outfit. If you have a repair kit, that would help patch up your outfit instead of let it be a disaster.

8. Schedule your day - You can wander about aimlessly but you can also schedule which panels, booths you want to go to rather than just hover about.

9. Get a minder friend - Not all events have coat check ins/ baggage areas. Get a friend to hold your stuff for you rather than hold it all day. Minder friends are useful to make sure people don't step on your outfit or hit you or prevent people from stealing your stuff etc.

Extra tip, if you know a friend who has a art booth or something, you could leave your bag at his/her booth ^_^

10. Bring the camera! - don't forget to take photos at the event too!


Here are my additional tips

11. If you're a serious cosplayer, don't forget your cos cards! - Cos Cards are like Cosplay name cards that Japanese Cosplayers first came up with. It's good to pass them out to fans, other cosplayers and photographers so they can check out your portfolio of other outfits.

12. Give yourself a time frame to be in costume - as much as cosplayers love to be in costume, cosplay outfits are not exactly the most comfortable things to wear. Also, sometimes you don't want to be mobbed by photographers and the public all day that you can't enjoy the con. Give yourself maybe 2 hours to be in outfit, then change out and enjoy the rest of the con.

13. You don't have to go to every event day - Some people are really hardcore and want to go EVERY DAY OF THE CON from Friday - Sunday. Trust me, you will burn out and get ill. Pick your days carefully and just have fun. You don't have to go to ALL THE DAYS.

14. Don't forget to rest your feet! - Walking about at the con is tiring work. Seriously, 4 hours of standing can kill your legs. Don't forget to sit somewhere or get a drink or rest your feet somewhere.

15. You don't have to pose for photos for more than 5 min! - So you chose to wear that really cool Gundam suit, but now you're stuck standing there for over 5 min! It's ok to give a signal to everyone that you want to move on. People will understand.

16. GROSS! Pervert guy took an UPSKIRT photo! - Stuff like that does happen so to prevent upskirts, try wear a kind of bloomers or something. There are weird people at conventions. Believe me.

17. If you need to smoke, try do it somewhere far away or out of costume if possible. - As much as we like out-of-character cosplayers, sometimes smoking mario just kinda kills the image of the character.

18. Be cordial to everyone, don't turn down people who want to take your picture - Hey! You're in costume! People WILL take photos of you! Don't be shy and run away and stuff like that. Also, please don't be rude even if you're really tired or having a bad day or something. Even if people get your character wrong.

Check out the original Con Survival Guide list by Comic Impact

Yeah so Halloween is at the end of the month and people who don't usually cosplay decide to wear something to a costume party... and 'claim' they're cosplaying

Halloween outfits are in no way near to the quality of proper cosplay and I understand regular folk want to wear affordable costumes to parties, which is fine by me but yeah, what joo pay is what joo get.

Io9 gathered all sorts of commercial costumes sold on the market...here are some interesting ones

Ok so you won't look as badass as Charlize Theron (Snow White & the Huntsmen costumes)

Uh. Ok. So I guess you're Bat Girl...?

O_O

Hey its the Latex Gimp Suit Guy from 'American Horror Story'! O_O

More hilarious images from io9 here!

FStoppers popped this cool post up - Do you need models for a photoshoot? Just crash a costume party/ Cosplay event!


Von Wong, a Canadian based photographer shows you how his shoot went at a Victorian theme costume party.

Check his behind the scenes video below!