Cosplay Prices - A WTF Rant/Discussion

[kiropterain1]

yea im buying mine and its $105.00  

[SakuraRico]

egoxromantic

SakuraRico

egoxromantic

I agree.

And I'm all for sewing, I simply have no one to teach me how.
The worse part about that is my dad now has a girlfriend who was an ex-costume maker, but I don't want to ask her for too much help because she's just that- my dad's girlfriend. They've been together for a while, but I don't want to start harassing her with cosplay projects. >.>

Oh, so I guess that was my rant right there. It was half a 'Grr! I wanna learn how to sew!' Rant.

Actually, harrassing her with cosplay project would be a good way to not only you get closer to her, but her also to your dad if you like her ^^

So you do everyone a favor ^^

I don't know. She helped me with one thing... and seems to take an intrest in my strange outfits...
but she's probably mocking me behind my back or something. xD

Bah, who cares if she mocks you, at least she gets a laugh out of it, ne? Adults will be adults! (is an adult myself TT^TT) You get what you want, so that's what matters!


On a side note, I plan on cosplaying testament from guilty gear someday, the fabric alone comes from a minimum of 15 dollars a yard, to about 25 >.<  

[OhNoesItsMiho]

@SakuraRico: OMFG I love you. Testament is awesome.

The only thing that bothers me about some cosplay sites is when the costume costs so much and it's not accurate. I remember when my friends wanted to do a Fruits Basket group cosplay. I found a Kagura outfit that was off by a lot and they wanted $85 for it. I think I was checking out cosplaymagic.com We never did the FB group cosplay.

Anyway, I only have two cosplays. I made the Milk-chan outfit on my own, but a lady from my grandma's neighborhood made my Sousuke Sagara cosplay. It's a plus when you know someone who knows how to sew.  

[LovelyLadyAurora]

I just recently made my Umi costume from scratch with the help of my parents (I can't sew). I've made an Portgas D. Ace costume as well but with already-made items like shorts.

Making these costumes I've discovered crafts is my thing (always has been) such as craft foam. So one like myself would probably go for an armor with less fabric (or clothes I can buy and modify) since I'm strong in the craft area.

So if you are like me, pick an outfit in an area you are strong in and can afford.  

[SakuraRico]

OhNoesItsMiho

@SakuraRico: OMFG I love you. Testament is awesome.

Oh, I love you too!!! Let's get married! blaugh  

[PandaTeddy]

When I buy costumes online, I also do a lot of looking around first. I look at tons of different sites and make a list of pros and cons for each. I've been able to find some very good-quality costumes online for under $100 just by doing a lot of looking around.

But yes, no matter how you get your costumes (make them, have them commissioned, buy them) cosplay is a very expensive hobby, but we do it because it's so much fun.
 

[Hotaru230]

Bodyline has some good female cosplay for cheap, but only in certain sizes, but shipping is $20. I ususally wait and get other local people to do a group order so that we can split the shipping. I got a sailor collared school uniform for $19 from them.

also I alter a lot of my stuff from things at thrift stores and I try to wait till the thrift stores here have their 1/2 price days to buy my items. I got the jacket that I'm using for my Jubilee for less than $5, it was a VERY lucky find.  

[Maruul]

I'm looking at some Hetalia costumes, and I'm excited because the one I want is marked down right now and is really cheap. Then I noticed the boots were sold separately... for $84?! I was like "******** it, I'll go to the store and buy some non-cosplay boots. x_x " They're just boots after all. Not a huge deal.  

[MisaMaiValentine]

Some of the prices can get outrageous which is why I generally improvise my cosplay at goodwill and modify stuff but if you do buy a cosplay the cheap ones aren't that good...my friend got a KH1 Sora cosplay online and the jumpsuit is freaking orange. It looks more like Naruto than Sora to be completely honest...and it was cheap so expensive is better but I still like goodwill wink  

[Cariella]

Wow. o_____o I've never really looked at pre-made costumes, since I can sew.

And sewing's not that hard. It's taking fabric and putting the garment together that takes skill. 3nodding  

[Alucardalina]

Most of the time, even if it's just a simple cosplay, if it's anywhere past 100$ (Because 100$ is the norm nowadays) the reason for it's hefty price is the quality of the material and not always just the quality of the construction of the piece. Materials can get costly, which is why most people who do sew cosplay use broadcloth, pallencia, and cottonclub, which usually goes about 2-5$ a yard.
Using the cheapest yet quality materials, and if you are a bargain hunter with a fabric store close by, you can get to the point where you are making your own cosplays under 50$.

In fact, I recently made a Yukari Yakumo outfit (from touhou project) For those who don't know, its a really big dress. I took advantage of some sheets from a thrift store and went to Hancock Fabrics during a huge sale. The outfit probably cost me 30$, which is SUPER cheap for this cosplay (and it will be the first one I feel proud enough of to enter into Anime Weekend Atlanta's costume contest.)

Making your cosplay is really a lot cheaper in the end.
And beware of things you buy offline, you can't be promised that it will fit exactly.  

[jyrotika]

I'm going to add to what Alucardalina said about bargain hunting biggrin

I made a Retsu Unohana (4th captain from Bleach) costume for approximately US$40. It would have been less than that (only about $2 cool but I decided to get a HUGE ball of thick hemp and weave my own sandals sweatdrop What was my secret?
SHEET FABRIC!! biggrin

Yes, I used Wal-Mart sheet fabric for all of the parts I sewed. One flat twin-sized sheet (approx $3-4 depending on the season) is enough fabric for an entire kimono. (as long as you're not going to see the bottom of it. Mine goes to about my knees, but is long enough to look normal under the hakama) A flat full-sized sheet (approx $7-8 depending on the season) is enough fabric for the hakama (unless you're taller than like... 5'8". Note: I'm 5'2", so I can get away with less fabric. If you are tall, you can just use 2 flat sheets instead smile )

Their sheet colors change depending on the season, but you can almost always find black and white sheets there. I'm currently working on making an Akatsuki cloak out of sheet fabric...

Also, I use sheet fabric for making mock-ups of clothing before I cut the expensive fabric. $4 on a sheet to make a mock-up can save you SO much time (and money/fabric) having to cut it out again because the pattern wasn't big enough :/

For a bargain on fabric, I go to JoAnn Fabrics because they usually have a 40% or 50% off coupon (for one cut of fabric that's not already on sale) laying out when you walk in the door. Anybody remember what the puppet (Belzenef) from Ouran High School Host Club looked like? I got enough material for 2 or 3 of them, all for $2. Just because of awesome sale prices and coupons smile

For all of you that don't sew, there's a possibility that you could find part or all of your costume in a thrift store. You can also alter thrift store items to look like your character's outfit. I had a friend that made a full Akatsuki cloak out of a Salvation Army dress and some red ribbon and red fabric for the clouds smile