For those of you who don't know about cosplay, let me give you just a brief explanation. Cosplay is a mixture of "costume" and "roleplay" and is when you dress up in a costume of a character. I have been a cosplayer for several years and have learned many things throughout these years. Here is one of my favorite cosplays (I'm Elsa from Frozen):
As many cosplayers know, no matter what anyone tells you, you're not going to really understand how important this is unless it happens to you. But, hopefully, you'll take some of this advice before it happens to you.
1. You can't make a cosplay the day before.
No matter how simple you think your costume is, it really cannot take only a day. You might make a couple mistakes, have to take out stitches or redo a whole part of a costume because your original plan didn't work. Also, don't wait to the night before to style a wig. Hairspray cannot solve everything, although it does help a lot.
2. Do a test run before you plan on wearing it.
You don't know if you bend down a stitch may come out. You want to put your whole costume on and basically stretch with it on so that you know it is durable and can last a day or weekend out. Also, don't forget to do a makeup test so you know how to do your makeup and you'll also know how long it takes to get ready so you can give yourself enough time to get ready.
3. Break your shoes in.
Listen, shoes always hurt the first couple times you wear them. But some cosplay shoes are basically nothing like you'd ever wore before so you need to break them in if you want to be able to walk around and show off your cosplay.
4. Don't sew/glue/paint a part of your costume while it is on you.
Just don't. It's gonna hurt, not stay together, and just overall make you lose some hope in getting the costume done in time.
5. Don't rush sew or rush cut anything.
Again, just don't. It's probably going to get messed up and then you'll have to spend more time fixing it.
6. Try as hard as you can to not inhale any of the stuff you're using that does have a smell.
I have done this so many times accidentally and it makes me feel sick for days (Looking at you Mod Podge). I don't recommend. At all.
7. Read directions of anything new that you're using.
You don't want to use something for a project that it will not work for or won't work in the way you wanted it to work.
8. You can have a simple cosplay.
Simple ones are just as cool. As long as you have fun, that's all that matters.
9. Practice poses and facial expressions.
Nothing is worse than a great costume that you worked so hard on and you're so proud of...then you see a picture of you at the con which does not complement your cosplay. You might even not even like your cosplay anymore. So just google your character and get in front of a mirror and practice some of the poses.
I hope this helped everyone (or at least someone) and good luck with your cosplays!
