Planning and Designing Cosplay

Hey there Adventurers! 

The Autumn days are welcoming longer nights as the sun retires earlier. One fateful night awaiting us on the next full moon is Halloween! In the spirit of Halloween, we decided to provide a beginner’s guide to planning and designing your costume this year. It might just come in handy for our upcoming October merch giveaway! 

Planning

1. Choose the character you want to dress up as! 
2. Set a timeline. When’s the deadline and how much time do you have available?
3. Set a budget. What can you afford to spend? Should you spend that much? 
4. Choose the specific outfit or version of the character you want to dress as. 

Designing

1. Collect multiple sample/reference photos of your character
2. Break down the components of your character

• • Consider their hair, eyes, facial features and accessories. What clothing are they wearing and what weapons/trinkets do they use if any?

1. List the components from most important to least

• • This allows you to focus your attention and efforts on the portion of your costume that people will actually recognize or associate with that character. 
  • For example, when you think of Thor from the Avengers, his iconic or trademark components are his hammer and helmet. Imagine putting all your efforts into making perfect replicas of Thor’s boots and then not having time to make a hammer. 

1. Decide which components you will keep or ignore. 
2. Separate your ‘keep’ list into the following categories:
   • Make up – Wigs, contact lenses, make up/body paint for scars, marks and other important character facial features. 
   • Clothing – Anything that will require sewing or fabric such as capes, scarfs, shirts, arm bands, pants, etc. 
   • Accessories – Anything else that you will be wearing that does not fall in the clothing category such as necklaces, earrings, belts, shoes etc.
   • Weapons and trinkets – Anything that you will not wear but is important to recognize your character such as a giant sword, glowing orb, magic book, or druid staff. 
3. Determine which pieces you will buy, make, or modify. 
   • Buy – these are items that are fairly basic looking which can be bought at a standard store. Ex. Black t-shirt, jeans, orange gloves, white shoes etc. 
   • Make – items that you need to include in your cosplay to be recognizable which you cannot find at a standard store. Ex. battle axe, a shirt with a unique emblem, special scarf etc. 
   • Modify – Items that you want to keep in your cosplay but are unable to make can be modified by creating a simpler, smaller, or similar version. Ex. instead of using a glowing glass orb you can use a bouncy ball decorated with sparkles and fabric. 
4. For ‘buy’ items, research online the best budget friendly options. Consider a cheaper material that can still provide the same appearance you desire. 
5. For ‘make’ items, research multiple online tutorials related to each specific item. Ensure they are friendly to your crafting level and budget. Avoid following multiple tutorials for one item as this can be confusing. 
6. Lastly, for ‘modify’ items, determine how you will modify and then follow the same instructions for step (8).
7. Make a list of crafting tasks required and plan them into your schedule. 
8. Make a list of materials and go shopping

When crafting your cosplay, we recommend starting with the most important or intricate costume pieces first since they will require the most time and care.

Hopefully, this planning and designing process will aid you in your own costume projects for this Halloween! We’re so excited for our upcoming Wheel of Fate Halloween merch raffle and next game update!  

Cheers!

UDX Team