Archive for January 2013

Glasses and Cosplay

January 18, 2013 Cosplay 2 comments

Today I’m going to try to write a post that will actually be useful to other cosplayers, instead of just rambling about how awesome I think I am. I’m assuming most cosplayers who need glasses just use contacts when cosplaying a character that doesn’t wear glasses, but I’m just not willing to touch my eyeballs just for a costume. I also don’t want to limit my cosplay options just to characters that have the same minor disability as me. If you’re also in the minority of people who are not willing to (or simply can’t) wear contacts, there are other options.

Hipster Lucy

Hipster Lucy: I murdered my classmates before it was cool.

You can simply wear your glasses and not care what people at the con say or think. Most people won’t care, but some people elitists might. You can always insist that you’re a hipster version of whatever character you’re cosplaying.

I’ve also heard of people simply not wearing their glasses at all, and relying on their non-blind friends to help them get around. That seems like it would be dangerous, and probably wouldn’t be much fun, so I wouldn’t recommend doing that.

If you don’t want to wear contacts or your normal glasses, but don’t want to go without vision, you could get a pair of frameless glasses, which won’t be as obvious in photos.

I was originally going to just wear my regular glasses and possibly take them off when people wanted photos, since that’s what I did with my last two costumes, but I thought my thick frames detracted from the costume too much, so I decided to get a pair of frameless glasses to use for cons.

"normal" Lucy

“normal” Lucy

I ended up getting a pair of cheap glasses from  zennioptical.com for about $30 (after shipping and adding anti-glare coating). Since it was just for a costume, I wasn’t about to spend $500 at one of the ripoff mall optical stores, especially when I’m probably going to need to get my prescription updated soon anyway.  I got them in the mail today, just in time for the con.The glasses seem to be of just as good quality as the ones I paid hundreds of dollars for at the mall. The lenses actually seem clearer than my other pair, though that might just mean I need to clean the lenses better.

I’ll probably buy glasses online again next time I need new ones, or if I ever need a certain type of glasses for a cosplay. I don’t think I’m ever going to spend $500 at a mall optical store again (I’ll write another post about ordering glasses online later).

I suppose if I really wanted to make my costume more accurate, I could have gotten red/pink color contacts, but I would really prefer not sticking my fingers into my eye. I can’t even watch my boyfriend put in his contacts. lol. I can live without that minor detail.

Anyway, most people realize that some people need to wear their glasses, and won’t have a problem with it, but every con has those elitist cosplayers who find fault with everything. Don’t sacrifice your vision or comfort just to make your costume more accurate to please those people. You’re there to have fun. Dress how you want.

Elfen Lied Cosplay: Lucy’s Horns

January 10, 2013 Cosplay No comments

I just finished making Lucy’s horns for my cosplay costume. The horns are made of Sculpey III oven bake clay.

I originally made a set of horns out of some scraps of 5mm Foamies sheets I had left over from my Skyrim Iron Helmet, but I decided to remake them out of Sculpey clay so they would be thicker, harder, and more bone-like (and less cat ear like, though I’m sure the artist of the series intended them to look similar to cat ears). The original horns I made ended up being shaped more like her horns in some parts of the manga than her anime horns (they seem inconsistent in the manga), which I guess would have been okay since my wig is more the color of her hair on the manga cover than in the anime.

Lucy's horns on a headband

I sculpted the horns into a vaguely cat ear triangular shape with ridges around the edges and baked them. Then I painted them with vintage white acrylic paint. Once the paint was dry, I coated them in Sculpey Gloss Glaze. They might not have needed the gloss, but I thought it would make them more durable, since online reviews I’ve read say that Sculpey III breaks more easily than other types of Sculpey clay. (I’m still using up the Sculpey left over from when I was a teenager before I buy more).

Lucy's hornsI was having a difficult time getting the horns to stick directly to the headband, so I cut thin strips of 2mm Foamies sheets and superglued them between the horns and the headband. I glued the horns too high on the headband and first, so I had to pull them off and cut new strips of Foamies. If you’re planning to do a similar costume, make sure you try on the headband and mark where you need to glue the horns before going crazy with the super glue!

I write another post once I figure out how to keep my wig on better, and how to better hide the headband under the hair.

I Didn’t Die

January 3, 2013 Cool Story Bro, Cosplay No comments

With the new year, I’m actually going to attempt to start posting occasionally. I know, I said that last year, and I this year will probably end up about the same.

I got a new job a couple months ago, which is partially why I’ve been too busy to keep this blog updated. I also haven’t done much that would be relevant enough to this blog to post about.

The last anime convention I was at was Midoricon (where I wore the same costume I made for Matsuricon, which is why I never got around to posting about it), but I will be going to Ohayocon in a couple weeks. With the holidays, my boyfriend and I both forgot about the con until someone at a New Years party asked if we would be there. I’m tired of my Skyrim costume since I wore it for two cons, a cosplay picnic, and Halloween, but I am attempting to put together a new cosplay for Ohayocon.

This will be the first anime con where I’m cosplaying an actual anime character! I will be Lucy from Elfen Lied (Hans will be Kohta, or as I like to call him “generic anime dude”). Since the outfit is so basic, and since I waited until the last minute, I’ve just ordered everything I needed for my costume from Amazon and eBay (except the horns, which I’m making). It was cheaper to put together a “closet cosplay” of the outfit I wanted than to buy a pre-made costume online that barely even looks like Lucy’s outfit in the anime (there are some awful looking costumes available to purchase out there!).

In other news, I’ve decided to actually learn guitar. Maybe in a few years, I’ll be good enough to post videos here. (Probably not…)

Well, that’s about all I have to post about right now. Check back later for updates on my costume (I’ll tell you how I made Lucy’s horns, and if all goes well once I get my pink wig, how to wear a wig over long hair without having to use a wig cap).

PS: What do you want to read about in my blog? More cosplay stuff? Reviews and rants about video games and anime? Cool stories about my life that you really shouldn’t care about anyway? I’ll try to include tips for other cosplayers in those posts to at least give this blog some kind of value, but I can really only do a couple costumes a year.