Cosplaying on a Budget!

*Too long? scroll to the bottom of the article to find the tips from the article!

When I first started cosplaying, I was a very young girl, thirteen to be exact. It took me years to make my first costume because I was so young. I even remember rolling up spare change to buy my first wig, a blue bob cut wig for my Ni-Na (DDR) costume. Since then, I have aged and learned how to create a budget before I start any of my costumes.

I think creating a budget is key to getting the most out of money when it comes to cosplay. Choosing when to splurge and when to save is a way to get the costumes you desire.

The first thing I do when I decide to start a costume is sit down with a reference image. The image is usually one picture that showcases the entire costume - from head to toe. Let’s use Vanille as an example. Vanille is from the recently released Final Fantasy 13 and a character that I am working on.

Nice Cosplayers are amazing!

When cosplayers are actually nice and helpful, it definitely makes the hobby worth while. I'm currently working on Vanille from Final Fantasy 13 and I don't have many questions to ask as I've found so many tutorials and reference images other cosplayers have already posted on Cosplay.com and Deviantart.

A lot of them perfaced their helpful tutorials with somewhat disclaimers that they'll just direct people to said tutorials. I can understand it be annoying to always get questions and I hope that I have not been an annoyance to any fellow cosplayers (I don't ask many questions though)

As for my own progress:
Blue Spirit: Avatar TLA - I just need pants, gloves, and two broadswords for this costume. I don't think the theatre will allow the broadswords, but I might whip up some cheaply.

Juri: Super Street Fighter 4 - I'll resume working on this costume after Blue Spirit is complete.

Vanille: FF13 - I have my orange skirt, pink fabric, and about 2000 white beads. I'm super excited for this costume because I think people don't think I can do it