Costumes

This Labor Day weekend marks the sad, sad end of summer. Personally, I seek consolation in the fact that Halloween decorations are starting to infect local craft and department stores, pushing out the back to school frenzy. Is it any wonder why I associate the smell of pencils with the scent of rubber masks?

This year, I’m safely predicting that Batman will be a big hit costume. However, Batman has one big pitfall as an adult costume- the price. Cheap Batman costumes start at around $50.00, and look a bit hokey. The deluxe Batman suit with armor-plating over spandex looks considerably better, but costs at least $140.00 at most online retailers.

Is this costume worth the price? If you are attending more than one party, or plan on preserving it for next season, sure. The deluxe would also come in handy to attend comic book conventions.

Just a few words of advice before you delve into those fresh costume racks- if you’re dropping cash on a popular character this year, ask yourself how much use you’ll get out of it.

 Screenshot of Robot-Costumes.com

 Jacksonville,Florida is known for a few things. It has beautiful beaches, an active night life, and a vibrant community. What you may not know is that it is also the home of Robot Costumes, USA . Just when I thought I had seen everything in costuming, I stumbled upon this site. Sure, I’ve seen mecha cosplay before, but I had no idea that there were whole companies dedicated to bringing you high-quality exoskeletons like these.

Ready-made costumes are available from $3,800 to $7,450. These come with gloves and all the necessary robot body armor, but are limited to three basic designs. Have you been pining for your dream robot? For a mere $9,000 to $25,000, you can have a custom costume designed and built.

Meanwhile, I’m cruising the scrap bin at the fabric store.

 Chris Troy isn’t afraid to put together challenging, bulky costumes. I had a chance to interview him about his interesting history with cosplay.

Tell me about your MTV feature, I thought that sounded pretty exciting!

Long story short, MTV did a special in 2004 about video games. For the segment on Final Fantasy, they filmed some Final Fantasy cosplayers at animeNEXT that year, and my girlfriend and I were two of the cosplayers featured.

How long have you been cosplaying?
Long enough to realize that I’ve made some poor life choices. Or 7 years, whatever sounds better on paper.

Photo Courtesy of Christopher Troy

What is your favorite costume that you’ve worn?
Picking a favorite costume is like picking a favorite child, only you sound really creepy when you say that. I’m partial to my Final Fantasy costumes (Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy 8 and Zack from Final Ffantasy 7), but in terms of comfort, my GundamSEED/OO stuff is up there as well.

Photo Courtesy of Christopher Troy

What is your favorite costume that you’ve seen on someone else?
I’m a pretty big Soul Calibur fan, so when I’ve seen that done properly, it makes me happy.

Photo Courtesy of Christopher Troy

What is the most difficult costume you’ve made?
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/380750/ That Sonabitch. You ever have to use a hollowed-out Computer Monitor as helmet? Reall fun stumbling around that, especially being 6′4″ and dealing with low doorways.

Photo Courtest of Christopher Troy

Have you ever had any funny malfunctions while in costume?
Nothing comes to mind, as most of my misadventures comes from after I’m out of costume and horribly drunk.

Photo Courtesy of Christopher Troy

What is your favorite convention(s) to attend?
Otakon without a doubt, as I’ve been there several times since 2002, and I’m also a fan of anime/manga NEXT out in NJ. Aso have to give some love to New York Comic Con/Anime Fest, as their the home town conventions, and tons of fun.

Photo Courtesy of Christopher Troy

For more from Christopher Troy, visit his site at Cosplay.com

Have you started planning your costume for the Halloween parties this year? While I could never compete with the professional costume design that we’ve seen from cosplayers in the past few weeks, it does get me excited about putting together a costume for this year’s Halloween party.

In past years, I’ve been Hello Kitty, a Jedi, Sailor Moon, Poison Ivy, a Geico Caveman,  and my classic gothic fairy costume that I pull out when I can’t think of anything else. I went as a group with the Gieco Cavemen and we won  prizes to each costume contest we attended.

Check out the Video:
Cavemen Lifestyle: Party & Walmart

Have you ever won a prize at a costume contest?

The past week, we have been featuring individual cosplayers, showing off their talent in mini-galleries. Today I wanted to post some links to cosplay websites so that you can get a better idea of what cosplay is all about. Here are a few of my favorite cosplayers that I check in with every now and then. They never fail to suprise and amaze me.

• Konechi Cosplay - Lots of photos from conventions here, even a bit of video. This site is available in a variety of languages.
• Lilly Cosplay - A bilingual site that features Lilly in a variety of gaming costumes such as Aeris, Lara Croft and Yunis.
• Arcaira Cosplay Gallery - Includes movie and TV cosplay costumes like Xena and Elizabeth Swann.
• Cye-chan’s Cosplay Gallery
• Various Japanese Cosplay Photo Galleries

If you would like to be featured here, simply comment below so that I can get in contact with you.

 Gorgeous Blonde

Photo Courtesy Megan N. Robinette

Where are you from?

I currently live in Pittsburgh PA

Photo Courtesy Megan N. Robinette

How long have you been cosplaying?
On and off for about 5 years now.

Photo Courtesy Megan N. Robinette

What is your favorite costume you have worn?
My first choice would have to be my Harley Quinn! I have had a lot of
fun times in that one. A close second would be the Cammy White costume.

Photo Courtesy Megan N. Robinette

What is your favorite costume you’ve seen that someone else has made?
I see a lot of great costumes out there. I love costumes that pay
attention to great detail and the person actually makes an effort to
get the costumes right. People who just throw something together drive
me insane! I guess my favorite costume I have seen someone else do
would be my friend Matt Cassidy’s M.Bison costume (he is the big guy
with me in the cammy photos) or his super saiyan 4 Goku costume from
DBZ. The both rocked pretty hard.

Photo Courtesy Megan N. Robinette

What’s the most difficult costume you’ve made?

Harley quinn. That
entire costume was handmade from scratch and we didn’t even have a
complete pattern to go by. (my mother helped me with that one!)

To see mroe great costumes from Megan N. Robinette, visit her cosplay.com website .

KimDao is a big fan of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Her favorite series shows through in her cosplay.

Photo Courtesy of Kim Dao

 Where are you from?
Australia, Perth

Photo Courtesy of Kim Dao

How long have you been cosplaying?
Since January 2008

Photo Courtesy of Kim Dao

What is your favorite costume you have worn?

Probably the Usagi Tsukino costume. I like wearing it out randomly when I go out ^-^

Photo Courtesy of Kim  Dao

Thanks, Kim!

For more photos from Kim Dao, visit her website .

Photo Courtesy of Gabriella Szooh, Mantis

Where are you from?
I’m from Hungary, a smaller country in Middle-Europe.

Photo Courtesy of Gabriella Szooh, Mantis

How long have you been cosplaying?
I started cosplaying in 2006. It was my first animecon ever, and I just wanted to try out this “dress up” thing. So in a months time, I stood there on the stage, competing with 70 other cosplayers before a crowd of 2500.

Photo Courtesy of Gabriella Szooh, Mantis

What is your favorite costume you have worn?
From the 10 I’ve worn, I’d say Count D, from the anime PetShop of Horrors. It’s elegant, beautiful, oriental, and also imitating the characters personality is a challenge.

Photo Courtesy of Gabriella Szooh, Mantis

What is your favorite costume you’ve seen that someone else has made?
It’d be hard to pick only one, but cosplayers who do fantastic and detailed Sailor Moon costumes always impress me, as this is my favourite anime.

Photo Courtesy of Gabriella Szooh, Mantis

Thanks Gabryel. For more photos from Gabryel, visit her site .

‘Cospenny’, also known as Danielle St. Pierre, has been creating cosplay costumes since the summer of 2005.

Asuka

I chose Cospenny because she never skimps on the accessories and has such a good knack for posing. Read on for an interview with Cospenny.

Alice in Wonderland

Where are you from?
I was born in Nashville, Tennessee and still live in the Middle Tennessee area today.

Fuu Magic Knight Rayearth

What is your favorite costume you’ve made?
I think that my rendition of the Celestial Magic Knight Fuu, from Magic Knight Rayearth, is my favorite. It has the most time and skill put into it and I feel happy and proud to wear it. Plus, green is my favorite color!

Usada Hiraku

What is your favorite costume you’ve seen that someone else has made?

That is a very hard question! I was originally inspired by some amazing costumers, and that’s what got me started on making my own. However, I do think the first cosplayer I saw that really impressed me was a girl called CosplayAngel. Her website isn’t currently up, but I believe some of her work is still on CosplayLab and American Cosplay Paradise, and she is a very talented lady! My favorite costumes of hers are her Final Fantasy and Card Captor Sakura costumes.

Thanks Cospenny! Tune in tomorrow for another featured cosplay talent!

Heather Dugger, aka Heza chan, has been cosplaying for over eight years. Her costumes retain the cartoon feel of the characters and project her stitching talent. I had the chance to ask her a few questions about cosplay:

Most difficult costume you’ve ever made?

Heather: My Hyper Witch Mugi-Mugi Deluxe. That costume took many hours of work as well as a whole box full of paper clay. I bought all the paper clay the store had! The shoes were a difficult process and hard to walk in, and the hat used a lot of brain storming between my friend Micha and I.

Photo courtesy of Heather Dugger

Where are you from?

Heather: I’m originally from Cincinnati, Ohio but recently moved to De Pere, Wisconsin.

Photo courtesy of Heather Dugger

How long have you been cosplaying?

Heather: I’ve been at it for 8 years.

Photo courtesy of Heather Dugger

Favorite costume you have worn?

Heather: That’s a really tough question considering I love almost all my costumes. I’d have to say it’s a tie between Chibiusa and Yoko.

Photo courtesy of Heather Dugger

Favorite costume you’ve seen that someone else has made?

Heather: I love so many it’d be hard to choose a specific one. I really love Sakon’s (Micha’s) Mew Ichigo, Yaya Han’s Felicia Costume, LimeBarb’s Berserker Rikku, Jia Crens’ Leeloo, and Kyandi’s Toph Bei Fong. There are LOTS more though.

For more photos with HezaChan, visit the full gallery.