Cosplay Tips for Beginners: How to Look & How to Behave

Cosplay (used short for “costume play”) is the practice where people dress up and act like fictional characters from movies, books, comic series, video games, or mythological tales. Your first cosplay could be both public and private - you can attend an organized event or organize one of your own.

Either way, there are some wise cosplay tips and tricks to follow throughout the process. How to polish your looks, and how to act accordingly during the happening itself? Today at the Devil Walking blog, we have some tips for those of you who are just about to join the cosplay crew!

Read, learn, and make yourself ready to become a part of the great convention show!

How to Dress and Prepare for a Cosplay Event?

When you decide to join or organize a cosplay event, the first thing to think of is, of course, your own costume and appearance. Where to begin and how to proceed? It’s actually very easy and even funnier than you might imagine. Just follow the six simple steps outlined in the paragraphs below.

#1 Pick the Motifs 

Concepts first, practical work later. So, first of all, choose the general motifs that are of interest to you: your favorite themes, characters, patterns, and overall motifs. 

You can choose both a specific personal character and a border motif to follow. For example, you can be A little mermaid or The little mermaid… You can be an elf, or you can be Legolas. You can be a vampire or Dracula. 

There is no right or wrong here. There’s only you and your ideas for having a fantastic time. Quite literally. 

@ekarantina wearing Mermaid Costume

#2 Fix the Approach

When cosplaying, there are two basic approaches towards representing your character. They can be briefly described as follows:

• Accurate cosplaying, where you strictly copy all the little details of who you’re trying to be: from the wrinkles on their faces to their behavior, iconic accessories, and catchwords.

• Creative cosplaying, where you add up a little bit of personal interpretation. It can go all the way from modifying the character to even mixing characters and creating your own!

Once again - it doesn’t matter how you decide to do it, as long as you do it with feeling and have fun!

#3 Choose the Costume

Once you have the basic concept fixed, you can move on to gathering the fundamentals. Of course, the a costume search is a fine way to start.

You can either find an exact and pre-made character costume for your purposes or hand-pick the pieces and gather the outfit yourself. It all depends on your chosen character and the way you’re about to approach and interpret it. 

@baby_succubuz wearing White Droid Cosplay Costume

#4 Accessorize

When you have the costume, you can go add the details that make it picture-perfect. Here, you can enjoy essentially endless opportunities for achieving perfection, including:

• Pre-made or hand-made character-specific prop / props;
• Hair dyes and wigs;
• Jewelry, materials, and body ornamentation;

Or anything else that suits your purposes, as long as it’s safe and legal!

#5 Do the Makeup

Makeup is the high end of cosplaying or the little detail that can radically change the entire picture. You can either create it yourself or leave it to a professional, depending on your skills and the impact you’re trying to produce. 

Professional makeup often plays an even more crucial role than the cosplay costume itself, so don’t neglect that step of the process. Watch some videos, try out some alternatives, and come up with the ultimate makeup to skyrocket your overall vibe at the cosplay event. 

@bamkittybam wearing Rusty Women Cosplay Costume

#6 Finish Up

Now that you’re almost done - grab the proper finishing details to feel comfy and ready to enjoy yourself: the shoes, the jacket, the perfume, the face and hair accessories, etc. 

It would be wise to pre-check the requirements of the event organizers and strictly follow their code, especially when the current safety measures are concerned. 

On-Site Cosplay Tips: Learn About the Cosplay Code

You’re all polished, dressed up, and ready to go. But when you arrive at the location, there are still some fundamental things to consider regarding your behavior. So, make sure you stick to some basic cosplay rules, such as:

• Don’t take pictures and videos without permission. Even when cosplaying, people are still people. Some of them might not like to be photographed or published online. So always approach and ask their permission before you start photo shooting or video recording. What’s more - some areas might forbid photo shooting in general, so look around and make sure you’re not violating the rules.

• Do not touch without consent. Sure, any cosplayer can decide to be more extravagant and even revealing. Anyway, never forget that cosplayers are acting a role, and it doesn’t automatically imply permission to be touched and made contact with by strangers. Act respectfully and cherish the good appearance of others while still sticking to the ethical code regarding verbal and non-verbal communication. 

• Respect the organizers and participants. Cosplay and comic con culture is all about gathering, and sharing love for fictional characters, worlds, universes, and ideas. When you attend such an event, always read and stick to the rules of the organizers, and approach the participants with caution and respect. Do not intrude sharply, do not run around joining everyone’s pictures, respect everyone's privacy, and do not upload people’s comic con photos on the Internet without asking them first. 

• Act like your character. Now, that’s a tricky one. Of course, cosplaying is not merely about the looks; it’s about the general idea behind your chosen character. So try to speak like they would, walk as they would, gesticulate as they would… But still - do not run around force choking people if you happen to be Darth Vader.

• Have fun!Now that you’re all equipped with the fundamentals of costuming and behavior, all that’s left is go over there and have the time of your life!

At the Devil Walking website, you can find some pretty fabulous cosplay costumes - cyberpunk, enchanting, sleek, and polished as hell. So, ready to explore all the lot of best ways to look just as epic as you’d like to?

Stay tuned with our online store and our blog section - because, at the new fashion boutique of the devils, theory meets practice, and reality meets imagination!