Here you will find a multitude of helpful tips, tricks, and guidelines to successful cosplay. I know how akward it can be when you first start out cosplaying, and over the years I've learned a lot. Hopefully these will save you some time, money, and embaressments.

Tips for Cosplaying and Convention Attendance

On Getting Started in Cosplay

1. Chose costumes according to your skill level. If you've never done any sort of sewing, it's probably not a good idea to make your first project ever a full-length gown that requires lots of boning and interfacing. Likewise, if you don't have any experience in making armor, it's probably best to steer away from costumes like Lady Chris from the Suikoden series. A simple costume done well is 100 times more impressive than an elaborate costume that falls short. Sadly, the cosplay community can be brutal... you don't always get points for effort alone.
   
   
2. Chose characters you love. It will make working on the costume that much easier, and you'll stay excited about it. Chosing a character you have little to no connection with will ultimately result in something that is not your best work, or the whole project being dropped. This wastes your time, and your money, both of which are valuable things. Sometimes it can be tricky to find a balance between characters you love, and characters within your skill level -- but the results will be something you can be proud of.
   
   
3. Experiment. Obviously, before you dive into making the more elabrote things, you're going to need to try it out eventually. I recommend buying small amounts of different supplies, and experimenting with little pieces. Clays, craft foam, and wonderflex are all great materials. If you're planning to eventually style wigs on your own, it could be to your benefit to pick up a cheap halloween wig or two to practice cutting on.
   
   
4. You don't HAVE to make everything. If you're not comfortable with hair styling, having a wig commissioned might be an option -- a spendy one, but an option none-the-less. I'm not suggesting you get everything commissioned. But some things like certain simple-styled pants, slacks, or even some shirts, can be found and purchased from local thrift stores. Why shell out for fabrics, and patterns, and extra time, when you can pick up a perfect or easily modified piece for $5-10 dollars. Walmart has decent prices too, but places like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Value Village can be like treasure troves. These places are also good for finding shoes.

On Good Convention Ettiquette and Costume Maintanence

1. Please, please, shower. I cannot stress just HOW important this is. And as a followup, use deodorant. You may not think that a day or two of missed bathing will have that much of an effect on the way that you smell, but trust me -- just because you can't smell yourself, doesn't mean others can't. Running around in a costume, in a convention center and/or hotel packed with people is going to be warm, and you're going to sweat a bit, and most people are too polite to actually TELL you when you need a bath; they'll just avoid you, instead. Bathing isn't hard -- hotels usually provide bar soap and shampoo for FREE, so you don't even have to bring any if you're going out of town. It doesn't matter how nice you are -- Nobody likes a stinky cosplayer. (talk about bad first impression)  Not to mention, if your costume is made out of any materials that make it hard or impossible to wash, you'll end up ruining your costume.
   
   
2. Respect people's personal space. Most cosplayers/convention goers are generally good-natured and friendly. However, that doesn't give you a right to go up to perfect strangers and tackle-hug them, or touch them, period. ASK if it's alright, most people will be okay with it, especially since you've asked so nicely. If they say no, don't get offended.  On the same thought, if a costume looks elaborate and complicated, and they grant you permission to hug them, please be gentle -- many costumes have elaborate, fragile pieces on them.
   
   
3. That goes for photos, too. If someone is cosplaying, generally that means they WANT to have their picture taken. But it's always best to ask first -- 99.9% of cosplayers WILL say yes, but by asking you give them a chance to prep themselves, and give you a photo worth taking. Nobody likes to find those sneak-photos on the internet after a con, and they're really not as nice to have as a well-posed one.
   On a related note, don't get angry if it seems like your request for a picture hes been completely brushed off or ignored -- Conventions are very busy, noisey places, and it's entirely possible they were distracted and didn't hear you. If you really want that picture, speak up again, trying calling out to them by their character name (most cosplayers respond to this) or even politely tapping them on the shoulder. DO NOT pull on costumes, or wigs, this may hurt the cosplayer, or damage their delicate work.   Also, keep in mind that there are lots of cosplay-related events at conventions, and it's entirely possible they could be late for a prior engagement.
   
   
4. Bring a Cosplay Emergency Kit! You can buy small sewing kits with thread, needle, small measuring tape, and tiny scissors at your local fabric store. You can, however, also make a kit of your own. Ideally, a kit that would cover all of your possible needs would include:
   • Thread
   • Needle(s)
   • Scissors, or seam ripper (for cutting stray threads)
   • Saftey Pins (atleast 5, and varying sizes. The more, the better.)
   • double sided garment tape
   Safetypins have saved my life more than once, and double-sided tape it excellent for keeping garments in place, or taking care of stubborn hemlines. I also made great use of needle and thread when the snaps on my belt+fannypack for my Movie Winry costume kept breaking. I carried the spool and needle in the pouch with me so I wouldn't have to continually run back to the room for repairs. In short, things happen. You can't predict what will happen to your costumes! You might also consider bringing a small tube of crazy glue, incase a prop gets broken -- it dries quickly, and clear, so it's good for small, quick repairs. Just be careful not to get it on your costume!
   
   
5. Be kind to your wigs. Wigs are delicate things, and need to be handled nicely. Poorly cared-for wigs can make an otherwise great costume look horrible. Obviously, when traveling there's a certain degree of packing you can't control. Just remember to comb/brush out your wigs (GENTLY!), touch them up before you wear them, and store them nicely when you arrive. Don't throw your wigs in a heap. This is a sure-fire way to ruin your wig.
   
   

Tutorials

And now, a handful of good tutorials that I have found on the internet, either through careful searching, or referenced by friends and acqauintances.

Naruto Sandal's Tutorial A great tutorial on making Hidden Leaf Village ninja-sandals.

Jongleur Cosplay  A now static but WONDERFUL site full of tutorials for particular items including but not limited to Garnet's Necklace (FFIX), Princess Tutu's Pendant (Princess Tutu), Inuyasha's necklace, Hitomi's pendant (Escaflowne) and more! Great for figuring out ways to make things that you may not have thought of before.

HCC Angel Wings  A Tutorial on making VERY large feathered wings.

Paper Wings wing tutorial  Another feathered-wing tutorial, this time on a smaller scale, with a different approach. Could also be applied to larger-scale wings.

Haibane Wings  Yes another wing tutorial, with a slightly different method.

Craft Foam Armor How to make light-weight, inexpensive armor out of craft foam

Armor Making for the Fiberglass-Phobic The infamous tutorials of the lovely Amethyst Angel!