In the world of cosplay, we all hope that people will like our cosplays enough to comment on our pictures, like our pages or maybe even share our pictures. We work hard all year round; on our make up, our wigs or our props.
We wear cosplays to attend conventions with our friends, we wear them for photoshoots and we wear them for meet-ups with other cosplayers.
We want to put our all into everything we do, we want to feel good wearing the very outfit we’ve slaved over for weeks. And sometimes, with maybe one single comment or a like on our picture, it can all feel worthwhile.
COSPLAY FOR YOU! NO ONE ELSE!
Personally I never thought I’d be ‘good enough’ but you have to ask yourself, what is ‘good enough’? Is it a perfect accurate representation of a character? Is it someone who has spent thousands on a single item? Or is it someone who tries their best to embody a character they love with all their heart?
Whatever it is, we can all boost cosplayer’s confidence in themselves by sending them a little love every now and then. Have a friend who is cosplaying their favourite character? Why not drop them a comment about their cosplay, something good, something you love about it and brighten up their day?
You may think ‘Lauren, you’re rambling a bit about cosplay here’, and I guess you could say that I am, you’re right. Lately I’ve been throwing my all into my cosplay game and I’ve had people coming to me to ask me for my opinion on their cosplays. Others have asked for advice when it comes to being a certain character or even asking me how to put themselves out there as a character that they love. While it’s different for everyone, I think every cosplayer has something in common; we love what we do and we want to feel good doing it.
PHOTOSHOOTS
So you’ve got your cosplay all set up and ready to go, your props that you’ve been slaving over have finally got that last coat of paint, and your wigs have got one last bit of hairspray, so now what?
Maybe the con season hasn’t picked up yet or maybe you just can’t get out to a convention in order to show off that cosplay you’re in love with. So what? That doesn’t mean you can’t get it out onto the internet for people to see!
What you need to do is look up that character and pick some of your favourite poses. Study their facial expressions and study how they hold themselves and practice those in the mirror. It may look strange to you at first, but that doesn’t matter, it’s all going to be worth it in the end. Now you need to find some photographers who will be willing to shoot your cosplay. You could even get some friends to take some shots for you and just be sure you show them the look you’re going for. Lastly make sure you choose the right location as well.
I once did a shoot as female Quicksilver from Age of Ultron and while the shots looked great, the top of a car park just wasn’t perfect for the character itself! On the same day I also did a shoot as Black Widow and it just so happened that the Disney Store allowed us to take some pictures with me beside their massive Hulk statue and to this day it is honestly one of my favourite shots I’ve ever done!
PROMOTION
You need to promote yourself and this may seem hard at first, but you’ve got to believe in yourself! Once you see what you can do and what you can achieve. Don’t be shy showing your work off! Share it on Facebook, share it on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, it will pay off!
BULLIES
Now here’s the part that can bring down any cosplayer’s buzz, I can attest to that. Bullies come in every walk of life and cosplay is no different. For now I’m just going to warn you about them and tell you not to pay them any notice. If you’re having fun in your cosplay then there’s no one who can take that away from you. No matter how hard they try.
My Honey Lemon Cosplay was shared on a very popular cosplay page, and and I received some nice praise. Then the negativity rolled in; complete strangers were very quick to point out every single fault! Right down to the shade of lipstick I was wearing.
I was upset at first but then I turned it around and merely made it work for me. So the shade of lipstick wasn’t right? I went out and bought a new one that matched perfectly. I ignored the hurtful things that were said and turned them into constructive criticism. Did I do this for them? Not in the slightest, this was for me! To prove I am good at what I do! I took their negative words and channelled them into something positive for me!
LOVE YOUR COSPLAY
I want you step away after reading this and pick out one of your cosplays. Grab one that you are not totally about! Maybe someone said something about it and you haven’t put it on since. I want you to get that cosplay, I want you to take it out and give it a good hard look. Look at the work you put into it and If you’re happy with it then wear it with pride and love! If you see things in it that you want to fix then take it out and get back to your craft but only do it for you though!
Put on that cosplay and stand in front of the mirror and make some faces.Grab your camera and strike some poses! Take some selfies and who cares what anyone else says about them! The praise is nice but your reward is your own self satisfaction! Love your cosplays for what you can do and feel proud that you can step out there and that you have such an amazing outlet for your talents!
Show me your cosplay selfies in the comments, link me to your cosplay pages, tell me about a cosplay you love to wear or one you plan on making in the future, I can’t wait to hear about it all!
