I've been looking at a lot of resources lately and I'm wondering what /cgl/ considers to be the worst cosplay sin.
http://www.strawpoll.me/10251687
There are sins worse than these
using hotglue for fabric
sewing is not that hard c'mon
>>9012671
pretty much this.
I voted for "buying your cosplay" ONLY IF they strut around like hot shit and some famous e-celeb. Playing dress up does not entitle you to rag on other cosplay who put it together. Even the shittiest paper bag tier cosplay has had more effort in creating it then your slap and go ebay rags.
Thats not to say you cant have a good time, look the part, and be humble with bought cosplay. Many people just dont have the skill or time, and thats fine. I'm calling out the fakes here.
>>9012588
Bad quality costume, obviously. That's a pretty broad category but it's the only one that stands up to any sort of scrutiny.
At the risk of sounding Tumblr, you're playing dressup, you can wear whatever as long as you make it look good. Actually good, that is, not hotgluing two carrier bags together and calling it a day. Well-sewn, sturdy cosplay that fits your body will always look better than shitty satin held together with safety pins, no matter your size. Altering wig and fabric tones to suit your skin makes 'wrong race' less of an issue, unless you have an SJW infestation. Buying your costume is fine, as long as you don't pass it off as your own work. Nobody but a butthurt 13 year old cares about this shit.
As for actual cosplay sins, I'd say no makeup, hair showing behind/in front of/through wig, hot glue/pins instead of stitching, and terribly fitted cosplay. Not just a few awkward lumps in baby's first princess seams, but landwhales forcing themselves into a size 4 crop top and boots they can't shut, or a thin person completely swamped in a waistless sack with sleeves so baggy you could crawl up them.
The sort of thing you see in the bad cosplay threads, basically.
IMO the worst sin is lying about a bought/commissioned cosplay or prop. Including lying by omission.
> bought costume and competing with it or not telling you didn't make it
> over sexualized gijinkas/genderbends/versions without a goid reason
> no wig if the character has outrageous hair
> eyeglasses in photos if the character doesn't wear any
> no makeup whatsoever
> hotglued fabric
> shiny fabric where it doesn't belong
> unkempt wig
> unsealed bodypaint and fake blood
Sorry this turned out to be just my pet peeves that I can't stand.
>>9012989
> goid reason
Wtf, apparently rage makes me a typo master.
>>9012898
>"at risk of sounding tumblr"
>says something reasonable
What has this board become.
NOT IRONING THEIR SHIT
Thought shalt not claim another's work to be thine own.
I normally buy all of my cosplay because I don't live in a place where I have the space for a sewing room. Even if I did, I wouldn't have the time to make my own costumes or the desire to learn how to sew. I wear my cosplays for fun and I don't enter contests.
Now if someone says "nice costume" at a con, I'll reply "Thanks!" not "I didn't make it." If they ask how I did something, I'm not going to pretend I made it. Do people really do this?
>>9012848
What about people like Anzujaamu? She's an e-celeb that cosplays, and people love her cosplays, even though a lot of the costumes aren't just bought, but sponsored even.
I don't really care about it, but I always wondered what the people that criticize bought cosplays think of her as a cosplayer.
>>9013433
That's what I would say, too. But there are people who try to submit premade costumes in contests all the time. Generic eBay shit is easy to disqualify, but a commissioned piece is harder to identify.
There are also people who blog about costumes they didn't make. Some people are just pathological liars.
This type of make-up. Why do people think leaving (a huge part of) white under the iris and above the lower lashes makes eyes look bigger? It doesn't, it just looks weird and ugly. Especially if you wear big circle lenses, it doesn't make sense, because it looks like your circle lens is being cut of.. Hence, not wearing any make-up at all, is better than wearing this type of make-up..
So let's say you bought an armor kit and had to put it all together yourself would you guys still consider that "buying" your costume?
>>9012989
Add
>going out of your way to tell other people your bought costume is better than their handmade or the reverse
>being a model, not a cosplayer (never consuming the source material, no clue who your character is other than being tits or popular, there for the money and publicity)
>Refusal to improve or listen to anyone's suggestions
>Being first for the sake of first...and make a very shitty & rushed costume to show for it
AND
>The only (or main) way you make yourself feel good about you and your cosplay is to put down other cosplayers and their costumes
>>9013902
It'd be like setting up IKEA furniture. Nice job, though you paid for someone else's hard work.
>>9013909
Well now I feel like a scrub.
OP here. Interesting comments in this thread. I suppose I didn't image the original question with enough detail. I didn't make the distinction between cosplaying at a convention/event, entering costume contests or doing photo shoots for social media.
I'm curious mostly about the comments about cosplayers not making their own costumes and entering them into costume contests and how many degrees of separation does it take to make it acceptable. Can you only wear a costume that you made yourself? What if it was made by a family member or a friend? What if you paid a family member or friend to make it for you?
>>9014267
>Can you only wear a costume that you made yourself?
No, unless the contest rules explicitly forbids it.
What rubs people the wrong way is when the entrant lies and pretends that they made the costume themselves when it's untrue. A lot of commissioners will explicitly state whether or not they will allow costumes they make to be entered into contests and what permissions are required. The commissionee can obviously enter anyways without informing the commissioner. Some contests require that the person who made the costume must be present for the judging, even if he/she is not the person wearing it.
The thing is, if you didn't make the costume, you would have a much harder time showing the finer details during the interview part of judging (not on stage but usually involves showing the judges reference + progress images of your costume) and explaining how the costume was made. Obviously less points might be given if you shrugged and said that you didn't make multiple X intricate parts, but some contests don't care about that.
>What if it was made by a family member or a friend? What if you paid a family member or friend to make it for you?
Depends on how much they love you and let you take credit.
Here is a huge cosplay sin:
Taking a commission from someone else who made it, seam-ripping the whole thing, using the pieces for patterns, then making multiple costumes from someone else's pattern without permission. Then on top of it, taking full credit...
>>9013558
I think comissions are fine, at least someone hand made it special. It's like having a model at that point. Still, hating on someone else's cosplay publicly is dumb no matter what the status of your own.
>>9014267
Some contests are okay with cosplayers being models for comissioned work but usually the creator needs to be present and explaining for judging and gets the awards. Good judges can usually tell when someone is wearing an eBay costume or doesn't know what they are talking about with a commissioned piece. It's rare but I suppose it could happen where someone does know their stuff and enters something they didn't make. Unless the commissioner is well known like GSTQ it's going to be hard to catch.
>>9013550
She is cute but honestly she is a bad cosplayer. Her cosplays are sponsored and I'm okay with that however her make up is sloppy and inappropriate for the character most of the time. Same goes for her posing. So what's left? I don't see anything to be fawned upon. She should work on these rather than promoting shit stores and trying to look cute.
>>9018913
Well not to mention that she enters costume competitions with her sponsored cosplays...
>>9018920
That's just too much. It's disrespectful to people who work hard on their costumes, shit it's even disrespectful to people who work hard to BUY their costumes.
Now she is just using her cuteness to get stuff from neckbeard lolicons which is disgusting.
>>9017133
did someone do that to you?
>>9017133
I love doing that, not like costumes are copyrighted, just the characters... do you ask Funimation or ADV to use there characters? No.
>>9017133
I mean...you're not wrong, but if someone wanted to pay me $100+ for a costume piece just so they could take it apart for a pattern, I'd take that money.
They'd be better served going to a thirft store and buying junk there if they wanted to take something apart for a pattern.
Also nothing replaces the skill necessary to assemble something properly.
I think worst cosplay sins are anything in this thread that's a repeat offender. I can see babby's first cosplay being a shit tier, hot glued mess with no make up or still wearing the same shit glasses because you didn't want to get contacts. You get told your cosplay is shitty, you do better, budget better, get more skill, and whatever.
But if you keep doing the same shit things and think it's good then thats worst sin. People can work on skill and get better, but no one can fix shit taste and attitude.
>>9019374
I think the worst are elitist faggots that think their opinions matter, and take shit like this too seriously.
I'mma cut up a cardboard cereal box and use it as a mask the next convention I go to knowing how much it pisses you off. I even know how to seam and make material rivets, but I'm just gonna use a whole punch and a rubber band.
>>9019302
Not to me but to a friend of mine who spent months perfecting her patterns
>>9018933
She basically doesn't give a fuck about anything as long as she gets sponsored
I would just like to ask, what is so wrong with buying cosplay? Personally I do not have the time to tailor a nice looking costume nor the skill
>>9020717
Nothing's wrong with buying a costume as long as you don't enter competitions or claim that you made the costume. Like you said, if you don't have the time or skill to make a costume, why not buy one? Even people who make their own costumes sometimes buy premade costumes as extras.
>>9012989
I'm pretty guilty of the glasses one, but it's mainly because I need to wear them and then forget to take them off for photos.
So where's the line between a costume that was made, and a costume that was bought? Obviously if you start with a bunch of fabric and a sewing machine it's homemade, and if you buy a ready-to-wear costume it was bought, but what about assembling costumes from premade pieces (ie buy a shirt, pants, coat, ect which match those worn by the character) or modifying premade pieces (ie using hockey pads to make armor). How much of the work do you have to do to claim that you made it?
>>9013062
this is the correct answer, it's so simple and makes a big difference yet so many people don't do it
>>9021129
>buying a character's clothes
Bought
>modifying hockey pads
Made
My general rule of them is that if you had to modify an item beyond its original purpose, it's handmade. Another example would be using a pvc pipe as the handle for your prop.
>>9021129
My rule of thumb is that if the piece was modified to the point that you can't really tell what it was or how it looked originally, it counts as made. For example, you buy base shoes to make boot covers. It is unreasonable to expect most cosplayers to be cobblers and make a shoe completely from scratch. If you're just adding on a ribbon or trim to a premade shirt, that is modifying.
Gray area would be like if you seam-ripped off sleeves of a shirt and added your own sleeves. Rather than trying to categorizing it as handmade vs. bought, I'd just say it was a beginner effort or that you didn't have the time to make the entire thing proper.
>>9020686
I want to know what con masquerade gives away a trip to japan other than WCS. I'm really interested.
>>9021911
It was for Tokyo Game Show. They didn't have separate handmade and premade categories so basically you can enter with anything you want.
I'm gonna be that guy and say lack of trigger discipline
>>9012588
Bad quality costume can be at least worth a laugh, I don't mind seeing bad cosplay.
>>9021163
>modifying hockey pads
I modified some stuff but I still dont say I made em. I just literally say modified lol, but I wont knock anyone who says they made em if they put effort into it.
>>9023027
That's what I meant basically.
Wow I have a lot of pet peeves when it comes to cosplay, thank you OP for making this thread so I can rant.
1. People who insist on using worbla for EVERYTHING.
2. Cosplayers who put random cute-sounding Japanese words together as their cosplay alias.
3. How everyone who has ever cosplayed has a facebook page for their cosplay.
4. People who spend all their money on cosplay and conventions and then complain that they have no money for basic needs like food and rent.
5. UNPRESSED SEAMS.
6. Ugly "anime eyes" makeup with the ridiculous amount of white eyeliner.
7. No wig/no makeup.
8. Sexy eeveelutions.
9. Total beginners who plan cosplays that are waaaay out of their skill level, then complain when it looks like shit.
10. Girls/fakebois who only cosplay bishie sports anime or shota boys. (To be fair this one is a little unreasonable, it's really just my own pet peeve.)
>>9012588
He probably came along because friends were, not to show off his tailoring. Would you rather he come in a generic Robin Hood costume from the 99c store and not have some fun with references?
>>9012815
You mean "wearing a wig"
