Cosplay isn’t always for everyone.
It’s usually an outlandish way of dressing, by normal day-to-day standards, and not all of us are happy with being so far outside that comfort zone. But who is to say that elements of cosplay can’t incorporated into every day wear?
A lot of our favorite characters are just ordinary guys, or are at least ordinary when they’re not masquerading as their alter ego. It is something that can be part of a casual wardrobe and be worn daily; you don’t always have to look like an anime illustration to be considered a cosplayer.
You can simply add a motif to your outfit by coordinating colors or adding a few accessories that suggest a character’s look.
Okay, so a t-shirt with a super hero’s logo on it isn’t quite cosplay, but it can certainly add to a themed outfit.
Cosplay isn’t always easy, or comfortable.
Some comic book characters just insist on impractically tight and constricting clothing. So why not tone it down a little and make it a tad more casual?
That way you can add the outfit to your year-round wardrobe and get more wear out of it. This makes your costume more cost effective if you consider how many times you wear it versus the price of the components. But with any costume, certain elements need to be considered if it’s something you are thinking of wearing frequently.
For instance, if you want to dress as a member of the Night’s Watch of Game of Thrones, you may want to consider one of their lighter get-ups. During the Summer, wearing layers of fur to go about your daily business may turn out to be a little sweaty and interfere with chores or dehydrate you to the point of expiration. And alternatively, showing as much leg/ass as Street Fighter’s Cammy during winter may be a little too chilly for you to function without permanently losing all feeling in your buttocks.
Either of these characters’ outfits can of course be tailored to suit seasonal requirements, but you don’t want to loose the iconic recognizable elements that make the outfit a costume.
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| A good demonstration of recognizable elements being used to create a day-to-day outfit. Image from a helpful and inspiration casual cosplay Tumblr, Cosplay All The Things. |
Casual cosplay isn’t strictly about recreating a particular costume, but more creating a theme that subtly suggests it.
It’s about being able to wear an outfit to work, or to college, or on a date and be comfortable in all of those situations, as well as making a few small references to some of your pop culture favourites. You will find that the little traces of costume hidden within your ensemble won’t go unnoticed by other hardcore fans. It can be a secret conversation piece, just between you and anyone else who ‘gets it.’ This can be a good way of screening strangers for potential friendships. If someone understands your little in-joke without you having to explain it to them, chances are they’re just as cool as you are to make that same connection.
Working with characters you’ve already seen played on screen by real people always makes it easier to visualize the outfit as a real life ensemble. You can see almost exactly what their costumes are made from, what color they are, how they fit and what they must feel like to wear. This does make the costumes easier to replicate, but because you have seen them ‘realized’ doesn’t mean that they are realistic.
Game of Thrones for example has a fabulous and authentic looking wardrobe, and as a cosplayer the outfits are exciting because they’re visually very cool and look fairly easy to imitate. But as we don’t live in the medieval era, dressing like an armored princess will still look a little out of place on a trip to the grocery store today, depending on where it is you usually shop. So you might want to tone down this look if a casual cosplay is what you’re after.
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| A casual Margaery Tyrell of Game of Thrones. |
Trying to translate the costume of a video game character can be easy in a similar way. A lot of games these days look so realistic you can estimate the thread count of someone’s shirt just from watching a cut scene. But it really does depend on the style of the game that you’re trying to create a look from.
Snake from Metal Gear Solid would be a straightforward daily cosplay switch, introducing camouflage or similar colors, maybe an eye-patch if you’re especially daring, or some kind of cardboard box themed accessories.
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| Dragging around a box as a prop might not be practical all the time, but you get the idea. |
Other easy options to go for would be FBI agents Mulder or Scully. If you have a job that requires you to wear a suit every day you could use these characters for your inspiration. Even if it only meant you started to wear your hair a little differently, you may start to feel different about your appearance and enjoy wearing those suits more. Similarly, you could treat yourself to a new pair of sunglasses and be an agent from The Matrix on those bright Summer morning commutes.
Any of the characters from the Grand Theft Auto series would also be a good way to introduce cosplay to your every day wardrobe. But without making your costume a direct copy of an outfit you may find that it isn’t particularly recognizable, as the characters are for the most part very normal looking people.
Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft is a good example of a normal looking character that still has a uniquely recognizable appearance. Long plaits [or braids, I don’t know what you yanks call ‘em.], shorts and a tank top seems almost too simple for people to make the connection to the character.
But the amount of times I have accidentally found myself wearing an outfit with some combination of the above characteristics and had someone ask me if I was trying to look like Lara is higher than you might think. If you were worried that your outfit was a little too modest to give the impression of the character, you can always find accessories to add to the theme. Like a garter as some kind of thigh holster to add to a Lara outfit.
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| Minus the blood and weapons, this is a great Summer outfit you could wear all day every day. |
Once video games go deeper into the fantasy and anime realms, the notion of a subtle cosplay becomes more difficult.
Sonic the Hedgehog for instance is popular amongst gaming cosplayers because it’s an outfit that can just be thrown together and is instantly very familiar. But as this character isn’t even a human, it’s hard to imagine where would you begin on making an outfit that would look natural in the setting of your normal life in the real world.
Firstly, the best thing to do is to break the character down into color a schemes, which in this case is easy.
Blue. Look for the main color of the outfit, and any other colors that occur can be used for accessories. So with blue, you can stick with the wardrobe staple of blue jeans or you can go for leggings or a blue/white skirt and pantyhose if that’s more your thing. A bright blue top of some kind will continue the theme, a long sleeved one would obviously be better but for Summer months a short sleeved one would work just as well. In the winter you could also add white gloves to the outfit (also great for Disney characters.)
Red sneakers would be what tied the whole outfit together, and you could accessories with a spikey blue hat or jewelry made from large gold loops like Sonic’s rings.
For Legend of Zelda’s Link, you would need to go for a green theme with brown leather accessories. Link would probably make more sense if he did have a backpack like this, where does he keep his wallet, bombag and glass bottles?
Unless you’re teaming it with a suit and glasses and trying to achieve a Clark Kent themed outfit; wearing a tee with the characters brand emblazoned on the front isn’t subtle enough to be considered casual cosplay but doesn’t really have the commitment of a full costume. They can certainly add to a themed outfit however, and can be a good base to build around.
Alone, a shirt with the Batman logo would make a statement. But worn with all black and maybe some shiny leather or vinyl pieces and some yellow accessories, it would make a great themed ensemble.
Logo clothing is a great addition to your wardrobe, but unless you’re wearing it as part of something greater it doesn’t really qualify as cosplay.
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| It’s not quite a costume, but it’s pretty cool. |
Going to a convention or an event in full costume is great fun, and may be something you do all the time. But not all of us can dress like that every day, even if we really want to.
And some people just aren’t comfortable with going the entire distance, and might be more inclined to make a more casual version of their outfit. Even the most extreme costumes can be workable, and all it takes is a little imagination and clothes you probably have in your wardrobe already.
It’s also probably a much cheaper alternative to most other kinds of cosplay, and can make every day just a little more fun.
