hetalia | A Few Questions on Cosplay

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A Few Questions on Cosplay

I have a few questions, seeing as how it's been three very long years since I've cosplayed. First of all, the only two times that I have ever cosplayed, I've cosplayed very two simple characters. Shiori from Inuyasha and Tenten from Naruto. I had help with those costumes and were relatively very easy to make. Accessories weren't that much of an issue either.

This year though, I plan to pick myself up and head back into the cosplay scene. I'm going to a con in June and I plan to cosplay as Prussia. I want his military uniform that he's seen with most of the time.

My questions on this matter though...

1. Is it better to just personally make the military uniform, or would it just be a better idea to buy it online? Any suggestions for this?
2. I need advice on the wig and the red contacts. On the contacts, to buy them offline, like say, a store, they cost around 60-40 bucks where I live. Is it better to just buy them online? If so, where? Seriously I need help...
3. Any advice anyone can offer up on the fact that I really need to bind my chest. What material good and what method?

Ahh, I really do need help with this, because I really, really want to get back into cosplaying and Prussia would be the most epic in my mind. Please and thank you if you all out there can help me even a little bit.

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Depending on your breast size, doubling up on sports bras works wonders. Second choice would be breast binders, the more popular you can find here (http://www.t-kingdom.com/). If those two aren't an option for you, ace bandages over a sports bra work, but do try this out BEFORE the convention and walk around your house with it to figure out how tight you need and if it will affect your breathing as this can be dangerous if done wrong!

Good luck!

Oh, excellent website, but I might just go with the sports bras and ace bandages. And of course, I've already heard from other cosplayers who've tried this that if my chest feel any pain whatsoever, that I should immediately take off the bindings.

Yep, you heard right! The good thing about actual breast binders is that they take away most of the discomfort/potential danger, so if you crossplay a lot, it's a good investment. :]

Seconding forever! I got mine off of Underworks, which is cheaper than T-Kingdom and just as great~ SO comfortable, I can seriously live all day in it :D

Heyo! From Underworks, which one do you suggest? I've been deliberating over which to buy for a while since I'm on the hunt for one.

1. I made my uniform, however there are lots of online sellers producing Hetalia cosplays now. Unless you're going for a historical replica, then you're facing a lot more expenses.

2. I have two pairs of contacts. One I bought online ( @ colorlens4less.com ), and one I found locally. they both do the trick and ran about $40 for the pair, but keep in mind that both of those are NON-prescription. If you're looking for prescription red it's gonna be a lot more expensive and there are less styles to choose from. As for the wig, I bought mine online. Just surf around ebay and such until you find a color you like and go from there. I had to do a lot of trimming to get my wig just right but some ebay sellers even have pre-styled Prussia wigs nowadays to consider.

3. It depends on your chest size. The two methods I recommend most are either a compression vest (this is the ideal, but expensive, it's like an elastic shirt that's very tight) or wide stretch cloh ACE bandages. You can combine methods (ie: put bandages over a tight sports bra).

I can dig up some links for you for stuff like the contacts but those are the basics. cosplay.com's forums are really helpful too if you ever need guidance!

I'm considering buying mainly everything online if I can. And thank you for the website for the contacts. I've been needing one, I couldn't find a good one on my own. I would use non-prescription, so I guess it would be easier.

Hahhh, the military uniform, I just want something similar, I'm not too picky about historical accuracy seeing as how Hetalia really isn't all that accurate. ~~Even if I'm a total history nerd~~

I have a fairly large chest, which is why I would have trouble...I'm sure the baggy military uniform jacket wouldn't be too hard to help cover it, but I'm a double D in size so...IDK...but thanks for the advice anyways.

You can try soldiercity.com for actual BDUs in navy if you don't want to make the outfit yourself. It's pretty close. Not too expensive either. You'd just have to make a few alterations.

I was gonna rec colourlens4less, but Keikanas already did XD So I'll just add that they do offer red lenses in prescription, but only in their "blood red" contacts. The "red manson" contacts are only available in non prescription.

Admittedly I love getting the real deal, though it's true that it costs alot more than making it yourself or buying it from a cosplay store- then again I'm man who will walk around in a Russian civil war coat when he gets one, not just for when he cosplays Russia.

If you're thinking of cosplayng Prussia a few times, or even as an old faithful, then definitly invest- also contacts wise I've found alot of the time it depends on what colour eyes you have depends on where I'd get the contacts from- light eyes are wonderful but if you've got dark eyes (like me) 'doll-eyes' contacts are a good brand- I have a few pairs of them for Russia and Germany outings.

All in all online is definitley the way to go and, if you're not wanting to fork out alot on the proper military gear, then there are a few places where you can get them ready made for a good price, just google it really~

Wigs? Uhmmm... Try Cosworx? That's where I get mine from usually- though they're buggers for selling out of the ones I want, so make sure you get it asap if you're getting it from there, if not, then try Ebay- I'm sure they'd have something.

Hope any(?) of this helps~

*cuts in!!*

I've been considering buying a pair of those 'doll eyes' contacts, except I don't really understand how they work 100%. Like, do they rely on the person wearing them to have dark eyes so the wearer's pupils will look larger in addition to the irises? Or could someone with light eyes pull them off without looking totally creepy and unnatural?

*slinks away...*

Admittedly I was referring to a brand of the same name BUT I also wear the Doll eye type of lenses (that make your pupils bigger) so I CAN help with this.

Yey Helping :D

Pretty much anyone can wear doll eyes, as most have tinting around the iris anyway, so it darkens it gradually rather than making you look like you have the eyes of a fish. Admittedly it's going to be more obvious on lighter eyes, but, if you darken around the eyes a little with some make-up (literally, a brush of a dark brown or grey eyeshadow and maybe a bit of mascara if you have lighter lashes) and it tones them down.

... I can feel my masculinity washing away right now. Curse you cosplay!! XD

xD;; W-Wait, yeah, it's Dolly Eye contacts I thought you were referring to, lol. *fails*

I think I get it now. ♥ It's just that I've never seen them on someone who doesn't have super-dark eyes, and I was worried that wearing them with light eyes would give me some kind of creepy ring of my natural color around my pupils instead of that "dialated pupil" look you see in all the advertisement pictures.

Did I get get makeup tips from a guy...? xD

Yes... Yes you did...

TELL NO ONE -scary Russia face-

o.o Doll eyes? What exactly are the difference. I have really dark brown eyes, like...really dark. So...if I just get the normal ones? That means they won't show up or not? So I should just get these doll eyes? But where exactly?

Doll eye lenses are a brand make specially for dark eye colours- sometimes contacts get tinted by dark eyes, so a light blue or a green can become a real murky grey or brown because the real, darker eye colour comes through. The Doll eye brand is made so that doesn't happen. Though, considering you'll be wanting red contacts, this may not happen anyway, as most red contacts are opaque rather than a tint I think.

I have a purple pair of Doll eyes for Ivan and they work really well. I got mine off of the internet- try putting in the brand name and if not then just put 'contacts for dark eyes'- that's what I did. If you can't find them, then just make sure the red is really REALLY vivid so your actual eye colour doesn't come through.

Hope this helps a little~

Edited 2010-04-09 22:49 (UTC)

I got my red contacts here for $18~ :)
candyops.com

they're called SF-20~

As for the wig i highly recommend fantasy sheep^^v
http://cgi.ebay.com/Axis-power-Gilbert-cosplay-wig-Greyish-WHITE-ver_W0QQitemZ320513734004QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4aa01b7574

As for the binding, depending on your chest size (C and over)
I use UNDERWORKS Double Panel Shirt (not the bodysuit)
There's a specific way to measure to make sure you get the perfect right size (if you're interested I can tell you, I also have a 20% off coupon! :D)
http://www.underworks.com/996.html

Thank you for the great links. I'll try them out. ;3 I still need to look around after all though, but thank you anyways, great help.

For binding, I use an FTM compression shirt: http://ftm.underworks.com/

This is a really good way to bind your chest: binding corset. Extremely easy and cheap to make and usually works better than the bandages etc.

Here's a site where they teach to make it, but it's in Finnish. The pictures should still be helpful (scroll down a bit).
http://foggy-sky.net/disillusion/bindaus.html

Basically, you take a piece of fabric that goes around your upper body and put lots of duct tape on it. It's best to attach them both verically and horizontally in layers. Then you make holes on the edges and put strong string through them like in the picture (about 2m of string should be enough). Then you put it on your chest and pull the strings tight. It helps to have someone to pull the strings so you can get the corset really tight : D

This is the best/cheapest method for this I've ever used :--D I've tried the bandages but they always seem to slip of... And they don't bind my chest enough (even though I'm not very large-chested).

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A Few Questions on Cosplay

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