If you're like me, you can't afford a seventy-five dollar replica of captain Malcolm Reynolds gun plus another arm and a leg for the coat, and then you've still got to buy the rest of the costume! Well fear not fellow cosplayer! I have the solution!
The answer to most of your cosplaying needs is...
The almighty Thrift Store.
A shudder of disgust might have just run through you spine but I shiver with excitement every time I go. To me it's a gold mine of possibilities. It's also good when you need a costume last minute and don't have time to place an order from the internet. So for those of you who have never set foot in a thrift store let me give you a few pointers.
- Know what you're looking for.
Before you even walk into the store you need to have a game plan. Either have a picture handy of the character you're going to dress as (I usually do a quick google search then take a screen shot on my phone so I can find it again easily), or you can just make a list of specific items that you're looking for. For example:
Let's say I'm trying to put together a costume for the 11th Doctor. So I'm looking for:
Brown tweed jacket (preferably with elbow patches on the back),
White button up shirt,
Black pants,
Black shoes,
Red suspenders,
Bow tie (cool)!
I already had a pair of black pants and the black shoes but lets just say those would probably cost around $3 for the pants (or should I say trousers?), and $5 for the shoes.
Above are all the items I bought at a thrift store.
Coat (with arm patches, yay!) $8,
Shirt $2,
Suspenders $0.50
Bowtie $3
Total (including the pants and shoes):
$13.50
Chances are you won't find exactly what you're looking for 100% of the time. For instance I hadn't been expecting to find the coat with arm patches (that was just a big stroke of luck) so I was planning on buying the coat that came the closest in pattern and then sewing on patches myself. Which brings me to my next point:
- Don't be afraid to alter / modify your purchases to fit your needs.
Some things you will have to sew, cut, or otherwise alter to be just perfect for your costume. You might want to practice sewing before you start on the actual project if you've had little to no experience before. I try and keep my alterations to a minimum because 1. I'm lazy and don't want to have to clean off my desk for every single little thing before I can do it, and 2. I don't do the straightest stitches in the world. But here's an example:
My Malcolm Reynolds costume. I found some suspenders that fit the bill perfectly but the problem came with attaching them to the pants. I bought a few buttons (so that they would match) from the store and sewed them on to the waist.
You won't always find what you're looking for the first time, so as long as you're not getting a costume ready for an event the next day just keep going back and checking often. Or try different stores. Even in the smallish town that I live in there are a few different thrift stores. By now I've made a mental map / list of which store has the best selection of what. One store is good for a variety of shirts and pants, another one has lots of shoes, and the other carries a wide selection of coats (even in the summer). Belts, ties, and dress suits can be found at just about any of these so I usually go to which ever one has the best price when looking for them.
A few good tips:
Soon after halloween is the best time to shop, especially for wigs.
I use a lot of wigs when cosplaying so I don't have to cut, grow out, or color my hair every time I change costumes. While those are options I just prefer having the full costume ready to go at a moments notice.
Keep your costumes together.
As long as my costume is made up of clothes I don't usually wear, for instance my favorite t-shirt or jeans that I wear all the time, I keep most of my costumes together usually each complete one on a one heavy duty hangar in my closet. It's even better if you can find some suit / dress bags to put over them so they don't collect dust (but a large unused trash bag will work in a pinch, the downside being they aren't usually see-through so you'd have to mark it in some way so you know what costume is inside).
Couldn't find exactly what you were looking for? or need a specialty item?
If you can't find it at a thrift store or in any regular stores in your area I would suggest the next best thing: Online shopping. Usually Amazon or ebay will have what you're looking for at a very good price.
Showing off a few of my costumes (all of which were purchased from thrift stores):
^ River Song
Already had the jeans and shirt. Found the perfect jean jacket and then a wide belt (not shown, I'll get more pictures later) which I attached the holster for a cap gun pistol to. Add a clip on flashlight and I'm all set.
< Dr. Horrible
White lab coat,
Welding gloves,
And goggle which I have since painted and attached plastic rings scrounged from a junk drawer to make them look like the welding goggle he wears.
< Sherlock (duh)
Coat from a thrift store,
Scarf from a local dollar store.
< Chell from Portal 2
I opted for going with the costume from the second game because I thought it would be easier to find orange pants and a tank top than actually finding a whole orange jumpsuit (and I was right, though even orange pants are difficult to find). Also the long fall boots in the second game are more like boots...
rather than going barefoot with small springy stilt things attached to the back of your legs.
I really don't mind going barefoot but I'd prefer shoes if I'm going to be walking around a public and / or crowded place like comic con.
For some good pointers on how to make the long fall boots I found another blog on the subject:
Some time soon I'll try and get pictures of the full completed costumes above and some more that I'm working on (including Professor Layton and Luke).
Thanks for reading and have fun cosplaying!
