There’s no better occasion than Halloween to express your creativity with costumes and accessories that will take you to a whole world of fantasy to spend the evening. Whether you make your own or purchase them already made, your choices are endless.
The most requested characters this year were witches and dinosaurs and fairies. However, video games, as well as movie cosplays like Pikachu, Fortnite characters, and Harley Quinn are also very well-known. Star Wars, Top Gun, as well as Barbie, were also on the list of top 50 this year.
In the year 2020, the Cosplay market was hit by a decline due to the COVID-19 virus. Events and sales fell and ended. However, its market is growing again and is predicted to reach more than $23,008.3 million by 2030.
What are cosplay costumes?
Cosplay can be described as an art form where people dress up with costumes and accessories to depict their favorite characters from manga, anime or TV shows, movies, or any other video game.
Nobuyuki Takahashi was a Japanese filmmaker who coined the term “cosplay” (a portmanteau word meaning “costume play”) after attending the 1984 World Science Fiction Convention in Los Angeles. However, the tradition of dressing up in costumes for masquerade balls and party events dates back to the 15th century.
These are the most sought-after cosplays in 2022
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There are various kinds of cosplays, and the major ones include characters from video games, movies, and television. According to Allied Market Research, cosplays that mimic movie characters are among the most well-known. They account for 43.1 percent of all merchandise sales. This is mostly due to the rising popularity of fictional and mythological characters in the industry.
People prefer to buy their costumes pre-made from specialist stores, accounting for 63.2 percent of all sales. However, sales from online stores are projected to grow by 2030.
The most well-known cosplay from a movie this year is Spider-Man, which is the second most popular costume for Halloween in general as per Billboard. Stranger Things characters, as well as Harley Quinn, made it into the top 10 of Billboard’s list. For fans of video games The top spot on the list of Rankers this year is characters from The Quarry, followed by Super Mario Strikes and MultiVersus.
How do you create the perfect cosplay costume starting from scratch
Lisa Lou Who, a famous cosplayer from Minnesota, told Newsweek her three top tips for creating the best costumes by starting from scratch. These include hitting up Google as well as thrift shops and getting crafty with hot glue.
1. Google
According to Lisa Lisa, Google is an essential tool, especially in the beginning, where you can find tutorials and guidance for everything that you need:
There are a lot of tutorials on different techniques. Let’s say you want to build a pair of horns to perform a task. You’ll find YouTube videos and people writing blog entries about the subject.” she said.
2. Thrift stores
Thrift stores offer top-quality products at very low prices. Lisa recommends sourcing your fabrics and other items from these stores. You can buy old clothes made with fabrics that fit the theme of the character you’ve in mind and then rip them apart–there’s the easily sourced inexpensive material that you can use.
3. Hot glue
Making your costumes implies much sewing, but don’t worry in case you’re not sure how to sew. It is also possible to use hot glue to make magic.
Lisa said, “If you don’t know how to sew, you could hot glue fabric”, especially for beginners.
Lisa typically creates her costumes in just a few days, and that’s because she learned how to sew before even developing a passion for cosplay, but if you’re inexperienced it could take longer.
Create your costume to life with makeup and wigs
When cosplay is brought to life, the wig, as well as the makeup, are crucial according to Lisa.
“When people stare at you, the first thing they’re gonna be looking at is your eyes, so right from the beginning, I grew accustomed to wearing circle lenses that are like large contacts that make your eyes appear larger as well, and also plenty of eyelashes.”
Makeup is not just for feminine characters, Lisa added: “Even still when I’ve created male characters that are full of testosterone, I still have lots of makeup because when you do that, you alter your contour, which can alter the structure of your face, and also make your face appear more masculine.”
You don’t have to be exactly like the character! ‘
Lisa, she says that cosplay isn’t about impersonating the character, but more about incorporating the spirit of the character that you’re trying to impersonate. To make a successful cosplay, you will need to replicate a few recognizable traits that are characteristic of your character and that everybody recognizes their character for.
“For instance, if would like to design the Pokemon, deciding on the distinct features of the Pokemon is going to be incredibly important. So let’s say you’re looking at a Pikachu. Naturally the colors matter. Yellow is my preferred. And, I think that the electric lightning bolt tail is the most distinctive characteristic of the Pikachu.
“And so long as you have that tail and you’re yellow and you have cheeks that are red everyone will recognize you as Pikachu, you can be dressed in a tutu or a ballgown, it doesn’t matter!”
There are gender-neutral, male and female costumes, however, you can switch them around.
“I have friends who did sexy renditions of Super Mario Mario. They got it. The key components were the hat and the big bubbles on the blue overalls. One of my friends was a fan of the 1950s pinup style with little suspenders however, it didn’t work, and you know exactly that was Mario.