/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

[Anonymous No.7173497]

So my ex girlfriend who was quite a hardcore cosplayer (even placed in WCS) a decade or so back, used to hate the idea of taking a design of a costume, then changing it to make a personal adaption of the costume that would "work" better in the real world, to her, Cosplay was all about being as accurate to the source material as possible (to explain better, for the Batman films, if she did the costumes, she would have probably have straight up made costumes accurate as possible to the comic books, rather than come up with a new design for the film like the costume designers do)

So this is stuck in my head for a long time, because so many times I see cosplay, that while it works in a game or anime, just looks like shit in real life and I feel they could have worked if they took design elements of the original costume and put them into a new costume that works better in reality.
So I have to ask, what are your guys opinion on making a new adaption of a costume design for real world cosplay, instead of staying accurate to the source material? (Pic related)

[Anonymous No.7173526]

Adaptation is shit. The closer you are to a source material, the better (there are really rare cases where source is impossible to cosplay properly: the answer is do not cosplay these characters).
And by the way, yes, the source used "closer" to the original design is much better, i.e. manga cosplay is better than its anime adaptation, if manga is preceded by VN or ranobe, use this instead. This is easy as well, early source represents the designer original idea. There are some exceptions just to prove the whole rule though.

[Anonymous No.7173534]

>Otoyomegatari cosplay

I'm not gonna even bitch, I just squealed in happiness.

[Anonymous No.7173538]

>>7173534
Yeah I'm just fucking here for Brides Story

[Anonymous No.7173539]

I'm for accuracy. If you want to design your own thing, by all means do that. But don't take a design that someone else created and loves and just change it however you like.

[Anonymous No.7173544]

>>7173497
I agree that this works for outfits that are represented in very minimal art styles. A character might be wearing jeans but since the cartoon isn't animated in a realistic art style you don't see pockets or zippers. But the cosplay would probably wear real jeans (with the pockets and zippers) and it would look better than a zipperless, pocketless jersey pair of 'jeans', even if the latter looks closest to the source material.

I suppose its a matter of wanting to looks JUST LIKE the source material versus looking like the source material's real world equivalent.

[Anonymous No.7173545]

>>7173497
I'm all for accuracy but in some cases I will accept adaption.

In my case, I cosplay from a lot of concept arts where the design is not a final product. I think you should always make an effort to be accurate if you have the source material for a design that has obviously been solidified for a reason - but if you dont have that source material, there is no harm in adaption.

[Anonymous No.7173546]

I think it depends on the outfit or series.

I love all the Touhou designs, but some of them, translated into real life, would be so much more grand--in terms of little bitty details, like trim and materials and fabric patterns, etc.
I did a Flan cosplay and got a bit of hate from other Seagulls (before I posted final pics) because I opted for fancy satin instead of cotton. But she's supposed to be super rich, so I added a gold trim and other fancy elements without changing too much. It turned out amazing and still looked close to source-accurate.

But for something like Pokemon or something more basic, changing little details to make it more realistic makes it look like you didn't even try to get it correct. But I think that goes for all very simple designs. The reason why most L cosplayers suck ass.

And maybe my thoughts about adapting designs only applies to Touhou outfits because ZUN's designs are terrible and many fan adaptations are beautiful. But eh. I think I still stand by the thought.

In terms of OP's pic, I like the shape of the second outfit, and the look of the material, but I dislike how the patterns are so different from the source costume. If they could have simplified the patterns a bit, I think I'd be happier with it. All of this being said without having any clue what the actual design looks like, not recognizing the character.

[Anonymous No.7173547]

>>7173497

Accuracy and Adaptation are fine and honestly I don't see one as better than the other. Both can be a display of excellent craftsmanship (and creativity in the case of well done and clever adaptations) IF the adaptation isn't solely done to make the cosplay piss easy.

[Anonymous No.7173554]

For Otoyomegatari, I think it's perfectly fine. The design is obviously based on tribal patterns, and there's a limit to what the artist can display on paper, no matter how extravagant and detailed the art style is. The right one follows the same basic design but uses more stylish materials, and it looks fabulous. But this MUST be considering the source material. The thing I hate the most is bitches tricking out costumes that have no business being fucked with, especially Spiral Cats. Hong Kong, Japan, and Korean cosplayers are the worst with this. Using fucking glitter material and cheap gold lace trim instead of bias tape, shitty lace everywhere, tacky faceted rhinestones instead of casting their own gems. It looks like musical costumes, which wouldn't be bad if they /where/ in a musical (i.e. Seramyu) and had to for visual effect, but they're not, and it looks shit, badly crafted, and cheap.

[Anonymous No.7173561]

Depends on the outfit, like >>7173546 said.

Things that are supposed to be flat, simple, and cartoony should stay that way as much as possible.

However, more and more animes and games nowadays are being designed with outfits that are more extravagant and detailed, so I think there is definitely room for a bit of interpretation or additional embellishment.

There are two things that peeve me to no end though: cultural costume (like the one in OP) and character designers who obviously have NO CLUE how clothes actually work in real life.

I like the adaptation in OP. It looks like they went for a more "traditional" route with the costume, which I think is totally cool with cultural dress. As someone who does other types of costuming besides cosplay, I appreciate this a lot.

As for impossibly designed clothing and armor - sometimes you HAVE to make modifications for said thing to even be wearable (or comfortable - sometimes I've noticed armor with overlapping plates arranged in such a way that they bend the opposite direction from whatever body part they're strapped to. Obviously that will never work out on a moving person). There's really no way around it in that case.

So in short, I enjoy seeing both. Adaptation can be really cool, but only if it's done right. Don't just go throwing shitty trim at things thinking it'll make you special. On that note, anyone remember the great Amano trend back in 2005? Most of that was BAD adaptation. If you've got shit taste your personal twist on a costume will probably look like shit as well.

[Anonymous No.7173568]

Another example of the typical shitty 'fancy' type HK/KR/JP type cosplay. It looks so cheap and shitty.

[Anonymous No.7173570]

I like both.

[Anonymous No.7173573]

>>7173568
I thought that was tin foil for a second there. That really didn't work out well for her.

[Anonymous No.7173574]

>>7173568
The idea isn't bad, it's the fact that the material looks like bunched up tinfoil

[Anonymous No.7173584]

>>7173568
Great idea that just turned out kinda awful. It looks like if they just opted for a mylar or other plain foil the armor could have turned out great. Though the fabric bits look kinda terrible.

Interpretation can work but for the most part people have pretty meh to stupid ideas.

Where I find it most forgiveable is like >>7173546 mentioned. Someone who's rich or royalty would probably not be wearing a gown made of cotton. As long as the satin or velvet isn't shiny or crushed it works better imho. Also tons of cracters have reference art that varies between sources and between game/manga/animu versions of the same series. Rather than stick to one or the other I think it's fine to pick some things you like from one source or another for your final product. Like if a character's hair is more simple to style into a wig from the anime, but you liked the more retailed embroidery of the manga etc etc etc.

[Anonymous No.7173591]

This is exactly what's been keeping me up at night. I'm thinking about doing a cosplay of the Communicator, so I am trying to research Zoroastrian priests to inform me how the fabric is layered and pieced together.

I really do hate it when people just stitch together different fabric because that's how they see it in the reference images and they don't think about how the clothes are structured. I see this happening in the terrible klk cosplay; that eye is not just sitting on her chest, it's supposed to be a stylized neckerchief.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/zoroastrianism/priests.asp
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/zoroastrianism/funeral.asp
>leave the dead in houses called silent towers...where corpse eating birds and animals would come and consume it

[Anonymous No.7173592]

i prefer adaptation if the design would look like absolute shit in real life.

i'm gonna be real, giant blocks of primary colors on cotton might look fine in animanga, but it looks awful in real life.

[Anonymous No.7173596]

>>7173591
This. I think hte biggest perpetrator in cosplay is anything based off a kimono. Most people just treat it like they're making a bathrobe and don't bother researching all the layers and parts that go into wearing even a simple kimono.

[Anonymous No.7173607]

To me it really depends on the series and the character.
If it fits the style and portrait of both the series and the character , than it's fine to add some detailing.

For example here, the right Cure Peace cosplayer have added glitter trim on her transformation outfit. It works because the series is a very glittery series (however I don't like when they go all out satin and glitter because then it looks too much)

cont.

[Anonymous No.7173612]

>>7173607
cont.

Though in this example, with Kyouko Sakura from Madoka, the more accurate one looks better. Kyoukos character doesn't fit well with all the details and frills, so a more accurate cosplay does look better

[Anonymous No.7173614]

It depends on the design and the occasion.

You got the idea from someone who used to participate in competitions. If competing, obviously you should make your costume to match the rules of the comp, and in cosplay that tends to be accuracy because the source material gives the judges an objective reference point. Otherwise, how would you judge artistic interpretation? It'd be a nightmare. So, usually everyone just has to try and stick to the original as close as possible (obv simplifying the concept a little, it'll depend on the comp and the judges etc etc.)

If you're cosplaying for yourself, then I think it's up to the cosplayer to make a decision on what they think would look best, and that'll depend on the costume and the person's taste. I prefer adaptation if it's justified, like in the OP. Photography aside, the adaptation looks richer and has much more depth to it.

However, some people cosplay because they want to recreate an anime/manga/exact feel of the source material and they'll prefer the flatter more accurate colours and materials.

This is such an issue of taste I think you'll get a lot of differing opinions on it and the "general" opinion will depend on the community you ask.

[Anonymous No.7173616]

>>7173612
Then there are the cases where the source material isn't the best or easiest to make a cosplay from. Like concept art for example.

Someone mentioned Touhou earlier in the thread, and yes, Zun's artwork isn't the best to make a cosplay from, so a lot of people use Fanart as their source. And in those cases it just all boil down to personal preference.


However, for contests, I think you should always go for accuracy over creative details.

[Anonymous No.7173638]

I think it depends on the specific series and the design, but I don't really think either approach is inherently wrong.

I think the thing is, any cosplay is inherently going to include some elements of 'adaptation' or the cosplayer's personal interpretation of the outfit. Most anime designs aren't really created with real fabric in mind or illustrated in enough detail to see it, seams are often omitted or just plain wonky because the character designer doesn't understand how clothing is constructed, hair just doesn't work the way it's often drawn in anime and so on. I think it's really more a matter of if you tend to prefer 'screen accuracy' or 'realism.'

Personally, I think the more haphazard and arbitrary embellishments are a little odd (arbitrary extra frills and bling), but I guess I've always been a fan of looking at costumes from the perspective of "if this character were a real person, what would this costume look like?" Say your character's wearing a close fitting hat that looks like a beanie, but there's no knit texture drawn on it, I think it's pretty fair to conclude something like "if this were a real item it would be knit" even if the design isn't explicit in that detail. Of course, the more removed from reality a character or design becomes the more difficult it is to make sound decisions like that, but for things more grounded in reality I think it can add a lot to a costume (especially historically inspired stuff).

If you get really close to 'truly' screen-accurate with anime I think it tends to look bizarre (arguably those foam wigs for DBZ hair are probably more 'accurate' but most people think they look pretty dumb!)

[Anonymous No.7173639]

Sometimes you have to change things just because the character design is impossible in the real world, or would look terrible on a body with real human proportions. Clamp is probably one of the worst offenders: armor in rayearth you won't be able to get into without adding joins, and some of the pieces need to be further altered so you can actually move, or in xxxHolic they're all super elongated noodle people, so that won't necessarily translate to a real body. Other times you have to consider what the artist was trying to achieve, but didn't draw accurately. In Rose of Versailles there's a lot of inaccuracies and details left out on the costumes, and we have many historical references for the clothing, so it often makes more sense to go with the real world version instead of the sketchy shoujo art from the 70's. Most cosplayers (and incidentally judges) will accept that these are reasonable interpretations and changes to the design. It's when people decide that they're going to make changes that don't make sense that it's bad to deviate from the design.

[Anonymous No.7173712]

I think adaption is only okay if the original outfit is supposed to look that way. Like, Hetalia or Rose of Versailles or whatever. They're supposed to be historical outfits, so imo why not actually make them historically accurate? This of course only works if you go all the way instead of just adding small details because that usually just looks weird. If the original design was only inspired by real life fashion, stick to the original design.

[Anonymous No.7173736]

>>7173497
Both look good, but I have much more respect for the accurate girl who (I'm assuming?) had to draft out all the little decorative patterns to applique/embroider. Too many people are too reliant on pre-made trims and fabrics that substitute accuracy for easiness.

[Anonymous No.7173738]

Related question - I'm working on this version of Nami and I want to use beading for the pattern on the top and purple part on the skirt since it seems to be that kind of style. (belly dancer kind of?)
Would that be too over-the-top or do you guys think it could work?

[Anonymous No.7173739]

>>7173738

I think it would be appropriate.

[Anonymous No.7173751]

>>7173554

I think that looks good though.

>>7173568

This, not so much.

[Anonymous No.7173799]

>>7173497
While the right one in OPs pic look pretty, It looks more like a random Nomadic traditional outfit than a cosplay since she added and changed so much on the costume that it's barely recognizable to the original

[Anonymous No.7173809]

>>7173712
That feeling when you decided to go for a Historical German field uniform for Germany because you felt the way it was drawn made it look cheap when in RL. Then the new animation comes out and your 'inaccurate Germany cosplay' is now very accurate and they are all stuck with blue/aqua monstrosities.


funny enough you can get better and cheaper Germany cosplays from repo sites.

[Anonymous No.7173869]

This might be my recovering Homestuck-tardism talking, but I really like seeing people's real-life adaptations of simple designs. It's the same reason why I was doubly excited for most of the recent Marvel films - I really love how they adapted Thor's design - and why I enjoy otherwise terrible films like Mirror Mirror and The Three Musketeers (2011). Of course, adaptations only work well if someone's put some actual thought into them. Most of the adapted cosplays that I've seen that I've liked the most have had changes made to reflect the character's social station, be more accurate to a cultural costume, make a piece of clothing more functional, or whatever. There's at least some kind of reasoning behind them.

That being said, if a character has a nicely rendered outfit with some visually interesting details and that's the only outfit they have for the series, adding frills and shit for the hell of it seems kind of self-serving. I like more accurate Kyouko in >>7173612 a lot more than the one with the random extra ruffles. I feel like adaptations work a lot better for characters who are shown in multiple outfits or who appear in multiple sources (manga, anime, whatever).

[Anonymous No.7173905]

>>7173607
>>7173612
I think the same girl/group that did that frilly Kyouko cosplay does some pretty OTT Precure cosplays too. Even for Precure it doesn't work. They put lace on damn near every part of the outfit and use that sequin material a lot. It's too much, even for a sparkly series like Precure. The girls are cute and do make up really well, if they'd just tone the outfits down a little bit they'd be perfect.

[Anonymous No.7173908]

>>7173905

[Anonymous No.7173921]

>>7173908
>>7173905
I agree, they just overdo it. You can put a little bit of interesting detail, like this Cure Peace , but when you do it on th whole cosplay, it just is too much

[Anonymous No.7173935]

>>7173554
is... is this supposed to be oscar?
>french revolution
>"let's show the public that we're not spending money on useless bullshit!"
>goes outside in this uniform
>killed by a mob of angry peasants

[Anonymous No.7173943]

>>7173554
i think this is supposed to be more based on the takarazuka costumes, which a re really blingy already. i don't really like the use of the glitter fabric for the main jacket here, though. otherwise, looks like takarazuka style stage costume.

[Anonymous No.7173945]

>>7173943
>>7173935
case in point, image related

[Anonymous No.7173949]

>>7173554
That's Takarazuka. I couldn't find the exact source, but here's a cast shot. You can see it's embellished for the stage. Using this source material, this is an amazing Lady Oscar.

I say accuracy to the character is key and it depends on your source. Want to go more anime? Cool. Want to go more manga? Cool. Want to do the stage version? Cool. Heck, want to have a nice blend of manga and anime because the anime is more physically possible but the manga has nice details? That's cool too.

[Anonymous No.7173972]

>>7173945
>>7173949
I'm heavily into 'zuka and that glitter fabric would even be over the top for them. During the actual show they usually go for things like pic related - glittery, but not eye-melting. Outfits made completely out of sparkles are confined to revues or semi-revues at the end of a full show.

[Anonymous No.7176481]

bump

[Anonymous No.7176713]

What manga is that?

[Anonymous No.7176722]

>>7173497
Isn't the whole idea of cosplay to be as close as possible to the source?
If you are just doing an adaption it's not really a cosplay but an OC more or less.
Not a cosplayer myself. Not even sure how I got here from /x/, /k/ and /pol/.

[Anonymous No.7179958]

>>7176722
spoken like someone who has never cosplayed or thought about it.

[Anonymous No.7180005]

I actually disagree a bit with flat "cartooney" colors staying that way. Some of the more plain cosplays could benefit from adding another dimension, i.e. subtly patterned silk instead of plain broad cloth. The same with slightly changing a historical design to be more accurate to how it would have originally be made/worn. Obviously this varies from cosplay to cosplay though, and there's a point in any costume where adding anything else, historically accurate or not, would take the cosplay to far from its original source.

[Anonymous No.7180020]

>>7176713
Otoyomegatari. Read it, it is really good. The art is amazing.

[Anonymous No.7180024]

>>7173526
I agree with this. OP is a faggot/

[Anonymous No.7180704]

>>7173592
This I agree with. Sometimes a design just does not translate well into real life especially if the character has really weird proportions, have a hairstyle that does not translate to 3D well or has a really unique color scheme that only works within the anime.

Another example I can think of is when the source material is purposely made inconsistent. Take Jojo for example where Araki gives a big "fuck you" to the idea of having a consistent color scheme.

[Anonymous No.7181016]

I think you need to adapt it a bit. You can't make your face, skin or hair look cartoony unless you do something drastic. Even something simple like wearing your costume enough so that it gets slightly weathered gives you the effect that you're that living, breathing character.

And then there are times where the body proportions are just impossible.

[Anonymous No.7181073]

I personally like seeing cosplayers get creative with embellishments, as long as they stay true to the character. If the character seems like she or he would be flamboyant, by all means, add some sparkles. If the character is meant to be poor or perhaps more conservative (sorry for English, hopefully you understand what I mean), please do not use a lot of elegant trim or distracting elements. If a fuller skirt would look nicer or a more historically accurate approach to the garment would be more impressive, go ahead and give it a try.