adultingcosplaying

[adultingcosplaying]

Between Balling and Asking for Help...

By this point, I'm pretty convinced that Cosplaying is a communal hobby; one that will be inevitably shared and enjoyed with people. From crafting to production, it will always be better if there are other people. More people, even.

But not for me. At least, not yet.

Engaging with the community (and socializing in general) has always been a chore for me as receiving and expecting people's reaction to my personal preferences and projects can be intimidating. As such, I try to do things by myself as much as possible and when worse come to worst, I turn to...

...friends.

If anyone has noticed, the wig featured for this fem!Cora cosplay was of a shorter length, and it was bought in conjunction with other wigs with the intention of murdering it for wig styling practice. I attempted to style it with curls using tools I have at home, but it didn't work as I hoped it would, so I turn to a good friend to style it. They had access to better irons and skills, and I watched at awe at how they made the curls work, giving me a couple of tips on what to work on later.

So maybe I have it in me to eventually engage with the local cosplaying community. I just have to muster the courage to do so just as much as I did in asking a friend for help without thinking I'm a big inconvenience for them. idk when it will be, but I look forward to that time.

Anyways, this isn't the last of the fem!Cora agenda, given that there are still accessories to be made! I love how the wig is giving Stussy vibes as well, so if permitted, I might give it a chance, too! the vibes it give is so elegant, I can't seem to do the goofy Cora poses ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ ) Maybe as part of trying, please let me know how this look can be improved~ ᕙ( •̀ ᗜ •́ )ᕗ

[adultingcosplaying]

The Results of Locking In...

One will be surprised with how much of a 360-turn I can do with things. I'm equally suspicious as to why I stray away from initial (personal) plans, but I think it's partially because of my current fixation.

It's probably detrimental bc I'm in that state where,

It's my plan and I should stick with it, and,

It's MY plan and I CAN change it to better suit my goals.

So yeah, previous costrials, scrapped. I bring a totally different one to the spotlight today:

. ݁₊ ✶. ݁ ˖ˎˊ˗ Fran Bow . ݁₊ ✶. ݁ ˖ˎˊ˗

My company is hosting a Costume Contest with a special feature on video game characters. I became interested in entering, but came to a conundrum of who to portray. While I do play a good selection of titles, most of the games I'm into are quite... difficult to do on a short notice. While rewatching Markiplier videos, I reignited my fascination with the lore behind the game "Fran Bow", and eventually decided to portray her.

It's not a complete getup, since searching for a costume similar to her outfit is quite challenging with the short deadline I'm working with. But what's interesting about this instance is that I had the chance to make props. It isn't a lot of props, but I was quite proud of procuring these labels for her meds.

Additionally, making a digital collage for this particular entry has been quite fulfilling. It just sucks that I had to do everything late at night.

Typing up to this point, I find it fulfilling to finish everything in time to place my entry in the contest. I don't know how these types of contests go, so I'm equally excited to see how the entry will be received.

In the meantime, help yourselves to these pics! Let me know how you find it!

[adultingcosplaying]

A Stretch too far... I think...

With yet another changing schedule, there might be little time to do some of the cosplay trials in mind. Despite that, guess who took the bait of buying a bundle of wigs (me) T^T I don't think this "unboxing" video showcased the ones I got, but the short wigs were a bit too short for my liking, so I will have to make the bitter decision to butcher it and Frankenstein my way in stitching wigs together.

I'm not going to say to stay tuned, bc everything is so unstable right now, but I hope you (and me) will be around to see where it goes.

[adultingcosplaying]

UNCOSPLAYING 101

The actual meaning of "Transformation" ↑⇧🠱↑⇧🠱↑⇧🠱 featured in the vid!! I think I yapped too much there, so I'll keep this short for now. (づ_ど)(づ_ど)(づ_ど)(づ_ど)

Hope all Law fans were able to enjoy celebrating his special day! ♥♥

[adultingcosplaying]

R O O M ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔

(I'm in Shambles)

It's a different kind of excitement (or kilig as we call it in Filipino) when you pull a stunt you didn't expect to turn out well. I still have weird emotions tied with cosplaying male characters (not sure if it's a gender typa thing), but there's something about the idea of getting into the persona of a male character that immediately boost my confidence like, over a 100000%

Due to sleep conflicts, I decided to give it another go, and just in time for this loser's (affectionately) birthday! Sure, it took... what, three--four-ish hours total to get in and out of this costrial; my right hand might be permanently stained with his tattoos, but it was worth it! (,,♡ᵕ♡,,)

There's a couple of realizations to get from this Law costrial, though!

Don't use drawing pens to draw on your skin

Mascara and black liners make decent fake hair

Contour your neck and collarbones bc hOLY SHIT IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE

Remember to stay hydrated (with water, dumbass) bc cosplaying can take a while

I guess with the "success" of this Law cosplay, it will be time to invest in some accurate costumes, though it's still up for consideration bc of the current physical storage situation, but let's see!

Anyways, best of birthdays to Trafalgar Law!! (∩˃o˂∩)♡(∩˃o˂∩)♡(∩˃o˂∩)♡(∩˃o˂∩)♡ Here are a couple more silly, maybe out of character shots !!

[adultingcosplaying]

M e l l o r i n e~ ♡ ‧₊˚ ⋅ ౨ৎ ‧₊ .ᐟ

If I had all the time in the world, I'd probably spend half of it yapping how much I love the fictional characters I am currently hyperfixating on. One Piece is a great anime and the multitude of characters it features will guarantee that any viewer will have someone to latch on... out of love or out of hatred.

Given this setup, it's hard not to get the question, "Who is your favorite Straw Hat crew member?" at times. It's quite a difficult question to answer, since I have so much to love about each individual member that it sounds like a crime to like only one of them. But I guess favoritism take a grip in other ways because this took place. (ᵕ—ᗜ—)

Aside from his weird ass trope of chasing around women, everything about Vinsmoke Sanji exudes with perfection (for me, at least).

Cooking skills? ✅

Gentlemanliness? ✅

Combat skills? (Dude's literally a ballerina (づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ♡ ) ✅

Espionage? ✅

Kindness? ✅

Femininity? ✅

Tragic backstory with father issues? ✅

Child-like wonder for the All Blue? ✅

So yes, feel free to add to the list anything I missed, but I hope working on this costrial showed how much I adore him. It's funnier bc I didn't really shopped for his pre-ts fit. It just so happen that I already owned something similar, so when I realized that I did have those clothes (plus little sib's necktie), the rest was history. ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

I'd love to hear your thoughts about it! It'll take a while before I actually wear it out in events, but this is definitely boosting my desire to do so in the future!! ♥

[adultingcosplaying]

Same Look, Different Hairs

I'm slowly closing in to the most recent shenanigans showing my progress with different aspects of cosplaying. Pics above feature a more natural makeup look, with focus on an //attempt// to fake (?) an aegyosal.

Korean-style makeup is intimidating to replicate bc of its promises of a more natural look, but most of their beauty standards will rarely apply to foreigners, especially those with different skintones. Plus, I do not personally find the K-beauty trends like "glass skins" appealing, but since much of it also appears in the cosplay community, I said, "eff et, but try to make it as your own."

And so the aegyosal trial began. Some rage of my youth manifested during the process, saying how time-consuming it is to achieve THE look. More self-questioning if it's even worth it and ngl, I guess it really depended on the present me. Still, the techniques worked and I eventually liking the look the more I took pictures. During the course of taking selfies, I considered trying on some of my wigs for the sake of it and I'm surprised how slightly different the makeup look has turned out.

Is this some sort of magick?!?! Did I falter in maintaining lighting across all photos??!?! Why does each vibe differently???

I'd be really happy to find out the answers to it. For now, as I wrapped up the picture-taking sesh this time, I stumbled upon a realization:

How I hate the style of these wigs' bangs... but it's really popular in Korea these days... wait...

[adultingcosplaying]

Going Browless is a Lifetime Commitment

By this point in documenting my rocky adventures with cosplaying, I should reveal that my ultimate fascination with cosplayer is their ability to transform to a whole ass different person every. single. time.

And it's not just about the costumes! Makeup really does a lot of wonder in altering (?) someone's appearance and I long to learn the skill on how to change my face (This is a perfectly normal human desire do not alert the authorities). In that sense, I found the fleeting motivation to shave my brows.

Because of how my skin is, several earlier attempts to glue it down and pat it with concealer did not work for too long. By the time I'm done with drawing a new set of brows, the glue was already peeling off of my face. So for a long time, brows and eye makeup in general became the most intimidating aspect for me, and I think it's still evident in the vid above. T^T

Still, with undying spite, I persisted. Idk my preference with brows, since I tend to follow my natural brows when drawing it in and the only time I have ever tried carving sharp ones was when another good friend is present (and knows what they are doing). Colleagues notice that I tend to have it short and stubby, barely reaching the end of my eye like my natural brows do. And the fact that I can still recognize it whenever I try to draw different ones does not help. My mind still thinks it's the correct one and drawing ones that does not follow it is a federal crime.

What can a woman do?!?! Well, there is a bearable solution and that is, using a different glue altogether to achieve... this...

I think photography from Selma (my phone) helps in fortifying the browless illusion, bc one should know that my face does not look as smooth as this pic when my brows were glued down!! I'm still laughing at this selfie bc I literally looked like an egg with a face XD

So I switched glues.... from using the typical non-toxic glue stick to generic wig glue. Patting down cosmetics on it when it dries is a bit tricky to blend, but it works and it's easier to draw over new brows on top of it.

This is how that initial egg face turned out and tbh, hearing my granny gasp in shock thinking a stranger got inside the house when I looked at her is the badge of achievement needed to consider this trial successful (I'm so sorry for the mini heart attack grandma, love you)

So yeah, uhh, don't go browless, ladies if you're not ready to be a bare-faced egg for a while.

[adultingcosplaying]

The Thing with Wigs...

Being surprised by cosplay content in socmed, I always thought in my early days of cosplay shopping that a lot of things I see from many cosplayers will come as HQ as they are out of the packaging. Majority of brand-new cosplay essentials are always never available locally, so many are shipped from overseas (see, China and Japan). Due to the nature of manufacturing such items, it's inevitable to be disappointed upon unboxing.

Turns out there is a thing such as S T Y L I N G.

I love life bc it never fails me to surprise at every turn. It seems that while it's easy to purchase a cosplay item, it's more difficult to consolidate it to the "look" you want bc it often comes unstyled out of the package!

I gotta be honest, I hate the work that comes with styling anything mainly because I'm not skilled enough to achieve the ideal "look" that I want. That's where cosplay stylists come in! For a good price, you may entrust your cosplay necessities to them to be closer to your preferences!

But I do not have the budget for a stylist..... yet....

So what does one do?

Well, you put your crappy styling skills to use.

This red wig is a perfect example of showing the (current) styling skills I have. I treated it like any normal hooman hair, nabbing my siblings' gel and styling wax and iron to make any semblance of Grell's spiky hair fringes. It failed, of course, since the wig itself (being a secondhand one) has its own shortcomings already.

Perhaps one limitation holding me back from going all out on styling this wig is budget still. Starting over is not an option as of the moment, given the tight belt I got around my waist, so my styling knowledge is more on watching vids and getting as many advice online as possible. If I gather the fortitude to butcher a wig or two, I shall do so.

But the thing with prolonging an activity like this is that I get more attached to my wigs that I almost don't want to sacrifice them! The dilemma of humanity!!! Anyways, if I have the budget to get a stylist, Grell's hair is definitely my top priority!! ♥♥♥

For now, we style guns blazing, Death!

[adultingcosplaying]

"𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙩." //tripped, fell face down, somehow spontaneously combusted//

Characters with interesting stories and development in their universes are one of the major drivers as to why people cling onto them. In my sudden journey watching One Piece, there are many characters in the series that did their roles well, and one that left a mark was DONQUIXOTE ROSINANTE or as you and I and Law call him: CORAZON ♥ .

Corazon (and Doflamingo)'s tragedy, plus his impact to Law is what got me hooked to his character, which is why my mind and other socmed was immediately filled with him after finishing Dressrosa. Someone said in passing that another form of love is to find tidbits of that person in every moment of your life, and hoo boy, clothes shopping has never been the same. And eventually, I ended up finding a set of outfit to match Corazon's canon clothes.

But do remember that I only have one blond wig. And it's a long one...

amen for photography skillz!

because I originally looked like this!!! I can't believe picture-taking skills will come into play for this typa thing, but my excitement is over the clouds when I did this trial. Oh and this was actually made for #CorazonWeek2024 over on the bird app, so yeah, it was still rusty, but I hope to do this again!

I guess working with one blond wig now means every other male blond-haired character I'll be working with is now.... a woman.

I feel like I've been given God-like powers. The possibilities.... are endless....

but yeah! That's a Corazon costrial! I'm still not over it, though.

[adultingcosplaying]

Why even, honestly?

My teenager self would most likely be frothing at the mouth knowing that not only I recorded myself doing makeup, but posting it on the internet alongside an embarrassing (maybe) anecdote about it. To that, I say,

"Suck it up!"

I think I deprived myself of the ability to be as l o o s e as possible during my teenage years that I am now trying to reconcile all of the energy I have festering inside me into this space (and the fact that I'm running out of digital space, so I have to get this out somewhere as proof of my existence). I forgive myself for doing so, as I know I have a long way to go to accept that I am actually working on myself through such acts of self-expression.

I had beef with cosmetics during my adolescence, mainly because there's little support I get from people in terms of using makeup and doing proper skincare. School deterred us from putting it on our faces, while relatives recommended items that worked for them. When it didn't work for me, I just assumed that I am a girl who looked and will never look decent with it. College and peer pressure somehow got me using a good cleanser every now and then, but the price tags on most-sought brands demotivated me even more. It was only when I entered the workplace did I learn how to prep myself up. Even then, it was a harsh environment, with backhanded compliments and sus recommendations. While I did find good advice from good people, it was quite hard keeping up with maintaining appearances with the workload.

This particular cycle of beef with makeup actually exhausted me and eventually made me question the standards society has put up with women. Still, there is excitement in dreaming to transform my appearance through cosmetics, and in experimenting with makeup for the sake of cosplay, I eventually found the renewed energy to claim the pride in wearing it for aesthetics. Eventually, I found the time to research about my skin and the products that will work well on it; which leads to my current makeup prep and skincare routine.

My main difficulty with makeup still has to be contouring. In the video above, I continue to follow through a Pinterest tip on contouring, which somehow emphasizes on feminine features. While exciting, I found that prolonged period of working with... my face... robbed me of the ability to see any changes as soon as I'm done with the makeup. Is it just me? or am I still... me? dID ANYTHING CHANGE?!?!?!

A couple more practice may help. Keep those eyes peeled.

[adultingcosplaying]

IT'S THEIR FAULT!!!

....sheesh, that was unnecessarily accusatory, but I'm sure it piques the curiosity of anyone to know what (or who) drives anyone to cosplay the characters they... cosplay. It might be an equally unnecessary thing to share, but as someone whose time is now mostly dedicated to being a (somewhat) useful member of society, I will 100000% drop everything to yap about the characters I have (and will) attempt (attempted and/or attempting) to cosplay.

I do have an inclination to prefer male anime characters, given it's relatively easier for me to match my personal fashion tastes with theirs. I find it difficult to do so with female anime characters before (exemption on the seifukus bc that was my favorite) since I actually rejected femininity growing up; viewing it as garish and time-consuming to do. Ofc, it's a different case now, and I am making amends with my little self and healing her by making my current self the prettiest princess ever.

That being said, my initial preference with cosplaying male characters still wins these days, but perhaps a good consolidation to it is that I prefer characters who take more androgynous appearances; ones that can confuse the normal person's eyes when seen strutting around the mall (I think this is the mission God gave me before sending me to Earth.) So characters with long hair are an immediate check for me.

Edward Elric is already a fine choice since I see myself in him physique and personality-wise: short, hot-headed, and unstoppable. These, alongside the fact that he's a great character from a great and beloved franchise, are the reasons why he's in my list.

Perhaps a semi-spoiler to the next few ones you'll see around here will be characters sporting blond hair! You may attribute it to the fact that I currently only have one blond wig to work with and frankly speaking, it can be surprising how many blond characters I know and adore to my core. In the meantime, I have listed many anime characters who are boosting me to continue:

•Grell Sutcliff (and tbh everyone from the Black Butler franchise) - all of them are beautiful to the point I cry every time I rewatch the show.

•Leviathan from Obey Me! - lovable nerd and bc I have a wig that can go well with a fem! version~ though ngl otome fantasy games and their lovely costumes somehow deter me from trying to cosplay them bc it's quite complex, but I really love the Obey Me! cast and I miss Levi

•Hitoshi Shinsou from MHA - idk man, I loved Shinsou's character the moment he appeared in S2. Haven't seen him in the recent seasons, but ik he rocks!

•Caren from Mermaid Melody! Pichi Pichi Pitch - also bc of the wig lmao bUTTT I'M REWATCHING THE SHOW AND I REALLY WANTED TO BE A MERMAID NOW

•Hijikata Toshirou from Gintama - .... I have a short black wig aaaa okay but to be fair, Toshi is like a failure of a man and I totally relate to him being a formidable person but also a nerd so yeah, I will!

•Shinobu Kocho from Demon Slayer - milady deserved so much T^T

wait.....

[adultingcosplaying]

WORKING WITH WHAT WE HAVE

By this point of costrials, I have tried a couple of times to contour my face on my own. I think I may have developed light sensitivity due to prolonged exposure to my desk lamp light, but maybe it's worth it.

Featured is a semi-official trial of a character I really adore: Edward Elric. I have watched the FMA franchise since the local TV channel aired it and have rewatched by the time I decided to buy a blonde wig and do this. Speaking of cosplay shopping, I make it a point to avoid buying brand new, since I know how most costumes are on a one-time-use basis, so local communities buying, selling, and trading cosplay stuff is really beneficial. The blonde wig here is from such a purchase, and will feature in other upcoming posts. It's on the rougher side, even though it was washed prior to wearing and idk if there's a reason for it, but it's long and thick enough to get the look.

I remember lamenting how I wasn't able to make myself look "masculine" enough in this contouring session, but it's quite hilarious to see that putting on the only pair of lashes I have turned this Ed to a more "bishounen" look. It's poetic, ngl. Most of the eye makeup I did referenced this style, since it's also a personal ideal to achieve really pretty eyes. Overall, this trial is a mix of what should be and what I wanted at the time.

Was it chaos? maybe.

You know what's great about seeing the character when you dress up? The excitement to see their resemblance in you. I'm literally giddy with joy posing for pictures in this look, which is something I rarely feel about myself before. I'm trying to find that same excitement when I'm out of the wig and makeup, but there's something really fulfilling about getting the character's specific look. If the time permits these days, I may go and opt to improve this particular trial. For now, I think I nailed it. And the burst of energy this caused actually prompted me to begin making... props?!?!

[adultingcosplaying]

STORIES OF THE SEIFUKUS

If there is one versatile stereotypical outfit that many (if not all) cosplayers are familiar with, it's hands down the seifuku, which, fun fact (mostly to me bc I just knew of the word's etymology like it's the eNLIGHTENMENT !!! ) comes from the combo of the words "sailor" and "fuku" (clothes in Japanese iirc) this has way too much enclosed info im so sorry, but yes! SEIFUKU!!! JAPANESE SAILOR-STYLE SCHOOL UNIFORM.

Given a lot of anime focuses on the daily lives of highschoolers/teenagers (which is mostly the demographics of anime and manga... I think...), it's no surprise that the most common attire will make its way to cosplaying and fashion in general. Personally, I am in favor of the sailor subculture style mainly because of its simple design (and well, the collar!) and for some reasons, its origin as a typical school uniform also gives me a sense of nostalgia for my own elementary/high school days.

Needless to say, since I am an adult trying out a hobby yearned by child me, I hope to dive (heh) into the persona of the characters I love, but given the tight budget I'm working with for now, seifukus offer a practical way for me to get into style. After all, school setup is a common spin-off in many anime series; my favorite being the Ginpachi-sensei from Gintama.

Most of the seifukus I am on the hunt for come in two parts: the top and the bottom. It's easy to spot seifuku tops due to its iconic collar, and many items in my wardrobe do feature sailor-inspired outfits, but the two featured above exclusively mirrors school uniform tops. As I get most of my clothes from various thrift shops, it's surprising to get two seifuku tops with the same cut and design (save for the color, ofc). Needless to say, it's exhilarating to do so for a cheap price tag.

Seifuku bottoms are quite difficult to hunt because of size uncertainties in thrift shops, but I hope to find one that is white (again, for practicality) so I can swap it easily with the tops I already have!

I guess the point of all of this is... nothing... lmao honestly, mayhaps a couple of tips to anyone who is taking baby steps in cosplaying as a hobby like I am rn:

•Thrift shops are godsent places to find and match outfits

•Invest on generic Seifukus! It'll literally make sense to any anime characters you're cosplaying!

•Multiple tops, several bottoms (This might sound really bad in any other context lol >_>)

Anyways, my phone (Selma) has a bit of a hiccup taking pictures recently, so I tried saving some of these via screenshots T^T RIP but nothing will stop me from documenting these!!!

[adultingcosplaying]

Greedy much?

A lot of challenges arise at the start of every endeavor. Personally not a fan of "beginnings" because that's where all the scary stuff happen. My brain is haywiring, thinking of everything and anything that can happen during this period. And it is at this point that everything HAS to be perfect.

tbh, I do not give myself a lot of slack. I owe myself an apology for that, which is something I try to reconcile as I work on this trial.

Another thing that has kept me out of cosplaying for so long is the time and effort needed to look for the PERFECT costume (there it is again!!!) ik how nitpicky a lot of people can be when seeing cosplayers in character, and I know my perfectionist ass is not going to settle for less, but my penny-pinching side clearly does not want to splurge a lot of money for it. (Even as an adult earning money, I know I have more priorities than a HQ full costume ;;)

ofc, one cannot have all...

...or can I?

I'm not going to pull out my upbringing as an excuse for this (I clearly deserved more), but the harsh reality of borderline poverty has set my lifestyle into several principles in terms of consumables like fashion: a. it must be something I can continue to wear in the next few years, b. it must be something multipurpose, and, c. it must be affordable as it is comfortable.

That said, I approached my first trial with the resourcefulness and I'm now looking back to it with things I adore about the experience. I also have 0 knowledge of contouring at this point and have been relying on Pinterest posts for tips. Then again, it's a trial, no need to be so harsh on it.

Something close enough will do. It's not the bare minimum (or maybe it is), but at least I learned a lot through this. For one, I now know that there are not a lot of good space at home to take pictures and that I need to have the lamp on my face during makeup times to see the effects of contouring lol

I think I can pull it off....!!

[adultingcosplaying]

The Frugality of Adulthood led to a windy path.

Child me of, idk, 5 or even 12 years old will never believe that I'd actually push through the passing "what-ifs" of dressing up as my favorite anime characters. It's wild to think about even as I type this because my mental state regarding cosplay falls in the spectrum of: "I am not physically built in a way that is appealing to the general audience" and "who tf cares?!"

As someone who's perception of beauty has been influenced mostly by these fictional shows, it's hard to consolidate this mindset when it comes to dressing up. But as an adult, I'm trying to cleanse myself of such detrimental perspectives, and thus began the first leap to cosplay:

WIG PURCHASE.

I'm kind of lying to say the video featured is my first attempt in purchasing any item in relation to dressing up, but this is definitely the first in terms of //actually// intending to be used for cosplay. It's a lucky bag, so ofc, being the person so so scared of risks and chances, it is the perfect irony. But since it's the first, I think I am more forgiving.

So it begins. Much of the video details my overall experience on the purchase and I've come to love the wigs I have as of the moment. Now if we can only have more knowledge about hair styling in general...

[adultingcosplaying]

2024 bear witness, or don't... idk

I'm putting up another one of these blogs in an attempt to "chronicle" something that I've always wanted to do since childhood

COSPLAYING !!!

Now that I have the adult money and the ever-fickle adult time to actually give cosplaying a try, I'll be attempting to update this blog from time to time in relation to thoughts, progress, and overall musings regarding cosplaying and my experiences with the local community!

Mayhaps will also include the ever-changing fashion style I have and how it fits in the puzzle that is cosplaying!!

I sure hope I'm doing this right...