#all those cravats and the jackets with different cuts and collar designs lol

[stirringwinds]

drawing historical hetalia like ‘😩...i finally got all the details of the poses down...i can finally set this picture free...WAIT no his jacket collar and buttons are all from the wrong century sorry your stay in wip limbo is prolonged for another 300 years 😭’ 

[so-i-did-this-thing]

But How do you figure out what is essential for a cosplay? Everything feels essential to me. 😭

Good question! It involves some tough choices, but here’s 2 strategies:

1) CHEAT. Seriously. See what parts of a costume are hidden, or can have off-the-rack parts substituted.

Example #1: I know this dude usually has a waistcoat and tailcoat on underneath this canvas jacket, but you barely see them. Hell, only a little bit of his poofy shirt and cravat stick out of his coat collar.

I can safely skip all those hidden layers and still be recognizable. His trousers are tucked into tall boots and all the other earmarks of a vintage article of clothing (like the button fly, high waistband, etc.) are hidden from view. So I could fake the trousers with something modern if I wanted to. I only won’t because I hate myself. Example #2: This is me as gunslinger Percy de Rolo from Critical Role.

Dude is known for a huge sniper rifle. Which I did not want to make or even have at a convention. So, I faked it by making a rifle scabbard to sling on my back, that I then stuffed with an umbrella. People just assumed I had the rifle. 2) Survey fanart for what your character’s hallmarks are - check out a lot of artists with different styles and see what elements of a character tend to be consistent. Chibi art is great for this! I’ll use Percy as another example. In his official art by Kit Buss, he’s drawn with a large, fancy blue coat.

So many cosplayers immediately glom onto the coat as “essential”. I was skeptical, lol. I wanted to make an original design, but still be recognizable. So, I looked at a lot of fanart and broke the character down into 4 hallmarks:

white hair

round glasses

fancy gentleman’s clothes with a waistcoat (I used armor) and cravat (I made a neckstock)

handgun and/or rifle

It worked out perfectly! I was “off model” as all hell from the official art (I didn’t have a lick of his “trademark” blue, even), but because I had the above hallmarks, fans knew exactly who I was.

tldr; There’s probably more things you can simplify or completely cut out of cosplay than you think. Also, don’t be afraid to do your own interpretation of a design. Accuracy is only important if you enjoy it.