#cosplay resources

[the-bar-sinister]

It drives me nuts that nobody acknowledges that James Sunderland's jacket is a specific military jacket-- the M-65 field jacket-- and not the now-standard horror protagonist "LL. Bean" jacket. (like Ethan Winters wears)

it is important because it is a specific reference to the film Jacob's ladder, where the character is a Vietnam veteran.

[slackerranger]

I have but ONE pic that like enough of my Astarion cosplay

I’m not even posing, and it is embarrassing as fuck

I’d like to remind y’all that is was 36 degrees hot (95 Fahrenheit) and I had FAKE LEATHER PANTS

Ah and from this magnificent fair I did not buy anything but I brought home a fantastic DERMATITIS thank you very much

So to ALL Astarion cosplayers: don’t wear the pants if it’s hot. It’s not just the heat, it’s the heat, the sweat, the dust, everything will collect in those pants.

I know what you’re thinking: “if he can do it I can do it too!!!”

No darling.

Our beloved vampire does not have a heartbeat, he does not sweat. But JUST LIKE US he does not like the concentrated power of the SUN in his pants, for a whole day.

You want to wear a good cosplay? Find a cotton alternative for the pants. Or suffer the consequences like me. It’s been 2 days of dermatitis, I got some medicine prescribed today :) I want to kill the sun

[likopinina]

If there are any Kim Kitsuragi cosplayers in the room, Mil-Tec MA-1 US Flight Jacket comes in a black colour with an option to wear it inside out

Can't vouch for quality though, I saw this just now

[phantomonabudget]

Phantom on a Budget Website Redesign!

I am excited to announce that the Phantom on a Budget website has been completely rebuilt and relaunched! It features a more modern, streamlined, and mobile friendly design. I added more reference materials for cosplayers, costume planning resources, Maria Bjornson sketches, mask paint instructions, and more.

I hope this new site will continue to serve the Phantom cosplay community for another 20 years! Please do check it out as it is a phenomenal resource for new and experienced Phantom cosplayers alike.

If you have used the site in the past, please comment below and let me know! ❤️

[shadeops21]

Where can you get all of the items for Lt Simon "Ghost" Riley 'Nightware' ?

I’m sure if you input the item’s name (from my 2.0 cosplay guide, not the original one I posted that is not nearly as comprehensive) into Google, you’ll find no shortage of retailers offering that product or comparable products to suit your needs.

Just be mindful that some items that he has are modified after the fact, are fictionalised variations in colours not commercially available, are items not available for public purchase due to various kinds of restrictions and regulations, or may just be cost prehibative due to there not being any clones made by overseas suppliers (looking at you, FirstSpear).

Good luck and happy hunting!

[marquisecubey]

dad says its my turn on the xbox

(featured in my textile weathering book, Cosplay Fabric FX)

[i-like-media]

The 2nd Doctor's footwear

decided to make a post about it because 90% of the time his feet look completely featureless on screen and Google rarely provides helpful images.

In the colourised/spiced up image on the official Doctor Who Website has him wearing these black and shiny shoes, which I feel are slightly out of place for the 2nd Doctor, just for the fact he most often is seen with shoes that are worn and warped to an extent.

In his debut episode The Power Of The Daleks, he wears the ones seen below.

They're not entirely worn yet, but you can clearly tell they're not brand new either. The leather has wrinkled and warped, and the soles of his shoes have visible wear. I haven't got a clue what kind of shoes these are and can't seem to find other shoes like them online, so I did my best to make a general sketch of how they're shaped.

This shoe has rather angular soles with a small but decently raised heel. Then the shoe itself seems to have a little flap at the back and front.

Though these are not the shoes he'll have for his entire run.

In The Space Pirates, there's a surviving shot that gives a clear view of his shoes as well. The leather is once again worn and warped, but here you can clearly see it's laced at the front. The heels are also seemingly lower than the ones in his debut episode. I tried my best to find shoes close to the ones he's wearing, but the ones below are the only ones I thought were similar enough.

But you might be asking to yourself, "i-like-media, why are you looking at these low quality, black n white images? His shoes appeared in the 3rd's debut episode and he later came back for The Three Doctors" And you're right! They did appear in the 3rd's first episode! But let's take a closer look at those.

We get a clear (and hilarious) scene with the Doctor hugging his shoes, and essentially see them at all angles.

We're to believe these are the same shoes he wore in The War Games, so these should be good reference pictures of what the 2nd Doctor wore... except SIKE! THESE AREN'T THE SAME SHOES!

The shoes below are what he wore during his trail, at the last moments as the 2nd Doctor! They're a totally different type of shoe! The black shoes are also shiny and clearly new, with them having no wear at the soles or wrinkles in the leather. The shoes above also seem to be slip-on shoes with a regular heel, while the 2nd doctor wore laced shoes with a rather small heel.

He's also seen wearing a similarly styled pair of shoes in The Mind Robber. These shoes have a similar low heel and are also laced. These shoes also however seems to have the shoe-side-flaps be warped and curled themselves besides the typical wear we've come to expect.

Here are also some similar looking shoes I've found from various other episodes

These shoes seem to be the ones that are, in his original run, the most common type of shoes for him to wear! Not the shiny, featureless slip-on type of shoes merch often portrays him in.

Then let's take a look at the shoes he wore in The Three Doctors, and it's back to those shining, smooth and new shoes...

Technically this would confirm the 2nd Doctor DID wear those shoes at some point in time and clear up the discrepancy of the 3rd Doctor hugging those shoes, but in my opinion the costume department of that episode didn't really understand what the costume department of his original run was doing (which is essentially making him look unkempt on purpose. In his original run they intentionally gave him a coat that's too large for him and here he's wearing a coat that's exactly tailored to be his size.) But I digress. This episode does show the 2nd Doctor wearing these smooth and new type of shoes, albeit uncommon for him to actually wear those.

Though there's one pair of shoes that no one ever seems to talk about.

These ones he DOES wear frequently on screen and I've yet to see merch with him wearing them...

It's the wellies. Of Course it's the wellies. Patrick wore these often on set while filming outside, as seen in the on-set pictures above... but these often ended up making it into the episodes themselves. Such as below in the episode The War Games.

These are clearly continuity errors between takes, since the Doctor seems to wear regular shoes when not walking around rough terrain in the very same episode OR EVEN the scene before, but it's honestly a discrepancy I've grown rather fond of. I'd like to think he's somehow always carrying them in his Mary Poppins pockets.

Anyways, I hope this post kind of helped put a clearer perspective on what the 2nd Doctor wore and what type of shoes you as a cosplayer/artist could be looking for! Also sorry for some chaotic wording ^o^'

For a more coherent and deep dive into the 2nd Doctor's costume, you should check out The Zero Room by LeeMoone! They've done incredible deepdives into his outfit over the years!

[silencedrowns]

Wig Seller Masterlist

Some people on were asking if I had a post about this and I didn’t, so I thought I’d make a big master post of wig companies I like! It’s in alphabetical order, with information about them listed afterwards. Currently I have fifteen brands on this list, but if I try and am really impressed by another, I’ll add it. I hope maybe one of them has that hard to find wig you’ve been searching for! I have the color samples for Arda, Assist, Classe, Coscraft, Cyperous, Kasou, and Swallowtail and am willing to help you check if a color from them is correct or not.

Airily

Japan only brand, so you’ll need a shopping service. Wide range of colors, including some that are hard to match in other lines, and a lot of base styles that I like more than other brands. Sells both wefts and lace front pieces. Lace hairline wigs are also available. Fit is medium (not particularly large or small). Price is higher. Swatch book not available.

Alice Garden/aiyaya

Amazon wig brand selling lolita/natural looking wigs. The variety is not good but if they have something that looks like what you need to wear with very little styling, you won’t get something as nice for the price! Styles are all very natural looking. Fit is on the smaller end of medium. Price is low. Swatch book not available.

Aoi Wig

Taobao brand doing character wigs, so a shopping service is required. These are hands down the best character wigs I’ve ever worked with. If you don’t want to do a ton of styling and they have the character you want, you literally cannot go wrong here. Fiber isn’t the world’s most durable but will hold up for multiple wears, and the price is good enough to make up for it. Fit is slightly small but larger than most taobao wigs. Price is a bit high for taobao but is still dirt cheap for what you get. Swatch books not available but the photo color is exceedingly accurate.

Arda Wigs

American based. One of the most common brands for a REASON! Wide range of colors in a wide range of styles. If you have a larger head or a lot of hair, this is your new best friend. They sell lace fronts but not individual lace pieces. The big problem with them, however, is the stock issues. Colors run out quickly so sometimes you have to compromise on which style you buy, or place an order from one of their sister sites in another country that actually has the color you need. (OOPS this is no longer an option anymore! Luckily there are a lot of Arda wigs secondhand online.) Nobody has as much hair in their wigs as they do, which can actually be a problem in some styles; be prepared to pluck lace fronts and use thinning shears. Fit is LARGE; they have the largest wigs in the market. Price is a bit high but not exorbitant. Swatch rings are available for both their fiber types

Assist

Japanese brand, ships worldwide but EMS/fedex only so you’ll probably want to group order. Nobody in the market has as many colors as Assist; between their premium and basic lines, they have over 600 colors! DO NOT TRUST THEIR PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY TO PICK COLORS; you need to buy their swatch books or ask a friend who has them to help you choose, because those photos can be criminally inaccurate. If you ever order from them, buy a bottle of Face Cover Glue and watch it change your life as “wig sticks away from face and face framing pieces move out of place” become a distant memory, and I adore their contacts! They sell wefts and lace pieces in their premium line but not their basic. Price varies; Premium line is a great price for what you get, but Basic is incredibly cheap (but not quite as good quality). Fit is small; based on how they fit my clients they’re the smallest of the Japanese brands and if you’ve ever found taobao wigs too small, assist will probably also be too small for you. Swatch books or rings are available and also required.

Blue Beard

Taobao character wig brand, so shopping service is required. Blue Beard wigs are all affordable and decent. You won’t ever get a bad wig from them, but I’ve found that their wigs tend to require a lot of maintenance. Wide range of characters! No wefts available. When you find stolen taobao wig photos, more often than not they’re stealing from Blue Beard. The photos are all color accurate, but you’ll typically need to do a lot of styling to make the wig match the photo. Price is great for what you get. Fit is medium to small. No swatches available.

Classe

Japanese brand that requires a shopping service but oh what a brand it is. Classe has a wide range of colors but where it truly excels is in the range of extra styling supply options. You can buy lace front pieces, yes, but you can also buy stand alone skin top pieces in center whorl or long for parts. No brand is as flexible with what you can do with their wigs, not by a long shot. Make sure to check out their styling blog! Even if it’s all in Japanese, the diagrams are clear and the techniques are genuine life savers. The fiber is beautiful and the website’s color suggestion feature where the desktop version tells you a list of characters they’d use this color for makes picking colors a lot easier. You’ll pay a lot for them, but what you get will be worth it. I’ve been using them a lot lately because no other brand’s fiber is as easy to make behave like human hair. Naturalistic wig stylists and cosmetology people, this brand is for you! Fit is up to 59cm (!!) and is roomy in the hairline coverage to the point some people have to trim the ear tabs a bit shorter, although it’s my personal comfiest fit. (Upon further testing: Classe’s fit is going to be perfect for you if you’ve ever tried an Arda lacefront and found it somehow a bit too big in the cap but too skimpy in the ear and hairline coverage at the same time.) Swatch books are available and affordable.

Coscraft

Based in the UK but ships worldwide despite being way too unknown outside Europe. Coscraft is an absolute gem of a site with a wide range of colors (more than 80!) with plenty of unusual color options that aren’t found anywhere else that doesn’t need a shopping service, a decently large variety of base styles to choose from, and wefts and separate lace front pieces and stick on skin tops in every color. Unlike every other cosplay brand on the planet, their lace front pieces come in dark brown lace for darker skinned cosplayers and not just beige! (The skin top pieces are only in beige so far but hopefully they will work on this.) Also for some reason they sell ridiculously inexpensive corset coutil so for all the craftsmanship people, new source acquired! Even if you’re outside of Europe, Coscraft is so nice that it’s hard to believe their prices. When the pound is up vs your currency, they’re shockingly affordable. When the pound is down vs your currency, the quality per money feels straight up illegal. This is my current go to cosplay wig site for a reason. Fit is larger medium; it won’t be too big or too small on most people. Color swatch ring is available.

Cyperous

Japanese cosplay wig source that theoretically ships EMS outside Japan but I haven’t been able to get that to work for years so shopping service it is. Pour one out for Cyperous; they’re clearly in decline but as one of the original heat resist brands, they’re still here and still worth ordering from while you can. Nobody has as beautiful and delicate blondes as Cyperous; their Milky and White Milky are the best blondes I’ve ever used. They have a nice selection of lace wigs and the much rarer lace bang wigs as well as regular wigs, and wefts of course. No other brand I’ve seen has synthetic wigs that photograph as much like real hair as Cyperous. They can tangle a lot as a result but it’s worth the upkeep. I have no idea how long they’ll keep limping along, but look them up before it’s too late. Price is high but reasonable for what it is. Fit is a true medium. Swatches used to be available and no longer seem to be, but the photos are pretty accurate to my ancient swatch ring and newer wigs.

Five Wits Wigs

Five Wits is the most criminally underrated of the American wig companies because most of their stock photos suck. They really, really, really suck. The photos are somehow incredibly color accurate but represent the wigs as pulled directly from bag and plopped onto someone’s head or a mannequin without even combing them in a flattering way. I wrote them off until I got to see their booth at a con and realized quickly that these wigs are wonderfully made with beautiful fiber that typically photographs like a dream (how do they get such bad stock photos?!) and is so easy to style! Five Wits mostly stocks character wigs, but many of them are versatile enough to use for tons of other things and they offer wefts for some of their colors. The owners are friendly, the service is great, the actual wigs are beautiful, the price for what you get is wonderful, but those dang stock photos keep people from noticing why Five Wits is one of my favorite suppliers! Price is great for what you’re getting, especially for an American brand. The fit is larger end of medium (very few people find it too big or too small). They don’t carry swatch books but every single stock photo, despite being terrible, is an incredibly accurate depiction of the color so feel free to judge colors accordingly.

Kasou

I almost hesitate to put Kasou on here considering that one of the problems with them is that their shipping when it’s from their Chinese warehouse is occasionally “good luck getting your wig”, and I disqualified another past favorite of mine for this, but Kasou squeaked onto this list for two reasons: 1) their fiber and wigs really are spectacular and 2) they have the ONLY Jolyne Kujo pre made wig that I don’t hate. Order from them with confidence that whatever you get will be nice, but keep in mind that there are enough people who’ve had issues with wigs from their Chinese warehouse that you want to give yourself months of lead time if you go that route. They have a decent if slightly expensive price range, medium cap fit, and they do offer swatches. I NO LONGER RECOMMEND KASOU. I still stand by their products being nice, but there have been too many extremely expensive packages lost in the mail with them refusing to refund/replace among cosplayers I know for me to put them as a recommendation. If you order from here, do it with caution.

L-Email / wig-supplier

Not everyone needs premium wigs for heavy styling all the time, and that’s where L-Email comes in. This Chinese-based seller that ships internationally will sell you decent character wigs and decent base wigs for an incredibly affordable price. Nothing from here is going to be spectacular, but if your budget is low and you’re willing to put in a bunch of effort to make up for that, what you need is just a plain wig without tons of styling, or you want a character wig that’s a bit easier to upgrade with extra styling work than other brands because the hardest parts are typically done for you, L-Email is a great option for you. They’re just all around decent, and sometimes that’s what you need. Fit is medium, prices are pretty affordable especially if you go in with friends for shipping, and there aren’t swatches but the photos are typically pretty color accurate.

Sepia

One of the absolute oldest wig companies based in America; every cosplayer active before 2007 has bought at least one Sepia wig. They’re still here though, and now they have some heat resist lace fronts! Their range of fantasy colors is pretty atrocious but if you want some beautiful natural colors, you could do worse than shop here, especially considering there’s at least one more expensive brand (that I’m not putting in this list) that sources lace fronts from Sepia and resells! Fit is medium, price is medium, I haven’t bothered to see if they have swatches because I’m an ancient cosplayer and have the typical Sepia color codes memorized.

Swallowtail

If you’ve heard of this Japanese (shopping service required) wig brand before, it’s probably because the canon wigs in My Dress-Up Darling all come from Swallowtail. There’s more reasons than flexing about how you have the canon Shizuku-tan wig to consider Swallowtail, though! They have a massive color range with a lot of colors I’ve seen nowhere else in the world, and while the fiber isn’t the world’s most durable and is a bit shiny for my tastes in some colors, they’re affordable enough to be a competitive option even if you have to use a shopping service from outside Japan. They offer a full range of wefts and lace pieces and clip ons and a wide variety of base styles. The fit seems to be pretty true medium, and they definitely offer swatches (in the most chaotic ring setup I’ve ever seen. You’ll want to resort that one fast.)

Sylvia_Wig

You can get a lot of decent lace fronts perfect for minimal styling on AliExpress, but Sylvia is my hands down favorite. If you need a natural looking lace front and you don’t want to spend tons of money, this seller is where you should be looking first. There aren’t any swatches or wefts, true, but the wigs have so much more lace than any of the American or Japanese cosplay wig brands, the caps run much larger than most taobao/aliexpress brands (comparable to Kasou or Five Wits), and there’s still plenty of hair to do more basic styles. The fiber is a bit thin and shiny, but it still photographs like a dream, and dollar for dollar you won’t find a better balance between quality lace front and budget friendliness than here. The hairlines are so natural that I have a few from here that haven’t required a single hair plucked to just… melt into my skin. There’s a reason this is my go to first source if I want a lace front and it’s not going to be heavily anime styled (like JoJo or Dragon Ball or whatever). Color stock photos are incredibly accurate; you can trust that what you see is what you’ll get!

since people have sent me asks about this: I do not recommend Epic Cosplay at all anymore. Their construction quality has drastically decreased in recent years to the point I keep getting people asking me to help fix Epic wigs that are literally falling apart, which is enough reason to not want to order from them, but they’ve also had a decade plus pattern of labor rights abuse and employee mistreatment including racism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, and pregnancy discrimination.

[arlar]

Obsessed with how these gorgeous earrings from @dangerous-ladies finish off our Leveilleur twin cosplays (not to mention all the hardware detailing we used their kits and files for as well!)

alphinaud is me, alisaie is @nothingforjuice

3D print files and earrings by @dangerous-ladies patterns for alisaie by @indigojinjo photos taken by @awishwee

[dangerous-ladies]

After many years of creating kits, we've begun making master lists on our website for some of our most popular series. To kickstart our posts here, we're starting with Fire Emblem! It is very near and dear to the heart of DL and we wouldn't be where we are without it!

[zippy-elly]

My tutorial on painting elf ears appears to be making the rounds on Pinterest again, so I thought I'd share it here. 😊 If you have any questions about the process or if you used the tutorial to paint your own set of ears, let me know!

[the-bar-sinister]

The M-1965 Field Jacket (also known as M65, M-65 Field Jacket, and Coat, Cold Weather, Man's Field), named after the year it was introduced,[1] is a popular field jacket initially designed for the United States Armed Forces under the MIL-C-43455 standard. It was introduced into U.S. military service in 1965 to replace the previous M-1951 field jacket, itself an improvement on the M-1943 field jacket introduced during World War II, although the M-51 continued to be issued for quite some time. The front portion of the jacket has two large hip pockets and two medium-sized breast pockets. The collar of the jacket features a zipper which houses a protective hood. The M-1965 field jacket can be combined with a button-in insulated lining for cold-weather wear, as well as a button-on fur trimmed winter hood. The jacket is fastened with a large aluminum (later brass, then nylon) zipper, with a storm flap fastened with snaps covering it. The jacket has also been produced for civilian use since at least the early 1970s, and has been available in many different colors and patterns, many of which were never used by the United States Army or any other armed service.

[slackerranger]

I made the pdf of Astarion’s Dagger, the one he has equipped early in the game (the one he uses against Tav, during their first meeting… if you know what I mean 👀 ).

It’s free because all Astarion’s girlies deserve a little dagger, as a treat :)

Let me know if you make it from scratch :)

As info: the total length should be 39 cm or 15,35 inches. You can adjust the pdf scale using your printer, according to the length you want it to be.

It was honestly a bit hard to draw, since it’s not a knife and the lines are not straight, but the center line IS straight so (I guess it’s one of the few straight things about him… anyways) I had to balance the lines a bit

It has a place in my heart because it is the first EVA foam thing I made 💖 so I think sharing is the right thing to do… hope it helps! 🍀

[bunnyshideawayy]

idk how to explain this but i keep buying outfits and dresses with the thought process of “oh! this could totally work for x character!” as if i need 40 costume changes for each cosplay???? at this point ill have more costumes than regular clothes 😭

[laughableillusions]

Hey so if you’re like me and putting together an Eric Draven cosplay for halloween or otherwise, I found a lot of like BTS photos of his makeup, costume, as well as some good guides for anyone in need!

The shiny duct tape looking stuff is vinyl no-stick/non-adhesive tape because I am not putting duct tape on my fucking skin. Basically the tape only sticks to itself

[sassyacefriend]

I'm back on my bullshit and I went eBay hunting. Pickings were slim but I present to you one (1) authentic Masky jacket for sale right now.