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I just put my finger on one of the things that's been bugging me over the last couple of days, and I poke through Y-con photos - by a certain standard, I'm not a very good cosplayer. Oh, sure, the costumes are beautiful. I am, dare a I say it, excellent at craftsmanship. But the costumes may as well be on a dressform for how they look on me. The one and only character I cosplay that I actually look like the character as is Tatsumi - the rest of the time it just looks like me, wearing someone else's clothing.
I look through the photos and I hate how I look in them - I probably have close to two hundred photos of the various Seishirou outfits I've done, and I don't like any of them. And the same is true for Subaru, and Ada, and Leon. It's so frustrating, because I like the characters, I like making costumes, but I tend to live by the standard of 'if you can't do it well, why bother doing it at all' and there isn't really much I can do to make it any better - yeah, I could maybe improve my make-up skills some, but there's only so much even that can do.
I look through the photos and I hate how I look in them - I probably have close to two hundred photos of the various Seishirou outfits I've done, and I don't like any of them. And the same is true for Subaru, and Ada, and Leon. It's so frustrating, because I like the characters, I like making costumes, but I tend to live by the standard of 'if you can't do it well, why bother doing it at all' and there isn't really much I can do to make it any better - yeah, I could maybe improve my make-up skills some, but there's only so much even that can do.
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Date: 2006-10-25 11:25 am (UTC)From:If it helps, I think you really do look good in any kind of suit and tie. That style of clothing works for you.
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Date: 2006-10-25 11:27 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 03:35 pm (UTC)From:There's even a distinction there, though - I know I look good in suits and button-downs and ties. But even with the perfect hair-cut and near-perfect color, I don't look one bit like Leon.
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Date: 2006-10-25 03:20 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 03:43 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 05:06 pm (UTC)From:mirror faces are fun and make you feel stupid. it's great. you really need to try it. (That's what i do XD )
i know what you mean, though. you get a character you love, you make their costume and then... damn. that face just isn't coming through and it sucks.
good luck. i'm rooting for you :D
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Date: 2006-10-25 07:05 pm (UTC)From:I think this is one of the many, many downfalls of cosplaying a lot of the same characters as Jo - she's one of those people that can somehow manage to look like anybody. It was looking at the Leon photos from Y-con that set me off, because I love his tactical gear, but I wouldn't look half as good, or as like Leon, as she does.
Thanks ♥ (Hope you feel better, too)
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Date: 2006-10-28 09:11 pm (UTC)From:I think you're getting hung up on comparing yourself to her. Might be a good idea to do characters that are more suitable to you, rather than doing the same ones she does.
Yeah, she made a fantastic Leon, but the two of you also did different costumes. Mafia!Leon is less recognizable because it's an alternate outfit.
Sure, I know you like the same characters, but if you're convinced you don't look like the characters you're trying to portray and that she constantly shows you up at it, then the most logical solution seems to be to find other, more fitting characters to try a hand at.
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Date: 2006-10-28 09:40 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-10-28 09:59 pm (UTC)From:And there are tons of viable game characters, just fewer of the super-bishie, doe-eyed Squenix variety. You mostly crossplay, right? You should try Chris from RE.
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Date: 2006-10-28 10:13 pm (UTC)From:There is no way I am buff enough to cosplay Chris - if I was, I'd do Wesker, actually, but I don't have the build or the right face-shape. I've seen girly-Wesker, it's a sad, sad sight. I'm kind of stuck at pretty-boy.
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Date: 2006-10-26 02:26 am (UTC)From:The majority of cosplayers don't physically resemble the characters they're dressed as. I think one of the most important things that makes some cosplayers look great is really counterintuitive - a garment shouldn't necessarily fit you the same way it fits the character, or the way you'd want a similar garmet to fit for your non-cosplay wardrobe. Instead, some costumes can be constructed in ways that will create the illusion of your build and physique being more like the character's. I'm having a hard time thinking of specific example, aside from one small, slim girl who does something really subtle with shoulder pads to affect the broad, triangular torso of a male fighting game character. Depending on how a costume fits, I think there's a lot of potential to scale the proportions of the character design to match one's own size.
Of course, good posing also helps, especially when you can try to match a particular image of the character that's particularly freqently used.
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Date: 2006-10-26 05:37 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-10-28 11:47 pm (UTC)From:When my friend was going to do Seishirou to my Subaru, he asked me if I'd ever seen anyone do the job perfectly. I pointed him to you. You didn't look like -you- as Seishi, you looked like him. Just get into character when you where there clothes, feel like maybe you are the character, and their movements and dispositions will come to you. That's what helps 'make' them.
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Date: 2006-10-29 03:46 am (UTC)From:And thanks, although I think Jo did a waaay better job than me at that. I try my best with characterization, but I'm kind of shy.