Cosplay 101: The Cosplayer's Bookshelf

Since cosplay is a relatively new phenomenon that has only really taken off in the past decade or so, there are a growing number of cosplay-specific resources. These tend to fall into two main camps: visual eye candy and instructional books. Here, I've highlighted some of the visually inspiring cosplay books out there currently. I hope to do another roundup of tutorial-based books soon!

1. Cosplay in America

The classic! Cosplay in America is a coffee table book containing portraits of cosplayers from across the country. It perfectly encapsulates what conventions and cosplay felt like around 2005 - 2010. It's a different scene now, so flipping through the pages of Cosplay in America always feels nostalgic to me. If you need a dose of inspiration for your next costume or just want to reminisce about how fun conventions are, this is your pick.

The photographer/author, Ejen, did a Kickstarter for his upcoming sequel. I'm so excited for the next book! It'll include behind-the-scenes shots, too, in addition to portraits. I did an interview with Ejen last year, click here to read it.

Fun fact: The more people I meet in the cosplay scene, the more people I recognize inside the book!

2. Cosplay Composition: David Love Photography & Design

David Love Photography's images are simply stunning. This book features lots of cosplayers in well-crafted images and includes some tips on learning to photograph and edit photographs specifically for cosplay. Note that it is not an instructional book, however -- some of the Amazon reviews were pretty disappointed in that!

I'd love to pick this up to flip through whenever I'm feeling a lack of inspiration.

3. Cosplay: The Fantasy World of Role Play

This book will be released later in 2015, so it's not yet published, but from the descriptions and previews, it seems to be another photo-based book that also includes some descriptions of cosplay's origins, how the hobby expanded, and how it differs in different parts of the world. I'm excited to see a cosplay book that has a global take on the hobby!

The author, Lauren Orsini, is a cosplayer herself and writes about fandom culture, so this book seems promising. Choose this book if you want a global perspective on cosplay, a history lesson, and beautiful photographs.

4. Undressing the Art of Playing Dress Up: Cosplay Deviants

This book takes the prize for the most unique book about cosplay yet! It features models from the website Cosplay Deviants, where your favorite characters are shown fully dressed then gradually undressed. While this may not be everyone's cup of tea, I love when cosplay is expanded to other areas. Cosplay burlesque (also known as "nerdlesque") is always creative and fascinating, and I have no doubt that Cosplay Deviants is equally so!

Keep in mind that this book does contain nudity, so it may not be appropriate as a coffee table book (depending on your preferences), but it's definitely worth checking out.

I've reviewed this title in more detail -- click here to read the full review.

5. Cosplay World

This book is one of the newer books on cosplay, and it contains photos, interviews with some of the bigger, more well-known cosplayers, and a look at the costume construction process in some cases. This book appears to contain more Western-based media than some of the other cosplay books as well -- comics, video games, TV, movies, and more.

Cosplay World contains beautiful, well-organized cosplay photography, making it a new favorite for any cosplayer's bookshelf.

6. Breaking All The Rules: Cosplay and the Art of Self-Expression

Another cosplay photobook, Breaking All The Rules includes photos and interviews with over 120 cosplayers throughout America. This book is a little more text-heavy, so if you are interested in learning all about different cosplayers, why they started cosplay, and why they continue to cosplay, this is the book for you. 

This would make an excellent read for any cosplayer who loves people watching!

These are only a small selection of the books currently available about cosplay, and they all look fantastic! I'm excited to get my hands on some of these newer additions.

Do you have any books about cosplay to recommend?

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Cosplay 101: Guide to Circle Lenses

(Left and bottom right photo: Aperture Ashley)

My favorite part of cosplay is definitely the transformative aspect. I love looking totally different from my usual self! Other than makeup and wearing a wig, contact lenses are another way to change your look. Contact lenses are totally optional when it comes to cosplay, but they can be lots of fun!

Circle lenses are slightly different from normal cosmetic contact lenses - they cover about the same area of the eyeball or slightly more, but the design extends further, making your eyes appear larger. For cosplay, this means that your eyes stand out more -- perfect for cartoony or anime looks. Circle lenses also tend to be more dramatic rather than natural-looking. All of this results in a great effect when used in cosplay!

Now, I'm not an expert at circle lenses just yet, but I have done a fair amount of research for my first few pairs, so I'd love to share what I know with you. As a disclaimer, please go to an eye doctor and get your prescription ahead of time, and if you are concerned, ask your doctor for guidance! Only wear the lenses for up to 8 hours (or whatever the packaging says), and if you feel discomfort, remove them immediately. Your eyesight is important - more important than matching the eye color of a certain character.

I wore purple lenses for my Daenerys costume, a tribute to her eyes in the books.

Tips for Buying Circle Lenses

Circle lenses have to ship from overseas, so plan accordingly. Shipping might take quite a while, so be sure to order any lenses you need early - especially since the color might end up being incorrect.

Find photos of people with a natural eye color like yours. As someone with naturally light eyes, circle lens designs can look very different on me versus someone with dark eyes. Most circle lenses also seem to be designed for darker eyes. I try to only purchase a specific pair of contacts when I can find a light-eyed person who has taken photos with them in, in order to avoid buying something that doesn't look right on me. Most contact lens sites will have reviews and photos, but if not, a simple search will do the trick.

Circle lenses DO come in prescription and astigmatism-friendly options. The caveat is that these additions may be more expensive. But the good news is there is likely an option for your particular needs.

If you look carefully, you can see a rim of green in the center of my eyes - that's my natural eye color.

Wearing Contact Lenses

Wearing contact lenses might seem scary, but it's actually pretty simple! After washing your hands and rinsing your lenses (more on that later), I use my index finger to hold the lens, then look to the side while pulling my lower eyelid down. I try to put the lens on the whites of my eye - then I don't have that instinct to blink since it's not aimed at my iris. Once it's made contact with my eyeball, I blink a few times to get it situated, and then you're done!

If you feel like something is in your eye, there may be a tear, scratch, or lint on the lens, so remove it and inspect before continuing. Throughout the day, if I feel my eyes get a little dry, I use some rewetting drops to ease the discomfort. For the most part, though, I find wearing circle lenses to be totally comfortable - to me, they are softer than regular contact lenses.

Brown lenses for Taiga's big anime eyes.

Contact Lens Storage and Care

The most crucial note whenever working with contact lenses is cleanliness - wash your hands before you touch your lenses or your eyes. When you first open your lenses, you usually are instructed to soak them in contact lens solution for at least 8 hours. No matter how excited you are to wear the lenses, it's very important to follow this step!

Use a contact lens solution for rinsing and cleaning contact lenses before you put them on, and before you store them. I use Opti-Free because it's easy to find and comes in a few different sizes - I like getting a small bottle to take with me to conventions.

Finally, store your lenses in a case meant for contact lenses. Most online shops will send a free case with each pair you order, but there are tons of cute contact lens cases online too. It is best to replace the cases every 3 months, and the lenses themselves will usually have an expiration date of one year after removing them from the container.

Cosmetic Contacts Suppliers

• Pinky Paradise - my personal favorite! Use the code xomia for a free mystery gift!
• Honey Color

Have you ever worn circle lenses?

More Cosplay 101 tutorials and tricks

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Cosplay 101: Daenerys Eyebrow Tutorial

Aside from her white-blonde hair, Daenerys' most identifying feature is her dark eyebrows. Even before I watched Game of Thrones, I could recognize Dany cosplayers by their hair and eyebrows!

When I worked on my first Daenerys cosplay, I realized that her eyebrows are one of the biggest keys to looking more like her in costume. I'm a beginner at makeup, so even though I've learned a lot about makeup since I started cosplay, modifying my eyebrows to look more like a real person's seemed intimidating. 

Luckily, I'm close friends with Liz, who is fantastic at makeup. She's done my Dany eyebrows for me each time I've cosplayed Daenerys so far. I've had a few people ask how she did it, so I wanted to share a quick tutorial with you to achieve Khaleesi-status brows.

I gathered lots of reference photos and noticed that while Dany has thick, natural-looking brows, they are fairly well-groomed. With almost no stray hairs, they are definitely shaped through plucking or waxing. In addition, Dany's eyebrows have almost no arch.

#NoMakeup! Just kidding, I'm wearing a ton of makeup.

My own eyebrows are pretty sparse, but luckily that's easy to fix with makeup. I have almost no arch to my brows, and the overall shape is pretty similar to Emilia Clarke's eyebrows, just thinner/sparser. I actually grew my eyebrows out a little bit for my Daenerys cosplay so they'd be a little thicker (and look less drawn on).

If you have thicker eyebrows, you can either shape them to the same shape or use the glue stick trick to cover them up.

Half on, half off - the power of makeup!

Liz used Anastasia Beverley Hills Brow Wiz  in Ebony to fill in my eyebrows. Brow Wiz is basically a mechanical eyebrow pencil that's super simple to use. Liz did a light outline of the shape she wanted, then filled the shape in the direction of my eyebrow hair. Finally, Liz used the brush end of Brow Wiz to comb the color through.

The most crucial part is getting the shape right, so use really light strokes until you get the shape you want. For Dany's straight eyebrows, start with the straightest line at the bottom of your natural brow. Follow the same line for the top of your brows. Try to keep the arch minimized. Look in the mirror and refer to your reference images frequently to make sure you're on the right track!

Khaleesi brows complete!

Since this makeup is for photographs, I like to go a little bit darker than Emilia's natural eyebrows so it will show up better on camera. The general rule of thumb for cosplay makeup is to go at least 10% heavier than you would normally.

And there you have it! With a little practice, you too can have Daenerys eyebrows.

Have you ever re-shaped your eyebrows for cosplay or otherwise?

Find more Cosplay 101 posts here!

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Cosplay 101: Planning with the BIC® 4-Color™ pen

Although I love digital media, some things are just better on paper. Besides using Evernote, I turn to pen and paper to plan out my costumes. In my own experience, I find that drawing out the costume makes me consider each component of the costume more thoroughly. Today I wanted to give you a sneak peek at my own planning process and share a helpful tool - the BIC® 4-Color™ pen!

When BIC® approached me to talk about the 4-Color™ pen, I was thrilled! I love office supplies, paper goods, and pens - back-to-school time is my favorite - and who doesn't use pens? Right away, I realized that the 4-Color™ pen would be perfect for planning out a costume on paper.

With everything that you need to write down for a costume - materials, colors, and notes for each part - the easiest way to organize it is with color. The BIC® 4-Color™ pen includes 4 fun colors - black, blue, red, and green. This makes it super simple to distinguish your notes, color coordinate, and express whatever you want. BIC® has created unique personalities for each of the colors in the pen that you can get to know in the videos below (I'd definitely say I'm most like Green - he's a social network loving foodie!).

I used my BIC® 4-Color™ pen to plan out my Codex costume. Black and red were perfect colors to draw out the details of her costume. I used green for detailing on her staff (sorry, Green, I'm not used to green ink!). I chose to use blue for my notes since the costume doesn't have any blue in it - that way, they would stand out. It worked out perfectly. I love how easy it is to see each component of the costume.

Having 4 Inseparable Colors in 1 Pen makes the planning process of cosplay a breeze! If you want to try out the BIC® 4-Color™ pen, get your own at Amazon or Staples. The four different personalities have been taking social media by storm - follow along with Facebook and Twitter to see them in action and for a chance to win your own 4-Color™ pen.

This post brought to you by BIC 4-Color pen. All opinions are 100% mine. 
 

What would you use a BIC® 4-Color™ pen for?

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