The Cosplay Craftsmanship page This is my own biased report about the cosplay craftsmanship panel. Rarely do I come out of a panel enlightened and oh-so-glad I went, but this was indeed the case.

Here's the panel information:

It was an unmoderated panel, with 3 specialists wearing various costumes.

They were:

Tristen Citrine, who works with costumes professionally in Las Vegas, Nevada and sometimes does commisions for other people's costumes. I didn't quite catch how long she had been cosplaying, but her web page is http://www.goldenquartz.com. She was wearing a space-like outfit with large, paneled shoulders. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell what character it was. Her specialty is working with wigs and beadwork.

Yaya, who was wearing a gorgeous, detailed gown in maroon with roses and lace and long, white wig, has made over 30 costumes and has been cosplaying since 1999. Her specialty is working in detail.

Kat Robinsen was there, wearing a really cute, bright jester-like costume in yellow and orange. She had made butterfly wings for her costume that looked really nice. Her specialty is sewing, she's really experienced in making things in general.

Here's pictures of them in their costumes...

First Things First
The first part of the panel was about sewing tips, where I learned a few new things. The first thing they stressed was to "finish" a seam as you are working on sewing something together. The importance of paying attention to the quality of your sewing work and how it pertained to making a quality, lasting costume was illustrated. This is especially important when you are selling your work!
Planning? What Planning?
Planning was also talked about. One of the panelists mentioned stories of her friends not being ready for a convention because they had not planned ahead in ordering wigs or sewing together pieces. I know from my own experience just how bad planning can get in the way of enjoying a convention. I'm an awful planner (but really, I'm hoping to improve!). Yaya said that writing down steps to finishing a costume way before the convention helps a great deal in being ready and relaxed before a convention. Tristen remarked that she keeps everything for her costumes in one place, whether hanging with the costume or not, especially when travelling. So, the lesson here was organizing and planning in advance.
Wigging out
The importance of finding the right wig for your costume was discussed. A recommended
site for buying wigs from (I just got one from there myself) is http://www.witchwigs.com
was mentioned. It's important that you get a good quality wig, or your entire costume will
look messy. The better quality wigs will have a latex "skin" where the part is, and the
synthetic hair will be bright and shiny and fine. For people with long hair, there is a way to
neatly tuck it under a wig. You can wet your hair, braid it as tightly as comfortable, then
wrap your hair around your head, using hairpins. Wearing a wig cap is also a good idea.
Various ways to style your wig are to use foam, wrapping the hair around it, using varnish,
then removing (or not) the foam underneath the hair for extreme styles. Another way to do
it (to get curls your way) is to use very strong velcro (or other) curlers and to steam the
hair. Let it set, then you will have curls in the wig. To wash your wig, Revlon Wigwash was
mentioned. And to brush a wig, a metal brush is best. To restore a wig, boiling it with an oil
and water mixture for a very brief time should help. I haven't used these wig tips yet, so I'm
simply reporting what they said during the panel.
The costs of costuming
How much did it cost for each of these ladies to make their costumes? Prices ranged from
$100.00 to $500.00. Okay, so costuming isn't a cheap hobby, but it's a lot of fun, ne?
Various ways of saving money were mentioned, like clipping coupons at your local Rag Shop,
or roaming the thrift shops for certain things, like shoes were mentioned. Try to save
money when you can, but don't let that reflect itself in the quality of your costume.
Such a pretty face
Someone in the audience asked about how to get a white face for her J-rock outfit and only
one name came out, Ben Nye. Apparently, they make great makeup for theatrical uses.
Also, grease makeup was mentioned, because creams and powders tend to cake up and
crack after a while.
A Shoe-In for comfort
As for shoes, a costumer needs to think of his or her own comfort. You will be in your
costume all day, so be careful to pick shoes that are comfortable. Stretchy fabric, like
spandex or lycra, can make a good shoe cover to enhance your costume's appearance.
All dressed up and someplace to go
As for taking your costume places, you need to make sure those huge wings you worked on
for five months can fit somewhere in a suitcase if necessary. Of course, driving to a
convention makes transport of a costume far easier, but this isn't always the case. If you
can create or buy a garment bag to carry your costume and its various pieces, keeping
them together.
Beading
When your costume calls for beadwork, remember that these can only be hand-sewn to the
garment. Use the strongest thread available, which happens not to be beading or sewing,
but QUILTING thread.
Who do YOU want to be?
Deciding on a character to cosplay can depend on a variety of factors. Sometimes you can
identify with a particular character. Others look like you and you can play on that. A
particular reason to chose a character is because it looks challenging for you. Whatever
you chose to play, I hope you have fun!

Here are my own costumes from the Katsucon 2002 convention.

Please note that these contents are my own notes and observations from attending this panel, so please do not steal them for your own site. You don't want me to get mad, do you? Of course NOT! Thank you for not stealing!

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