You have to start from somewhere. That’s how the saying goes, doesn’t it? And that, I find, is something that rings true time and time again. Especially with cosplay. Seven years ago I literally had no clue what I was doing when it came to cosplay. I just barely found out about cosplay just after I graduated in 2014. It was when I went to my first anime convention Anime Banzai. I saw how everywhere I turned there were these absolutely amazing cosplays of so many of my favorite characters. After I left that weekend, I knew I had to give it a try. I just didn’t know how. Thus the adventure began.
When I say I started from zero, I literally mean zero. I had to save up money to get all of the materials from the tools to the materials. And even then I had to go on different websites to find out what exactly people build with in the first place. I’ve learned how to be a foam smith, Worbla crafter, makeup artistry, and even upcycling old clothes! But it wasn’t just the material and tools I needed to learn about, I had to learn about setting up my space. Because apparently you can just take a small table and think that’s good enough. It may be for small projects, but when you start getting into working with a Dremel and working with large builds you need at least a decent-sized desk. I had to learn this the hard way. When you start building and really getting into cosplay, you will find that you need a sizable space to work with. Even if you live in a small space as I do, there are several ways to make it work. For example, organization boxes galore. Those things will be your best friends when you get more tools and materials. Gotta have somewhere to store all of it after all.
Even with starting from zero and being where I’m at, I’ve had insecurities galore, but you have to be able to overcome them and from that, you’ll be able to love what you do even more. I have an eye problem and because of it, I have always been really self-conscious about pictures. But after doing cosplay for so long I felt more confident about pictures and more confident about myself. That shows that no matter the situation you find yourself in, you can overcome it and come out stronger.
So many things have been learned from just starting from zero. Knowing nothing and then learning how to get better with each step. This completely shows that even if you have never even picked up a makeup brush or just barely learned that EVA foam is the stuff that flip flops and puzzle mats are made of. You can become amazing at building cosplays and maybe even find you have a love for them. Or it could even show you a path to something you’ve never tried and you absolutely love. Literally, anything is impossible.
Well that’s all this Fae has to say–heh did a rhyme there,
Rebel Fae out!
The Rebel Fae 
Leave a Reply