Cosplay Calamity

[Besyanteo]

Posting here at the suggestion of a respected friend. See, Jason found out he's almost certainly going to Otakon, and is even making a few sketchy travel plans now.

So things look neat for me getting there. But like any other stylin' otaku, I need something to wear! The Kimono from last year is not an option, and honestly I didn't like it much myself anyways. I'm short on ideas, so I ask here.

Obviously, you people could shout out ideas from anywhere at this point, so I should tell you that there are some limitations. Like money. Low on the moola here. There's no way in hell I can pay for any fabric that'd be workable for this kind of project. So, Props/Clothes I already have:

-Lots of dark shaded t-shirts, most with some kind of design on them. Several dark blue shirts with Dragons on them. There is a single plain grey kind of baggy t-shirt, with no designs/logos/etc. on it.
-Dark blue denim pants, black denim pants, black sweats, and one slightly tattered pair of biege khakis(retired them when I was terminated by Giant)
-1x Black Leather jacket.
-1x pair of black leather gloves
-1x black, tattered thin material dracula cape. The back(neck-frill thing) can be folded under so it doesn't show.
-Several different sort of thin, late fall/early spring type coats of varrying colors. ... Even a green/blue/black plaid one, which is fugly from age.
-1x Obsidian ball, fits comfortably into the fist
-1x Rattan fighting stick, 6 feet tall
-1x Cherry wood bokken
-1x slightly bent out of shape (oak?) wood tai-chi training sword
-Several old base ball caps
-a skeleton face mask, doesn't cover the chin/lower lip.
-1x Twin dragon (red and green dragons, grabbing one another's tails) hour glass, 5 minute glass with red sand
-Wolf Plushie, Blood Hound Plushie, Teddy Bear with a gold ribbon, duck plushie, or I could borrow just about any beanie baby ever made from Kristen.
-Magic: TG Cards (o_o; You know I'm desperate now...)
-Empty Captain Morgan Rum Bottle (... No wait, THAT was desperate)
-Monstrous blue dragon plushie belonging to Kristen
-Black Motor Cycle helmet, which if hell freezes over, I can borrow.

... That's all I can think of right now, and I'll post up my picture in here soon, and maybe a list of other stuff lying around here. If you get an idea, don't hesitate to post it up and mention any additional props it would need. I may have them and not know it.

[The Great Nevareh]

Okay, I've never been a serious cosplayer, and I've never been to Otakon, so all of the advice I can give you is from the standpoint of a costumer. It's not about suggestions as to what you should be, but about the practicality of your materials.
If you're not going to be in this outfit, props and all, for a short period of time, then don't bring any props at all. Props are hell to deal with, especially if they're heavy, bulky, or large. That is, unless you can rig your outfit to hold onto the props for you while you move around.
Also, as a notion of sensibility (though not necessity, really), don't bring any props that are fragile and/or expensive, like the hourglass. Unless it's either made of plexiglass or tempered glass, it's fragile, and you might spend undue time worrying about breaking it.
Make sure all of your clothes not only fit, but fit *well.* Don't wear pants that are much too big, or a shirt that might rip if you decide to inhale a little too much.
Wear clothes that breathe. Conventions tend to be stuffy.
If your costume ends up including makeup, be sure to put on an incredible amount of powder to prevent smearing and sweating. This might mean you'll have to pick makeup a few shades darker than what you intend, but it helps in the long run. (A helpful though unrelated makeup tip- If you ever want to make a hickey become unnoticed, put some green makeup on under some foundation. Green is the opposite of red in this case.) This also goes for face and body paint.
Don't wear anything you're extremely attached to.
Hats are good fun, though they tend not to breathe as well as other pieces of clothing, thus causing a sweatier, hotter environment in between your scalp and the hat. The fact that it's the closest part to the sun doesn't help much. Hats have a tendency to get taken off, and thus lost. Still, wearing a hat is much, much easier than perfectly styling your hair with gel.
Jewelry also tends to get taken off and lost, though just as likely by other people as by you.
Cosmetic glasses are inexpensive and go with a good number of potential costumes. You don't need the lenses. They get dirty, they smudge, they get scratched, and no matter how harmless the glasses claim to be, glass always warps light, even if it's just slightly. If you don't normally wear glasses, make sure the cosmetic glasses are as light as possible to prevent bruising on your nose.
Contact lenses are a pain in the arse and should be entirely avoided unless you're really hardcore and want to have as much power to alter your appearance as possible. If you already wear contacts, then you know what I'm talking about.
Make sure that you have some way of unobtrusively carrying things you may buy, and you have a place to keep your money/ID. I advocate pockets. POCKETS, DAMMIT!
I can't think of anything else, but if I do I'll put it down. I'm sorry if I rambled.
<p>"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung</p>

[Justice Augustus]

Wear them all and go as "ANIME! - A human artwork"
<p>

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"British, oh so British.
Look at us, we're so well dressed.
British, oh so British.
Too bad we're all sexually repressed."
- The Goodness Gracious Me team</p>

[FlamingDeth]

...Kyo Kusanagi?

I got nothin'. <p>
<hr width="70%"><center>Superion, Autobot air gestalt, recently died protecting Los Angeles from a nuclear missile. Rest in peace. :(</center></p>

[Lord McBastard]

Grab your magic cards and make some sort of deck holster. Then go as a some random Yu-Gi-Oh player, periodicly drawin cards from your deck and shouting their names.

If anyone asks why you have Magic cards rather than actual Yu-Gi-Oh cards it's because you were unwilling to spend money on that stupid game and/or Magic is the superior game. <p><div style="text-align:center">

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"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wagh'nagl fhtagn"-Call of Cthulhu</div>
<div style="text-align:center">"Go tell your alien brothers, that Ronnie Cordova says they're gay!"-Ronnie Cordova</div></p>

[Besyanteo]

Thus far LMB has the most amusing answer, especially since this is in fact my sentiment on the game Yu-Gi-Oh vs. Magic.

However, since Dave is going to be there, and I like my head on my shoulders and not up my ass, I'll have to decline the suggestion. :{ <p>

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Jeridan: Holder of the "Tastes like Chicken" Award.

"So you're afraid of a man who can't walk in sunlight, can't stand crosses, and is easily dispatched by WOOD?"~Selrahc/KoD</p>

[Shinigori V2]

Bes needs to keep one thing in mind-

Any item beyond a certain height he takes will be forced into my car, or possibly my dads, and hence put into the trunk/bed, and hence be prone to damage. <p>

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<div style="text-align:center">
</div>
<div style="text-align:center">Why Barius has no family reunions.</div></p>

[The Great Nevareh]

If worst comes to worst, then just make something up and cosplay as that. Say you're going as one of your characters, or one of someone else's characters. The fact that the character you're going as might not exist isn't a problem, since even if it did you'd be going as something so obscure that other people couldn't tell anyway. So long as you *look* coherent and serious, then your head stays firmly on your shoulders and away from your anal regions. Hopefully. <p>"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung</p>

[Will Rennar]

Here's an idea for ya, something I tried at Katsucon:

Go as a random character from "Cosplay Complex" cosplaying as you.

...Seriously. You'd be surprised how many people actually buy such a pathetic excuse. <p>Will Rennar / Asura Calibre

The Rosetta Stone -- The Sketchpad -- Asura's Harem</p>