Cosplay on a Budget According to the Phoenix Sisters
Crayle and Kelly from Phoenix Sisters Entertainment are here, ready to spill the tea on one of our favorite topics – how to ace your cosplay without burning a hole in your pocket.
We all like to joke that you should get your loved ones into cosplay so that they won’t have money for drugs. But in truth, a costume doesn’t have to break the bank to be good, or for you to feel good in it.
First things first: Give yourself plenty of time!
The bigger rush you’re in, the less time you have to price compare, wait for sales, or look for coupons. The more time you give yourself to develop and plan your costume, the more likely you are to stick to your budget.
We know it’s hard, but it does help.
Thrift store finds
Ever tried a cosplay treasure hunt? Thrift stores are your secret weapon. Hunt for unique clothing and potential base pieces at affordable prices to kickstart your costume.
Secondhand shops like Goodwill often have prom dresses that can be the base to a Disney princess gown, for example. Kelly specifically thrifted her dress for Morticia, and added inexpensive tulle to the sleeves for a more screen accurate look.
Consignment shops even sometimes have vintage clothes you can use as bases for period costumes, like we did in our L.A. Noir-style Cinderella and Fairy Godmother.
Do it yourself – at least when you can
This might seem like a no-brainer, but DIY props and accessories not only save you money, they also grow your skillset. This doesn’t mean you have to sew every stitch in your costume though. Take Crayle’s Shorty’s top from the Phoenix Sisters Wynonna Earp shoot, for example.
Instead of ordering a special crop top baseball tee and getting it screen printed, Crayle ordered a looser men’s baseball tee in the right colors and did some low-skill alterations. She cut it into a midriff top, and used iron-on letters to apply the Shorty’s name. Now her shirt is screen accurate, and it only cost about $14 for the shirt and the letters.
Plus, she didn’t have to use all the letters, so now those are available for future costumes.
◆ Quick tip: When looking for tutorials, try adding “with common household items” to your search terms.
Kelly once made a pair of Maleficent horns out of disposable party cups. There are certainly ways to make prop horns out of air dry clay, wire armatures, and other art supplies. But you may not want to buy large amounts of supplies like that for a single prop. So, try searching for tutorials that specify cheap, common items.
Budget cosplay can really give you a chance to build your crafting, sewing, or constructing skills. Doing things cheaply also allows more room for error as you try new methods. It is much easier to dismiss a failed attempt as a “learning experience” rather than a waste of materials if you used inexpensive materials to start with.
Swap and collaborate
Connect with your cosplay community. You can put out a call for full items or supplies in Facebook groups, Reddit subs, or local buy-nothing groups. Cosplayers are often willing to send leftover materials for just the cost of shipping, and cosplayers who no longer fit a costume are often willing to trade past finished costumes for new supplies.
You can also team up on projects to share supplies. Say you have an extensive paint and foam collection, and your friend has a sewing machine. You can take your supplies over to your friend’s house and share those in exchange for using their machine if you don’t sew enough to justify buying one for yourself.
Sharing resources not only cuts costs but also brings us together and reduces waste from people buying things that we would only use a few times.
Couponing is cool
Don’t buy things at full retail price if you can avoid it. Keep an eye on sales, snag coupon codes, and grab quality materials at a fraction of the cost. Building a budget cosplay is a great chance to sharpen your shopping skills overall.
Kellys’ Dixon era Black Canary fabrics were all couponed, but no one would guess it was made on the cheap by looking at it.
Some craft stores (R.I.P. JoAnn Fabrics) will also honor other store’s coupons and sales for the same item, so you can save time and gas money by going to a Michael’s that’s having a sale on something else you need, and then use your JoAnn coupon for a second item that you need.
Costume Closet Remix
Mix and match clothing items for closet cosplays or reimagine characters with your existing wardrobe.
Look at your closet with fresh eyes. That black dress that’s normally only for funerals? It might work for a gothic character.
Crayle’s favorite closet cosplay is her Sarah Connor. The tank she wears for it came from a drawer that she normally considers “undershirts,” and the combat boots are actually from her husband’s side of the closet. All it takes is looking at your closet with each item’s potential in mind, instead of thinking of what you usually wear those articles for.
Remember, cosplaying on a budget is an art form – an opportunity to showcase your ingenuity and resourcefulness. Don’t let anyone make you feel like a costume HAS to be expensive. It’s simply not true.
Budget cosplay is what you make of it
Some of our most memorable photoshoots had nothing to do with how much our costumes cost to make. Sometimes they don’t even correlate to how much skill we needed to make them, whether it was inexpensive or not.
You never know when you might come across a stranger from the same fandom and turn them into a friend due to the costume you have on.
Opportunities to join a photoshoot from the same show you’re cosplaying out of may appear out of the blue.
Someone may ask you how you pulled off a minimalist look to get the character you are portraying across and ask for photos.
The golden rule of cosplay is that if you are having fun, you are cosplaying “the right way,” so don’t let budgeting stress take the playful feeling out of cosplay for you. Enjoy the experience of putting it together and wearing it. At the end of the day, that is what matters most.
Looking for panelists at your comic con or other event?
Crayle and Kelly have presented on this topic several times at conventions like CIL-Con and MidSouth Con.
Every year, they have gathered more and more experience with budget cosplay, while increasing their roster of available characters and costumes to add value to your event as cosplay panelists or guests.
E-mail them at phoenixsiscosplay@gmail.com or use the form at the bottom of this page.
