Can anybody tell me EVERYTHING about Anime Conventions? I need to create a costume for my body type! Details!

Question

Alright, I was looking up Anime Conventions in the Area (I live in Cleveland Ohio) And theres a few coming up in 2009. I have never been to one before, and I really wanted to make a costume! The problem is.. I couldn't sew something to save my life! lol Well, I can sew a little bit, but I'm afraid I'd mess up making an ENTIRE costume. =( I wanted to enter in a contest at a convention, but somebody told me that you have to make the costume yourself to be able to enter in a contest. SO, with that said, can anybody give me tips on costume making? I'd really appreciate it! And Also...

I need to pick a costume that would go well with my body type! I'm not exactly what you'd call skinny (not fat either), so people like sakura would be out of the question T.T . I can't really think of any people that would go well, and if one of my friends tells me a character from a hentai or something again im gonna explode @_@

So, if this helps, here's a description of me :

*I'm African-American , so from there, the only person I can think of is Yoroichi. >_< (Not extremely dark though, more like a umm.. coffee colored, after you add like half the container of creamer lol. or maybe toast colored. ORRR That shade that is ONE shade lighter than my avatar. ♥ Perfect!)

*I'm about 5'3

*Chest Size - 38in.

*Waist - 25in. (11 inches wide at the front at smallest area, 13 at largest)

*Hips - 36in. (14-15inches wide at the front)

*Feet - Usually an 8.5

*Arms- About 9inches around the elbow

*Thighs - Unfortunately, about 20inches around. (only 9in at the front)

*Lower Leg - About 15inches around (only about 4.5 maybe 5inches at the front)

*Eyes - A couple people told me I have anime-ish eyes, but I'm still trying to find it. lol.

*Hair - I have shoulder length hair, but I cut it shorter, and I'm going to grow it out again.

Face - No freckles, But unfortunately, small scars that look like them, =(. Glasses. Medium Sized nose? I supposed. Rounded.

I weigh about 145or so, But as you can see, weight is a little um, 'distributed' lol. I know its kinda weird posting all this stuff up, but I can't ask my friends who I should be anymore. If one more person tells me Tsunade (for obvious reasons) I'm gonna stab them with a spork lawl.

**I know the numbers are big, but I'm really not that big lol. The biggest I can wear in shirts is a Medium and In bottoms usually a 10. (Yeah, I admit a 10 is pretty big. *sigh*) **

So, here are all the questions I have :

*Can Anybody Give me tips with making costumes? I have No experience whatsoever.

*Can anybody suggest a character and tell me the show they're from for who I should be for the conventions?

*Can anybody tell me more about what Conventions will be around Cleveland Ohio? (Or anywhere in Ohio for that matter)

*Can anyone give me some weight loss tips? lawl. Im not fat but I think my legs are a little big. =\ So preferably, weight off the legs. =)

*Can anybody tell me how things are at the conventions? So far I know of Ohayo-Con and Colossal-Con. That's it. lol

*Also, tell me what kinds of people go, or what I'm expected to see. I don't wanna go in and be like WHOA WTF! lol.

AND ALSO, If you reccommend a costume, please include what types of fabric to use, stores to get them from, and if possible, PRICES. lol. I've heard that conventions are expensive, and that I may want to save up because they have lots of things to buy.

*Oh my gosh guys, one last thing. I know you're getting sick of me lol. But if I happened to dress up as a character that is NOT African-American (or even slightly tanned) Will people say anything about it? I've seen lots of African-Americans dress up as Naruto and Lee, but nobody has ever told me how people react to it. I don't want to sound racist or like I'm applying stereotypes or anything, But I just wanna know. THanks =)

~I know that was long, but I'd really appreciate all the info!

Thanks!!

~iLoveGaara♥

Answer 1

*dizzy* Too many questions! ^_^ No, it&#039;s fine, I know cons can be scary if you&#039;ve never been to one. For your cosplay questions, there are several answers. If you choose to cosplay, you can be whoever you want- the majority of us don&#039;t care. You should cosplay because you love the character, not because you are forced to for any reason. My only personal concern on cosplaying is that if you are overly large, please keep that in mind when cosplaying someone in a skimpy outfit. Other than that, I don&#039;t care who or what you go as. I have a black friend who has gone as Naruto and Kiba, and he is a huge hit. To be honest, there aren&#039;t a lot of black characters in any anime series, simply because there are not a lot of black people in Japan. So finding a character of any other skin color other than white is difficult.

I have only cosplayed once, as a Pokemon Breeder from the Ruby/Sapphire games. I bought the materials at my local Michael&#039;s craft store and went from there. Of course, it was real easy, since all I needed to do was paint the Pokeball symbol on my apron, but whatever. The key is to start small- find a character with a simple costume. For anything advanced, I suggest cosplay.com or cosplaylab.com for any questions. They can help you better than I can.

About your convention questions... the best way to know about a con is to experience one for yourself. Each con is run differently, with various panels, guests, and rules. The con I go to every June in Dallas, TX is Project A-kon, which is run by fans for fans, is a large con that easily handles over 38,000 people. It&#039;s a load of fun with plenty to do and lots of buy. The Dealer&#039;s Room is the only thing I know of that every con has. Bring money for food and water, but also for anime and anything anime-related for that room. If you plan to stay the whole con, it might be easier to stay at the hotel, in which case you&#039;ll need more money. It can be very expensive. ^_^;

I think cons are fun, but even more fun with friends, and most cons have discounts for groups. Look at the website of the con you choose to go to for all details, including badge prices, hotel prices, and a list of guests. Have fun, be safe, and enjoy for first con experience!