How I start a cosplay/My initial planning (Patreon)

So this was requested a little bit ago, for me to explain how I even start a cosplay/go about working on it and all the planning I do!

So the cosplay I am working on at the moment is Pirate Sora from Kingdom Hearts 3! To no ones surprise, I love KH with all my heart and this Sora outfit is STUNNING so I had to make it. The very first thing I do is gather references, I look pretty much for hours and screenshot as much as I can if it is a new design for as many references as possible. For designs that have existed for awhile I also try to find the original art sketches for them if they exist.

You can NEVER have too many references honestly. Now, once I have my folder done I upload the entire thing to my dropbox, I have the dropbox app as well so whenever I need to look at  the references I have them right on my phone as well.

When it comes to picking fabric a huge part of it is just me getting lucky sometimes or searching for hours through fabric clearance.

For this I knew I needed LOTS of different pleathers, the sheer amount of different textures on his coat is INSANE. So I looked for that first, usually I buy upholstery fabric for this, its usually on clearance since not many people use it and it is MUCH cheaper than using real leather.

Sora is in a pirate outfit so I wanted to use fabrics that, well a pirate would wear. Linens and Knits! The color in the photos is rather off due to the lighting though. So yeah, instead of going for non texture/blank fabric I like to have texture to almost all my fabrics, makes it look more realistic/better imo.

I will be weathering ALL this fabric but this gives you an idea on what I am looking for when I chose fabrics.

Gold is probably the MOST problematic fabric, just cause so many gold fabrics look costumey and cheap, I personally love Yaya Hans gold stretch fabric, its a more dull gold but still has a bit of a shine and it will work perfectly for Soras gold trim on his vest!

NEXT STEP, how can I make this easier on myself?

I typically do not like using patterns, none of them really fit me right and it is just easier to take clothing that exists, cut it up and use those as patterns instead! Though, when it comes to clothing that LOOKS normal I tend to thrift for my stuff more often, for Sora I went to my local thrift store and found some pants I thought would be great base and two leather jackets to rip apart and use for their leather! Taking apart old clothing for their fabric is another way to save money and make it easier on yourself in the end! In total I spent $25 on all of this!

I will of course be HEAVILY altering and modifying all of this but anything to make this easier on myself is welcomed!

And that is pretty much my mindset when starting a cosplay! Hope this little insight helps you along your own cosplay journey!