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Gathering Magic is sponsoring an MtG Costume Contest for Halloween 2011! More info forthcoming and an official announcement will happen closer to October 31, but I had to get this article up so all of you planeswalkin’ shapeshifters out there can start thinking about your costumes and get to tinkering!
Real-life Jace vs. Chandra!
Building a great costume is time- and labor-intensive in general, but this is especially true for fantasy/sci-fi. Waiting until the last minute to get your gear together is guaranteed to be the biggest buzzkill. Your enjoyment of wearing your creation is palpably reduced because:
- Big dorks who’ve had a few keep pointing out—over and over—that iconic thing you ran out of time to add.
- Poor construction is now causing you discomfort in the crotchal region (it’s always the crotchal region).
- Since you were in a rush and had to mock up half the outfit with duct tape and staples, you now have to move really carefully because elements are in danger of falling off (usually around the joints).
- With no time to bargain-shop, compare prices, or fish Craigslist, you probably blew your budget (by a lot) and now can’t buy groceries (read: beer) this week.
- All of the photos from the party show you looking tired, uncomfortable, and missing that “thing” (which, of course, the same big dorks mentioned above will kindly point out again in the FB comments as soon as the pics go up).
Dude, where are your ear-thingies?
Hey, you don’t have her headgear . . .
That’s cool but . . . what about the . . .
(Sigh.)
Another year, I bought my Ghost in the Shell wig and even cut up a dress to sew into her bodysuit. But with only forty-eight hours to prepare, on the night of the party, I found myself standing in my bathroom with circles under my eyes and a safety pin needling me in my woman-parts, staring into the full-length mirror at my partially finished costume and realizing it was too overwhelming to finish. I was exhausted and cranky. We didn’t go to the party. I’d spent $50 on a wig I didn’t use, and wasted a ton of time prepping.
Don’t let this happen to you. You want to be rested, fully functional, and badassedly tricked out for that party so the photos can immortalize you in all your Magical, codpieced glory. I can hear the nerd patrol now: “Did you see [your name here]? OMG, he even had the [cool thing] on the [place the cool thing should be]. That blankety-blank was so blanking hard-core! Jelly! Dude, here he
A formidable woman, a formidable cosplay.
I firmly believe that everyone is better for having a creative outlet, and maybe costuming is the right fit for you! Besides, what could be better for your Vorthoseurism quotient than seriously playing dress-up? Not a Vorthos? Timmys should love it too, considering they’re out for the experience of that big swing. A little Spikey? Well, you should revel in pwning everyone else’s costume, neh? Appreciate, experience, and get that winning rush this Halloween. We’ll post all entries on GatheringMagic. So without further ado, big guy, it’s time to get to work on those
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Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. WWE’s The Rock) as The Vendilion Clique’s Endry
Just like with deck-building, a good costume starts with a great brew. I’ll go over the first two phases of personal costume design—Brainstorm and Sift—and then we’ll wrap this installment with some general costuming tips from community members Tally Heilke (of Plush Myr fame) and Anna Mechen (she makes those great Magic gear bags on Etsy).
Step 1: Brainstorm
Just write down all the MtG characters/cards you find memorable, are your favorites, or you identify with. Don’t overanalyze at this point.
MJ’s Sample List
- Ayumi, the Last Visitor
- Liliana Vess
- Goatnapper
- Eternal Witness
- Glissa, the Traitor
- Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
- Akroma, Angel of Wrath
- Virulent Sliver
- Sorin Markov
- Blightning
- Patrician's Scorn
- Mayael's Aria
- Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
Most of us will have lists that go on and on. So try and keep it relevant to costumes, and think in terms of aesthetic, but don’t limit yourself too much.
Burn, baby, burn.
Step 2: Sift
Now, go down your list and analyze each card. Here we start to think about the practical aspects of costuming. Consider:
- How much do I look like this character in face/body? (a greater similarity results in less work for you)
- How well does this character/creature/thing suit my personality or how I want to behave at the event? (You’ll have more fun if it’s something you can run with.)
- How much armor/equipment/weaponry does this require? (These items are generally the hardest to construct, or the most expensive to acquire.)
- How much of this costume do I already own? (Again, equals less work and less money.)
- Are there aspects of this costume that make it an auto-cut (ranging from “I hate wearing masks” to “I don’t want to show my stomach” to the inability to score pro-level body-paint application)?
- Look at each line item and consider what other related options they bring up (i.e., Glissa, the Traitor calls to mind Glissa Sunseeker).
I’ll go through part of my list to illustrate a few of these points.
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni – She has full-body fur, clawed feet, a tail, plus armor. This is going to be hot, uncomfortable, and a total money-sink for probably only mediocre results. Auto-cut.
Akroma, Angel of Wrath – Wings are more doable than a rat-head, but still expensive and labor-intensive. Leave on the list, with asterisk.
Patrician's Scorn – Love the card but it’s unrecognizable as a Magic costume. Auto-cut.
Uh . . . are you like, Jane Austen or something?
Blightning and Virulent Sliver. Unwieldy, mask-type costumes. Not my thing. Auto-cut.
Goatnapper – Poorly matched physically, and the goblin appears to be topless. Would be awesome, but better for someone else than me. Cut.
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker – Will get mistaken for O-Ren Ishii for sure, and wearing a white kimono is not very recognizably Magic. Some folks will just think I’m out celebrating my cultural heritage. Think of other Kamigawa ladies that might be better.
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The ladies are long-lost relatives. Not that fun.
Now we have a more focused idea of what might work and be inspiring, and after culling some original ideas, add some new ones that have percolated out.
MJ’s Revised Sample List
- Mayael the Anima
- Liliana Vess / Liliana of Innistrad
- Akroma, Angel of Wrath
- Eternal Witness
- Glissa Sunseeker
- Kiku, Night's Flower
A cosplayer’s take on Liliana Vess.
And with that . . . I think we’re good for this week. I’ll be letting my ideas marinate while, I hope, some of you out there will start working on your own lists! We’ll close with these tips from our MtG master crafters:
Give yourself time: Make sure if you are planning to do something very detailed and elaborate that you make a timeline of the work/time you want to put into it. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time (meaning weeks or even months) if the project is something that is very time consuming. There is nothing worse than starting on something two weeks before you plan to wear it and it feels thrown together and not quite as awesome as you wanted it to be. Even if the costume is something simple depending on how you spend your time doing other things or if you have a crazy work schedule it is still always a good idea to be working on it in spare time leading up to the event even if it just an hour here or there. This is also very helpful if you are on a budget. That way you do not have to spend tons of money all at once instead you can plan to spend a little at a time to build up to the final product.
One of Miss Mechlen’s lovely game gear bags.
Pick your battles. When dressing up as someone else, you can’t always get every single detail down to the color of their socks just right, and most of the time it’s not worth trying. What color socks does Malcolm Reynolds wear? Who knows and who cares! It’s that awesome coat (as well as his chiseled jaw) that everyone remembers. Get that just right, and throw in a sweet pistol and a serious attitude, and you’ll be set. Figure out the most distinctive things about the character you’re dressing as, and start with those.
Tally’s now-famous original felty Myr.
Stay tuned for our second installment of “The Planeswalker’s Guide to Cosplay,” coming up in a couple weeks right here on GatheringMagic. The Best Costume Community Crown as well as CoolStuff Inc swag is at stake!
A stitch in time saves nine. But a badly placed safety pin? Unforgettable.
— MJ
