I am overjoyed because I managed to do my first cosplay ever, entirely on my own. Additionally, it served as a test for our little home photo studio. My wife took on the role of a photographer for the first time, and I believe she captured excellent photos, truly amazing in my opinion!
Idea
It all started two years ago when I wanted to create a costume for Halloween. The last time I dressed up as a character was probably when I was eight years old, so I had no experience. I wanted to do something relatively easy, inexpensive, preferably using what I already had at home, and, of course, I wanted the character to be very feminine. I had a red wig, so I started thinking about characters with red hair, and I chose Daphne from the classic Scooby-Doo cartoon. I already had the wig, and I started looking for a dress. I didn’t want to take the easy route and buy a ready-made costume; I wanted to make it for greater satisfaction. I found a second-hand purple dress online that was almost perfect; it just needed lighter stripes at the bottom and sleeves. I learned that all it took was to buy ribbon and glue it to the dress. It seemed easy. In the meantime, I bought a green scarf and matching tights.
Disaster
When the dress, ribbon, and fabric glue arrived at our apartment, my wife and I started creating the cosplay. We applied glue to the dress, placed the ribbon on it, and pressed everything. It seemed to hold, unfortunately, the glue was visible under the ribbon, very visible. We thought it would disappear after drying, but it didn’t, and the dress looked weak. The whole elaborate plan fell apart. I was not happy about it, and my enthusiasm for dressing up for Halloween vanished. The dress ended up in the closet, the tights never unpacked in a drawer. Only the scarf was used; I deliberately chose one that I could wear for everyday styling. My wife later bought me a matching hat and gloves. At least something useful came out of the failed cosplay. The following year, we had a lot going on with moving, so there was no time at all. I also considered doing a cosplay when my Instagram account reached 1000 followers, but that didn’t work out either.
Hope
Two years later, I decided to do something. The dress was still hanging in the closet; I hadn’t thrown it away. So, I peeled off the ribbons and glued them again. This time, I used so-called fabric tape for bonding. It’s placed between two fabrics and, with an iron, bonds them like glue, but without being visible. And voila! It worked! I could finally get back to cosplay!
Photo Session
On a free Sunday, exactly two days before Halloween, I decided to have a photo session. Recently, we had bought two photography lights and a white backdrop. Everything was prepared. I did my makeup, put on the dress, jewelry, accessories, shoes. My wife willingly helped me with styling; it wouldn’t have turned out so great without her advice. The dress didn’t fit perfectly, but a clip on the back helped pull in the excess fabric—a popular trick used during photoshoots and in-store displays. When I stood in front of the camera, I felt like a fish in water. It brought me immense joy. My wife played the role of a photographer in our small studio for the first time. She tried, took many photos, and guided me on how to pose. Not all of them turned out perfect, but I’m very grateful to her for participating in these moments, helping me, and refining her skills. Certainly, my joyful mood and smile made it enjoyable for her. I love being a model! We tried different poses, light colors (warm, cool, neutral). It’s important to look at the lens, which I didn’t always succeed at. I had a mirror in front of me that helped with posing. Surely, we have a lot of practice and theory ahead of us. I plan to buy books on photography or posing. Probably a better camera would be useful too. Currently, we use my 6-year-old iPhone 8, which is sufficient for Instagram purposes.
Results
In the end, I didn’t use the red wig; I appeared in my natural hair, which I had lightened slightly some time ago. Of course, Daphne had a more reddish hue. Instead of a scarf, there should have been a kerchief. And the colors didn’t match exactly. But that’s okay; it was my interpretation, and I’m very pleased with the final results. I must also mention that I didn’t have purple shoes, only nude ones. I used Photoshop to change the color. I extended the white background to make the image format more ‘square.’ But other than that, the photos are not altered.
In summary, previous photoshoots taught me a lot, allowing me to fulfill the role of a model on my own in the comfort of my home!
P.S.: On that day, my wife took over 400 photos! Half were of the Daphne cosplay, and the other half were in a birthday outfit, a pink dress with white gloves. Feel free to visit my Instagram :)
