Okay I've seen a couple of threads talking about body shapes, being suited to characters etc. and it got me thinking because it's something I have issues with. How much do people think body shape matters with cosplay?

I guess what I'm really talking about here is bust size as female characters tend to have ridiculous (or at least at the larger end of the scale) breasts. I am one of those girls who was never gifted in this way, but I still like some of the costumes the female characters wear, should I let my lack of a bust stop me from cosplaying characters whose costumes I really like? It causes me endless problems trying to pad out costumes with realistic boobs and then hide said padding. It does so so much that I feel like just giving up on trying to even fix the problem altogether.

Normally I wouldn't worry about this, but last time I cosplayed as Trish (DMC4) someone mentioned that my boobs weren't big enough and it really knocked my confidence and I felt terrible for the whole day (I have social-anxiety disorder so I over-react a lot). But I guess this made me wonder. Before I didn't think anyone would have the audacity to say something, but now I'm not so sure. How do people think about this? I plan on cosplaying a couple of big busted women in the near future, but worry (probably far too much) about it.

So does anyone else worry about body shapes not fitting their chosen character's? Do you let it put you off or just got for what you want to do? And any advice on my problem? XD

If only people with the right size breasts cosplayed, then there would be half the amount of girl characters wandering around as there are.

It's a matter of confidence, what you think you can pull off. I'm an A cup, and I wouldn't cosplay (most of) the Bleach women because I would look a bit silly. But I did Shiki from the World Ends With You and felt fine (I could have done with losing some weight, but that's another issue My skirt barely stayed on as it was).

I honestly wouldn't worry about it. And it goes both ways too. In one of the other threads it was discussed about being too busty for females to crossplay as a male.

I would say that bust size isn't that important. If you want to pad to look more like the character, then so be it, but don't feel like you HAVE to!

Hell, I'm an overweight male. Any characters that my body would actually suit are characters I don't like. I do tend to aim for the taller, more muscular people because of it as I'm closer to their body shape, but I know I'll not really EVER be perfect for cosplaying.

Still, I do it because I love it!

I fake them. A lot.

Ivy's boobs aren't real at all, so I think that padding can work. I think what made the costume more impressive was actually the size of my waist in comparison to the boobs.

I think it doesn't matter that much, but sometimes having the right body shape in the first place does just make a costume look better. Like a flat chested Tsunade looks okay, but if they've got the actual boobs then they look awesome.

Though I am sorry that someone was rude enough to say that you had the wrong breast size to do Trish. I didn't think that she even had that big ones, so I don't see where they were coming from. Some people are just mean :/

Tab

Want some of mine?
i'm an E cup and i'm totally fed up of having boobs too big for the characters i want to cosplay, they're just not realisticaly japanese.

i do the characters i want anyays though, who cares if my Amu (who is supposed to be in the 6th grade, year 7 has gigatic basoomas? the skill is in the construction!)

sometimes there are costumes that look way better with the cosplayer's size than the character's.

seriously, don't worry about anything because somewhere, someone (like me) wishes she had smaller boobs.

the people who make comments about your boobs being too small for a character are clearly more aware of the sexy/fanservice side of the character than your skill in making the costumes and aren't worth listening to.
any good cosplayer wil be concentrating and commenting on the costume, not your anatomy.

What you've got to remember, as ShadowxSong rightly pointed out about female characters and their breasts, is that a lot of characters in cartoons/video games/whatever don't even have realistic body shapes.

I, for one, don't let it bother me. If I see a character I like and want to cosplay, I go for it. I mean, I've been told before that my boobs are far too big for cosplaying Aeris from FFVII...my only response was "well, why are you looking in the first place?". XD The only part of my body that I'm not willing to show off in a costume is my tummy - I have a bit of pudge and I don't like it (although I am working on getting rid of it!).

So yeah - my opinion is don't let it bother you. If you like the character enough, then do it! And if anyone insults you, they're either extremely rude and/or harsh...and probably jealous too. XD

Im sortaa lucky when it comes to this.. im a C cup, so i can bind, and look pretty flat, infact, i dont always need binding bad bra + Layers = PAINLESS BINDING 8D

Only, when body shapes come into it, i find it soooo hard to find a charature that i can easily pull of, as i horse ride alot, and in my opinion am DEFORMED, i have a waist that on the side veiw, is quite thin, but then you look at me from the frount, and i look quite fat its totaly ridiculouse, so i realllllly stuggle, when theres costumes that show a bit of skin. but i do them anyway, thanks to my altra ego. xD

But, when i did my dante costume, a group of chavs walked past me in the shopping center for C13, and one lad turned back to me and said somthing along the lines of ''Urghhhh... why do they let fat people out in public like that'' obviously, i was REALLY hurt, and i havent actuly done such an exposing costume scince, although im playing with the idea of cosplaying cheza from wolves rain, but it meens a skin tight suit... so with my slightly bigger than normal thighs, and my strangeeee waist, oh yeah! and i have MASSIVE hips, and a big arse then i dont think its gonna happen.


got i whent on.

I suffer with you, I'm an AA/A cup, which is murderous considering a number of the costumes I'd dream of doing are the ones that can't really be pulled off at a small size (and such costumes do exist, there's no point in denying it).

However, there are tips and tricks I'm learning. There's one thing I'd definitely recommend to any small-busted cosplayer's wardrobe. If you go to the lingerie section in Primark, they sell these 1-piece foam bras. Personally, I think they're fantastic for getting a decent cleavage needed for a lower cut costume. Also, thanks to them being made of foam, they can actually be sewn to things with a wonderful smooth line.

I didn't really get any decent pictures, but I had one of those bras built INTO my Angel Starr dress. It works wonders!

sorry but i know people say you should try to look as best as possible
but if you are :
over/under weight
tall/short
a different skin colour
too big/small in the breast department >_>
wear glasses
are male/female

who cares if it doesmt match????
apart from the amazing Usagi-Kou i dont think anyone looks EXACTLY right for their chosen cosplay and why would they..........for these FICTIONAL ANIMATED characters
theyre not meant to be in real life so why put urself and others down about them not being PERFECTLY like their chosen char ^^
<3 cosplayers who just have fun

I agree with sjbonnar

It’s not about how good you look it’s about the time and dedication you put into your cosplays. I know we live in a very pop a Hollywood glitz up glam world. The media, web and TV subject us to this false reality every day.

I am an overweight person myself; I admit it in all honesty. I eat right and workout quite a bit. But from my genetic body build I can never be a Fabio, Arnold or GQ model. But I am happy for whom I am. Do I wish I can be someone different?, The answer is one hundred percent yes, that’s why I cosplay and enjoy it so much. I enjoy cosplay so much that my looks don’t matter to me. If you do your cosplay right and put love time and effort into it you will have fun and your cosplay will be fine.

Please don’t be sad every cosplaying is not about personal looks and correct body sizes.


James Fedora
Otaku Punch Pictures

I have to agree with the above posts, cosplay who you want! screw body shapes! If i paid attention I would have no one to cosplay. I'm 5'10" (which rules out nearly ever female cosplay) I have an athletic body shape (many years of rugby and marathon running have left me with big thighs, wide shoulders and oddly enough big boobs - try explaining that one...)

But I haven't let it stop me! yeah ok so I may not be the most convincing sometimes in my cosplays, but hey I do the ones I love anyway. If someone is going to shout out "your too fat" or "your boobs are too small" just remember that those people usually have an IQ of that of a retarded cheese sandwich and wouldn't spot cosplaying skill if it ran up and kicked them in the crotch repeatedly screaming "you're a moron"!

lets face it, as cosplayers we're not ones for the socail 'norms' anyway so why worry about something as trivial as body shape when you get to have so much fun!

Cosplaying is supposed to be fun, so doing a character you like whose bodyshape isn't the same as yours shouldn't be something to worry about; cos, let's face it, as has already been stated, most of these characters are unrealistically shaped to begin with and quite a few of them would look rediculous as real people (the Barbie affect... she would fall over if she was a real person and not a plastic doll what with the G-cups, no hips, size 0 waist and size 3 feet). We are real people and come in all sorts of diffent shapes and sizes.

If you're uncomfortable with wearing a tight costume because of a wee bit of a tummy, invest in some magic pants or control-top tights, hey, that's what I do. As for boobs, quite frankly, it's easier to add than to take away, a push-up or padded bra can do wonders for your self-confidence. Wearing a properly fitting bra is always best, 2 or 3 expensive bras proffessionaly fitted are infinately better than 20 cheap, ill-fiiting ones. TBH, having the correct chest size is not the most important part of a costume by any means. It shouldn't matter, but if you want accuracy and you have small breasts, just use fake breasts, it's what MTF crossdressers/transvestites, etc do. Or, just say, I@m younger/older version of this character, or, if you can, ignore people being mean about stuff like that; they are probably stupid anyway.

Also, you can always modify a costume to fit your body shape. I didn't like the idea of being out in Scotland in minus temperatures with my mid-drift on show (I'm not comfortable with my midrift on show when it's warm, so it's not happening when it's cold), so I just used a tank top instead of a sports-bra-type top, it still looked good, so what if it wasn't accurate. I was comfortable and had a good time wearing it, so that's all that really matters. Adjust patterns, change the length of a pair of shorts or the height of a waistband to suit you. Good construction can hide a whole heap of percieved "imperfections" (nobody's perfect, so stop trying to be). Accuracy is all well and good, but if it doesn't make you feel good about yourself, well, screw it.

I'm a crossplayer who, like Hexi, is an E, quite frankly, I'd rather be androgynous and a much smaller cup-size. That's not gonna stop me from cosplaying 12-year-old boys though, I just use a binder and maybe make my shirts looser than is perhaps accurate. Also, I'm short, too short to cosplay a hell of a lot of characters, but, again, that's what platforms, standing on the step above your taller friend who is cosplaying a shorter character than you for photos and a little thing called "suspension of disbelief" are all for.

Just go for it and have fun. Wear what you feel happy in not, what other people think you should be wearing (unless you have, perhaps foolishly, given your friend carte blanche to choose a costume for you which you must wear and no chickening out for their birthday...). Now where's my bright yellow tennis dress and electric blue leather coat got to?

I'll leave you with a parting thought, I highly doubt that whatever you cosplay, you are ever going to look quite as stupid as this... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CrUkpR6Zs7w

Peace .

I will admit though that it has stopped me doing CERTAIN characters just because I know how bad it'd look. Faust VIII from Shaman King is an anorexic looking but slightly muscled male who is more often than not, shirtless.

Could I pull that off? No. But then, if I really wanted to do it, I still would. It's my PERSONAL preference and not really what other people might say. Others actually encouraged me to do it in the past ^_^'

Anyway, cosplay who you want just as long as you put the effort in. To be honest, depending on the amount of detail, people won't be looking at your stomach or your breasts anyway ^_^

People who make rude comments about your shape are truly sad and I bet they are unpleasant people on the whole who can#t be positive about anything. I know it is a blow to your self-confidence when somebody is being rude like that, it's happened to me quite a few times (not while cosplaying though). I have second thoughts about dressing up occasionally because I am a bit chubby and also I cannot pose for photos to save my life so I think I always look on the ridiculous side. But I think you should cosplay as any character you like, the whole thing is about having fun and being creative, it is not about being a model! The atmosphere of a place full of happy, relaxed people who are passionate about their characters is so good - who cares if you are chubby or skinny, male or female, big- or small-boobed!

I don't think body shape should matter when you want to cosplay as a character you love. I'm quite flat chested (I have too much male hormone in my body) and I've never let me stop my cosplay any characters I love. In fact I use it to my advantage and become a fab crossplayer.

I do think what you need is confidence and use your minus as a plus.

I would love to be taller but I don't let it get to me. I could choose to wear platforms to fix it but I don't. Instead, I work on my presence as a character and make myself seem taller.

I remember at Japan Ex, some girl muttered to her friend so I could hear it, "I thought Felicia was supposed to be thin!" (Bitch) but undaunted I just said "No, IF you knew anything about the true character, Felicia is curvy!" which, if you've seen the comics, she is, as are MANY female fighting characters.

I still know several UK cosplayers who despite knowing I'd do a good job of the cosplay wont include me in certain things for how I look and they wind me up...rude pretentious know it alls...