Book Review: Draping Period Costumes

Sobel, S. (2013.) Draping Period Costumes: Classical Greek to Victorian. Focal Press. isbn: 9780240821337

Okay so last week I showed you a good book for draping basic things, this week we're diving into a book on something much more highly specified: historical costuming. Now for anyone who has looked into or done legit historic costuming, as in basing it off extent garments and/or using a historical pattern book which directs you how to make the patterns but doesn't give you 1:1 scale patterns, you know that this is a much more interesting process. Most historical costumes use different shapes (and shapewear) and seam lines that contemporary clothes so it can be a challenge even for an experienced cosplayer. Draping this sort of costume really helps to make sure it will actually fit (take it from someone who took eight tries to get a functioning mid 1800s sleeve). 

This book is best used by someone not completely new to draping but it does give a few pages for how to modify a dress form to fit you (or your friends) and some information on materials. She uses muslin for all of her draping which looks lovely but I'm more of a fan of something with lines myself (like gingham).

And here's what most of the book looks like. She shows the final pattern pieces as well as a fairly step by step process of how she gets there. She doesn't hold your hand nearly as much as Draping Basics does, however, a major part of why I wouldn't suggest this book for absolute beginners. But it is easy to follow along and one of the bonuses is that she shows how to drape and cut both women's and men's historical garments. She also shows how to adjust your dress form to be similar to a man's silhouette.

8/10 All in all a very good overview on historical costuming draping. It chooses major representations of each major time period so it is a good starting place for historical costuming but would be best paired with a historical pattern book if ultimate historical accuracy is your bag. Also not well suited for someone who has never draped before but still usable by someone of that skill level, it'll just take patience and a bit of trial and error.

Book Review: Draping Basics

Di Marco, S. (2010.) Draping Basics. Fairchild Books. isbn:9781563677366

Howdy everyone! Since I'm running low on cosplay specific books I thought I'd venture into the world of books that could help you make cosplay, so things about sewing, draping, working with plastics, etc. I figured I'd start off on some very good draping books since this not only is a useful skill for making dresses and cloth costumes it is also helpful for making armor and robots. None of these books show draping with craft foam for armor obviously (how cool would that be if they did) but a lot of the same ideas are at play. That is placing foam where the final armor will be and playing drawing on seams and cutting and adjusting until you get it right. And yes, I do have some craft foam draping tuts in the works! They're still a little ways out though.

The first thing this book does is lay out and explain the tools that professionals use to drape. While it is nice to have all of these tools don't be afraid to start going at it if all you have is a dress form, a marker, some tape and scissors. But the explanation of what each of these things are and their purpose is really helpful.

Next the author gives you an overview of a standard dress form, explaining everything you may ever need to know. This isn't necessary to memorize but is very handy as a reference should you ever encounter anything that seems unfamiliar. The same could be said of the tools section.

Once you get to the actual draping the author starts out with a fairly simple skirt then eases into harder and more complex items like inset sleeves. She also shows how she uses the tools which I find very helpful, just as helpful as how she uses gingham fabric for her draping. Muslin is pretty but something with lines is like using graph paper which I find more helpful. Also all your different patterns can be different colors of gingham so if you want to reuse a pattern that the blouse pattern you really like is the lavender gingham and the long sleeve one is pink.

She also shows some more complex things like cowl necklines which I wouldn't really think to put in what is clearly a beginners books but it is handy to have if you ever need to do some of those stranger things like cowls or yokes. It makes it a fairly complete reference book for modern clothing cuts.

10/10 A very good and thorough reference book on draping and draping tools. Easy for a beginner to use and good to look back on if you've got experience but something is stumping you.

Book Review: Everybody Cosplay!

This book is much more what I want to see (as compared to the 1001 Costume Ideas book), it has good, large pictures of each costume and shares a bit about the character and what went into the costume.

 

This followed only one costumer though, it was implied this was a compilation of columns run in Newtype USA. It was interesting to see the mix of quick homemade stuff, more involved builds and stuff that she put together or bought. It showed even a nationally syndicated columnist cosplayer buys things or even whole costumes. It was a cool glimpse into one cosplayer's method and wardrobe.

But that's the thing, this book was about glimpses. There were two details about construction per costume at most and several had no notes about actual construction at all. I liked the blog feel of this book but I'd have loved to look further in.

 

7/10 (An interesting look into one cosplayer's wardrobe and the thought that went into the choosing and creation of the costume. Not very detailed but detailed enough to be enjoyable. Would love either a continuation of this theme to books following other prominent cosplayers or a compilation of such portfolios. It is looking like Cosplay in America vol 2 which is currently being Kickstarted is going to do that so I'm really looking forward to it.)

Book Review: 1000 Incredible Costume and Cosplay Ideas

2013. 1000 Incredible Costume and Cosplay Ideas. Quarry Books. ISBN: 9781592536986

 

1000 Incredible Costume and Cosplay Ideas, I thought it would have cosplay crafting ideas. Or photo tips. Something how to. But it isn't. It's a book of cosplayers from photo shoots (so there's some amazing shots but many of them are so tiny it makes their amazingness almost moot.

The photos despite being vaguely divided into chapters by Anime/Manga, Videogames, Comic Books, Custom Characters, Props, etc, don't really have a set reason for being grouped together. On most pages it seems like it's because they are all share a similar color palete and on others it is because everyone is posing a similar way or with a similar prop. If everything but grouping was kept the same and the costumes were grouped first by character (so all Yuko cosplayers in the same spread or two spreads) then by general style (like all armor or all poofy princess dresses) so then at least you could get ideas from comparing similar costumes or characters I'd be a bit more down.

As it is I can't really tell what this book is trying to do. Most of the photos are too small to make this a coffee table book for showcasing the costumes/photos, there's no tips for creation or even anything really useful for costume creation. The best I can make out of this book is some ideas on how to pose for pictures maybe. But the title of the book doesn't really give the impression that this is what the book is really for. :/

I dig the photo credits though and there's lots of cool shots but I'm really glad I got this through interlibrary loan since it doesn't even really make a good coffee table book.

4/10 (It's an awkwardly laid out photo book which doesn't seem to have a cohesive idea as to what it wants to do. Which is a shame because I'd love to see either larger pictures of the costumes in it since they're all very nice or I'd love a focus on construction/details if the pics are going to be small and numerous. Preferably more of the second option given the title.)

Book Review: Cosplay Fever Red

Dunlop, R. and Lumby, P. (2010). Cosplay Fever Red. Ablaze Media Ltd. ISBN:9780954300845

Here is the sequel to Cosplay Fever! In the intro they mention how they took reader comments into consideration when doing this one so below character they now have series they're from and they have a section in back sorted by series and character to make finding costumes in the book easier. I think that was a super awesome touch. Another thing they did was interview four cosplayers who are supposedly big in the UK and include those interviews. I'm not part of the UK cosplay scene so I don't really know who these people are but their costumes in the book are amazing and their interviews are well done.

The pages are similar in layout to the last book with the posed convention snap with info somewhere overlaid. Most have the following info:

-A quote

-Cosplayer

-Character

-Series

-Notes about the costume

and sometimes:

-Best thing (in cosplayer's opinion) about the costume

-Why the cosplayer loves the character

10/10 (Seriously one of the best for getting an idea about what cosplay at cons looks like. The photos are respectful to the cosplayer and the info is a cool look into each costume. There was more focus on handmade versus bought costumes but that might just be because so many in this book are really fantastic and elaborate costumes which eBay sellers are less inclined to make. The quotes aren't even that bad this time. Also, the poses and costumes in the book would most likely not make your parents pass out if they saw it if you're looking for a book to show cosplay to your parents.)

Book Review: Cosplay Fever

Dunlop, R., & Lumby, P. (2009). Cosplay Fever. London: Ablaze Media. ISBN: 9780954300838

This is a pretty neat book. It has a short foreword and an intro which kind of gives a feel for what cosplay is and why some people do it as well as when and where these shots were collected (the UK, 2009) but otherwise is a collection of costume shots. I think this is my favorite of the coffee table docubooks so far as it lists on the page right next to the costumer:

1) Who they are.
2) What their costume is.
3) Details about the costume like price, something memorable about the construction, if they bought it and where.
4) Their favorite thing about the character they're cosplaying.
5) Why they cosplay.

There is also a quote from the cosplayer on each page but about half of them are "You lost the game." which hilariously enough makes it very clear when the material for this book was collected even if you don't read the introduction!

My third favorite thing, after the good convention snaps and the cosplay info right next to the cosplayer, is that the cosplays span everything. There's furries and lolita versions of characters and stuff from games and stuff from books and homemade and closet cosplay and commissioned costumes and stuff bought out of cosplay shops. It is all presented with equal respect.

9/10 (I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants an idea/to give an idea of the convention cosplay scene. There are a scant few cosplayers included who are posing in suggestive or otherwise less than parent friendly ways (one has another on a leash and their quotes made my eyes roll so hard) so maybe not the best to give to particularly reserved or conservative parents to show how amazing the cosplay community is. Only lost a point because the quotes off away from the cosplayer info tended to be pretty lame, the book would be a 10 if those had been omitted.)

Book Review: How to Cosplay volume 1

Cosnote (2009). How to Cosplay. Graphic-Sha. ISBN: 9784766119602

As the title says, this book is about teaching you how to cosplay. Volume 1 has a make-up focus and has tutorials for all sorts of make-up things. It's a good book for not only beginners but also intermediate level cosplayers.

It starts with basic tutorials like how to apply foundation.

Then progresses to all manner of sculpting the face using make-up placement.

And the last tutorials are for things like making and applying scars, bullet holes, webbed fingers and even how to do decent looking body paint.

Then after the tutorials there's convention reports with cosplay highlights. They interviewed the cosplayers too and found out character/series and (what really interests me) cost. It's super cool seeing what $100 in materials can get you in Japan. All of the conventions were in Japan but they did have a cool four page spread on World Cosplay Summit 2008!

The very last pages are adverts for cosplay related things like premade costumes, make-up and wigs.

This is a really cool book, it's got photo shoot pictures all throughout in addition to the pretty good tutorials. The only things I didn't like were that all of the products listed in their tutorials and advertisements are from Japanese suppliers. Make Up For Ever you can get Stateside but a lot of other things you can't. The other things I didn't like were their white and grey body/face paint tutorials because their finished results were uneven and splotchy! On the grey face paint one in particular they missed the bottom of the nose and several other small areas completely! But aside from those minor issues I think this is a solid book.

Sadly volumes two and beyond appear to be incredibly rare and I can't find them either in WorldCat (I try to get these review books through Interlibrary Loan because when they're free I can review more and see which ones I like best) or Amazon. :(

8/10 Lots of very solid tutorials and cool convention cosplay summaries. The photos are well done and the layout is very nice too. Loses points for a few bad tutorials. Did not lose points for showcasing make up that Japanese cosplayers would have easy access to since this is a translation of a Japanese text.

Book Review: Cosplay in America アメリカのコスプレ

Chuang, E. (2010). Cosplay in America. Ejen Chuang. ISBN: 978-0615349060

Another "Overview of Cosplay" type book but I will say right now that this one is doing it right. The photos don't always show great details of the costumes but the poses give them life. Where as Fandomania felt cold and detached and depressing all the shots here feel alive. Even if someone is clearly awkward the poses and shots themselves do well to downplay that.

The photos feel respectful.

Reading the forward it becomes clear why the photos feel respectful, because the photographer does respect the subjects. The foreword also tells us about the photographer, why he decided to do this and about his method including when and where these photos were collected from.

This is a dual language book, both in Japanese and in English which I think is cool. While never overtly stated I think maybe the reason behind this was so that maybe our cosplaying counterparts on the other side of the Pacific could see the essence of アメリカのコスプレ (American Cosplay).

Occasionally the photos have anecdotes attached, some range from "okay kids can be weird" stories of glomps to yaaaay moments like the one above where some girls came up to this cosplayer after she took her helmet off because they thought it was so cool a chick was being all badass in armor.

The subjects in this book feel very alive. These are clearly poses chosen to highlight the character.

Or the poses are a bit silly and more of the cosplayer than the character.

Either way, if I was asked to show someone, whether a professor or a parent, what cosplay looked and felt like then this would be what I would show them. It does well to capture the fun and life that is cosplay but it also presents it professionally.

8/10 (Lost points for not listing who the character themselves were or what series they were from and there were a few typos in the foreword)

Book Review: Fandomania: Characters and Cosplay

Dorfman, E. (2007). Fandomania: Characters & Cosplay. Aperture. ISBN: 978-1597110358

When I first saw this book on Amazon I thought that it looked neat. It was sold as a book featuring shots that are just cosplayers, no fancy backgrounds, no props, no fancy posing. The focus is the costumes and the people who made their costumes. I naturally interlibrary loan'd this in a heartbeat. I'm really glad I didn't buy it.

The first thing you'll notice is that the cover is craft foam. I used identical pale blue craft foam in my EDI costume, needless to say this is a really fun idea for a book on cosplay.

Inside the book is a short, few page essay written by someone who wasn't the photographer, apparently a random art critic. Okay. Weird. But whatever. Reading the essay intro thing I now kind of understand where a good number of people might have gotten the idea that cosplay is really just fetish wear that people put a good bit of effort into making. It mentions how clearly cosplay is just young people exploring their identity, sexual and otherwise.

If people want to cosplay and have it be a fetish thing, that's fine. I just don't appreciate someone labelling all of cosplay as something like that. Also early in the essay it mentions how this book purposefully goes out of it's way to not be condescending or treat the subjects like freaks but the essay itself does and going into looking at the pictures after gives a distinct freak show vibe to the whole thing.

So going in to the meat of the book I've already been put in a 'this is going to be a freak show?' mind set and from some of the preview pics from Amazon I knew that the posing would get a bit awkward at times.

How, exactly, does this showcase the cosplayer? There were a few instances where the posing wasn't awkward it just made for a straight up bad photo. There's only hints at details shown here. Either a full side or some nature of front shot would have captured the detailed bits of the costume better. I want to see the details of her costume! I thought we'd get those weird model casting shots of basically from the front quick snaps. Something not posed and not artificially artsy. I was very wrong. All of the photos are taken either from "artsy" point of views or the posing feels incredibly awkward. A number of the poses felt like clearly these were shots the photographer took between the cosplayers actually posing. Looking at the pictures there's a number that just make me feel sad. The disjointed and awkward between frames posing just gives the whole thing a feel of melancholy.

The other main issue is that a number of the subjects that are photographed are not in fact cosplaying. I chose this particular one for the specific fact that in the information section this is listed as "Character: Original". That's it. All of the other fan or original characters at least came up with a name for their not part of any canon character or a descriptor (ie "Character: Gothic Lolita"). Now if this book was just trying to represent people you see at conventions that'd be different but it isn't. The book specifically states that it is giving a look at cosplay in the title and in the foreword.

At the very end of the book is a list of each of the people in the book, who their character is and what series they're from when that applies. I appreciated it since I was able to confirm some of the characters I thought some of the people were.

The final thing I have to say about this book is that it fails to mention where these photos were taken. The foreword implies they were taken at a convention but no specific convention or even a year is given. If the author was really trying to make this seem like a legit cross section of the cosplay world then they should have included where and when the photos were collected but that's the thing. This book stated it wanted to give a genuine, distilled view into cosplay that wasn't a "look at these freak show kids", a view without the artifice of posing or props or backgrounds but in purposefully choosing particularly awkward shots that's the exact feel they got.

If you want to check out this book then go for it but if you're doing a paper/thesis/any sort of meaningful research into cosplay this is a total waste of time.

3/10 (would have been lower but the craft foam cover is boss)