If there’s one thing I’m looking forward to with attending conventions this year, it’s planning a new cosplay. It’s been a while since I spent months preparing a new cosplay for a con. I usually figure something out last minute, and it looks okay, but I’d rather have something ready to go. I have two big cons that I’m attending in March: Planet Comic Con and C2E2. This gives me about four full weeks to get everything ordered and ready. I wanted to share how I get inspiration for cosplay and the steps I take to have the cosplay ready.

The first thing that I like to do is go to Pinterest. I have a cosplay board where I will pin cosplays I like or that I want to complete someday. I have recently gone through my board and deleted any pins of cosplays that I’m not interested in. This is to help consolidate what types of cosplays I want to complete and when. Once I did this, I started searching different fandoms or characters to get an idea of what could be done versus what might be too complicated. I don’t cosplay professionally; it’s more of a hobby, so I’m not interested in doing any sewing for a cosplay. Once I get a few ideas, I have to figure out how to purchase or put together the look.

I’m not sure why I didn’t do this earlier, but I created an Amazon wishlist titled “Cosplay”. This is where I have been saving clothes, wigs, jewelry, or anything else I need to cosplay a character. I created this wishlist a few days ago, and it keeps me organized. With cosplay materials, it can take weeks to ship on Amazon, so if I can have the items saved to order ahead of time, that would be ideal. I have two cosplays saved in my Amazon wishlist, and I plan to order some of those items this week.

This leads me to the two cosplays I’m leaning towards. The first is Harley Quinn from The Suicide Squad, specifically the red dress with the combat boots. Harley Quinn is one of my favorite characters to cosplay as because she has so many different styles throughout her appearances in video games, comics, and movies. The red dress is a mood, and it fits Harley’s personality. The second cosplay I’m thinking about is a splicer from BioShock. Splicers are enemies with wrenches or a fishhook that attack you throughout the game.

I’m excited to start putting more of my energy into cosplay! It makes me look forward to future conventions because I will have a new cosplay ready to go.