One of the best ways to save money in your cosplaying adventures is by reusing cosplay pieces for multiple costumes.

So what does reusing cosplay pieces mean? It means using the same pair of pants, or shoes, or knife props etc. for multiple costumes. This saves you from having to spend money (and time) on a new item for every costume. With a few adjustments, you can easily use the same piece for multiple costumes and split the price between them.

Don’t Be Exact

Of course the one problem is that generally every character’s pants or shoes, etc. are different. So when it comes low budget costuming, sometimes sacrificing a bit of authenticity can give you a bit more flexibility. In order to reuse cosplay pieces for multiple costumes, the trick is to be a bit “vague” in your costume construction.

Instead of constructing each piece exactly as it was in the movie or comic book, etc. try taking a few artistic liberties to simplify them.  It’ll be noticed less if you skip a few minor details on something so you can wear it for two costumes, rather than adding those details and trying to pass them off as another character.

In my Loki costume, I just used a plain pair of black pants. No they don’t have the little crisscross sections that Loki’s pants actually had, but it doesn’t seem to detract from the costume. It may not be 100% screen accurate, but it’s still entirely recognizable. And it allows me to use the same pair of pants for my Spock costume (I just safety pin the bottoms up higher to make the appropriate Spock length).

If I had put the Loki crisscrosses on the pants, the they’d be very out of place as Spock pants. However, since there are no crisscrosses I can use them as Spock pants easily, and still use them as plain Loki pants. And most people don’t even miss those minor details on the Loki costume.

Wigs

Wigs are even more important to reuse. A good wig can be the biggest purchase of a costume. While it’s fun to have a wig styled exactly to whatever specific character you’re doing, being a bit vague will allow you reuse the wig multiple times. This will cut down the cost of it.

Say a wig for your Little Mermaid costume cost you $50. That’s a big investment for just one costume. However, if you get a wig that leans a bit more toward the orange end of the red-haired spectrum, you can still use it for the Little Mermaid, and maybe a few others as well. Perhaps it would go with your upcoming Mara Jade Skywalker costume. And maybe an Irisa Nolan cosplay after that. That’ll cut your wig price down to a little over $15 a costume. Far more affordable for those on a budget.

So as you plan out your next costume, glance at your future costumes list first. Try to find which pieces you could simplify a bit in order to reuse for multiple costumes. It’ll save you dollars as well as time, since you’ll already have something made for that next costume.

By Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf

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