I'm still deciding between Viola or Ema, but I would just like to know a few things if I choose Viola.



As you can see, I am SO confused on her dress. Is it black, or brown? And the thing underneath the ribbon...what's that called again? One last thing: what's underneath the sprite view? More dress? A skirt? What type of shoes?

XD Sorry, so confusing. I'm just a confused person.

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I cannot answer all of your questions, but in terms of color, I recommend using a dark shade of brown. It's not a big deal with dark colors such as hers, but often-times in cosplay, people try copying the character's look a bit far too much, and the result can look unnatural or ill.

As long as it's not completely pitch black or light brown, the color will very likely look alright. I recommend looking through several different shades before completely deciding, regardless.

On the subject of under her abdomen, I believe it's a full dress. With the rest of her attire it would look proper. The length of it can vary depending on what you think looks more correct for the character.

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For the color of her clothes, I agree that a dark brown looks like the best choice. Just incase it is black, it won't be that much of a difference. As for the length of the dress itself, I would say it goes down to her ankles. At least going by her concept art it seems as if it would be.

http://www.court-records.net/arts/gs3_36.jpg

Good luck with the rest of your cosplay though. =D

Feel free to take a bit of creative license on the unclear portions. Don something that you can imagine Viola wearing. Obviously, you wouldn't wear bright red clown shoes, but I can see her in some comfortable slip-ons. If you want a reference of another cosplay, here's Flowery's version of Viola. (Your cosplays rock, Flowery!)

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LOL! What a 'lil surprise, having not surfed here in forever and seeing this XP Thanks, Gwiffy -- as do all of yours! <3

Aha! Well, this is kind of embarassing. :P You're welcome. ^^

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...which is why you must not, under any circumstances, use a wig! Try to grow your hair out for the part rather than a wig.

This is Gant with a wig (1): http://www.court-records.net/cosplay/py ... ouppic.jpg

Looks like he just got spit on by the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man cosplayer... I HOPE it's saliva...

This is Gant with a wig (2): http://www.court-records.net/cosplay/ringo-18.jpg

Looks like he went to the same barber as Cloud Strife...

I personally will be styling my hair and using hair extensions so it actually looks real and neither marshmellowy/ungodly spiky.

This is why Wigs = Phail for the majority of characters. For characters like Armstrong and Ron, wigs are kinda mandatory due to the complex designs of the hair.

Just a tidbit from someone who has yet to actually finish his outfit.

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No offense, but you said you'd never cosplayed before (Gant will be your first). Your opinion on wigs is mostly wrong. True, they can look absolutely terrible if the cosplayer doesn't style it correctly, but with the right wig and the right touch, they can look perfect. For my first cosplay (Maya), I used my own hair, but there were several disadvantages with that. First, I had to (permanently) cut my bangs to look the part, and while I'm satisfied with how they grew out, real hair requires that sort of lasting dedication. Second, I had to style my hair into Maya's weird topknots and stuff at an ultra early hour to make it in time for the convention - there's no pre-styling so you can't just wear a wig and go. It's a lot easier to style complex do's from the back as well rather than on your head. Third, this wasn't an issue with Maya since she had the same hair color and length as me back then, but for characters that aren't the same as you in these two aspects, wigs are a must. For example, I recently did an Ema Skye cosplay, however, my hair is now short so I wouldn't be able to style it into Ema's (and not to mention my hair's the wrong color). There's no way I'd dye my hair just for a single day, so I did the logical thing and ordered a wig. Truth be told, I wasn't completely satisfied with my wig results, but I blame that on the quality of the wig I bought since I had a blonde wig from another seller which was absolutely perfect.

In short, wigs are a fine choice, especially when you don't want to cause permanent hair damage, need to get out and go quickly, and require a vastly different hair type from your own. There's no need to be so critical of others' cosplays either. The point isn't to look exactly like the character - the whole purpose is to have fun cosplaying whomever you want.

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Ill second that. People who actually take the time to make their wig look good WILL almost always look better than someone using their real hair. I used to think that real hair was superior (I still use my real hair for my Phoenix and Edgey costumes), but after working with wigs for the first time, I've found that wigs are so much easier to style (they're not oily like real hair is) and you dont have to sacrifice how you look day to day for how you look at a weekend con. And the results (so long as you make the effort) look amazing. My sig is a picture with my Godot wig, and Im extremely pleased with it (it doesnt look quite as hairspray'd as it does in that picture though xD )

tl;dr wigs> real hair

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Gonna have to thirdinate everybody here {:B Wigs are the way to go, for sure. They do take a bit of practice, and are a little daunting, but in the long run they're so much more worth it. One time styling, voila. Most everyone does use their own hair for their first costumes, though, as I did (and pretty much everyone else I know as well, too.) Once you start expanding your choices, though, your own hair can only take you so far. ;___; (but wigs a whole lot farther!)