Cosplaying with found items and Craigslist

 The picture above is my 'workstation' it sits crammed in a hallway in a house I share with 3 other people. It is constantly covered with other people's junk, including purses and jackets sitting on top of armor patterns and sketches. When I sit hunched over this table, my roommates are shoving past me to get into the kitchen. There is a bike that sits in the corner, and most of the things I need are in boxes in a closet upstairs. One of my roommates took the lamp I use for details as a homework lamp in their bedroom, so squinting is usually combined with the hunching while I sit here.

I would consider myself a cosplayer on a budget. I make a very modest amount of money from my job, I spend most of it on school and food but I still have a desire to make attractive cosplays. I am currently putting together my Tomb Raider 2013 cosplay, and I realized how crazy my process is. I am not one of those cosplayers that has a whole closet for her cosplays, and a garage full of powertools and materials to use for costumes (yet) so I have to improvise. A LOT.

I would have to say most of my cosplays barely go past the $100 mark for all of the materials. My most expensive to date would probably have to be my mandalorian armor but it still isn't finished, and probably has barely even broken that $100 budget. One of my cheapest was probably this version of Zoey from L4D. I had pretty much everything already, just bought some bandaging tape and folded up my ThinkGeek t-shirt to make the medpack. This cosplay isn't really on the level I'm trying to achieve any more, and I will be re making it and (dropping a small hint) mayybe wearing it at an upcoming convention with another character from the games.

When I know a convention is coming up (I probably start this process a month before) I make a list of all the things I need for a cosplay and decide what I'm going to make from scratch and what I'm going to buy or modify from something else. Then, I spend a lot of time in thrift stores and stores like Ross looking for things I can use. I recently just purchased a REAL compound bow for my Lara Croft. For $50 bucks. So far this cosplay is starting to be one of my most expensive, but still I have only spent about $100 on materials. I ask friends for their broken crap. I find an old pair of pants that I can rip off pockets from. I go through plenty of failed attempts, and there have been several times where I have left something out drying and someone else has put their backpack on it. I sometimes spray paint pieces in the front yard, and have people walking by on the sidewalk stare at me like I'm some sort of crazed lunatic.

My point with telling you all of this is you don't have be monied to be able to make your cosplays. I still get them done. They aren't as beautiful and impressive as Ana Mia or any other of the cosplay super stars, but that isn't what cosplay is all about. Cosplay is doing the best with what you have, and really owning/loving the character you are portraying. I am moving at the end of the summer to a house that does have a workshop, but I have gone about 3 years of cosplaying with only a battered dining room table and a few drawers full of materials.