I've always been a huge fan of cosplay but have never really gathered up the guts to do costumes myself. This is partially due to the fact that I don't have the required money to buy materials, and I'm not confident in my sewing skills yet. I don't like spending hundreds of dollars on a costume that looks crappy however, and I think the best costumes are always made by hand. I have many cosplayers that I like, and many of them I follow almost ritually. It is a wonderful thing to see people enjoying themselves and having a great time.
I often find myself shopping online and finding something really sweet that I think might be a good asset to a costume for a certain character (nerdy, I know). But the thing is, if you get the correct items and alter them a little, you might be able to pull of a great cosplay look that you would have spent hundreds of dollars to achieve! This is why I'm sharing all the things I find online. Hopefully, some of these will be worth it.
Keep in mind that these are supposed to be for a low-budget cosplayer, and the costumes may not be 100% accurate. Just remember: I've never tried cosplaying, so don't hang on to my every word.
If you do decide to follow my guide, please tell me how it goes! Sends me pictures if you want so I can post them on my blog! :)
Today's cosplay outfit will be simple: Vanellope von Schweetx from Wreck-It Ralph!
Vanellope is from the recent animated movie, Wreck-It Ralph, a movie filled with video game references and cyber culture. It is a awesome movie, so if you get a chance please go watch it! I watched it when it first came out in theatres and loved it. You definitely need to watch it more than a few times to get all the references, which is a quality I think about movies.
Anyways, the movie is about arcade game characters. The main character is Ralph, the 'bad guy' in his own game 'Wreck-It Ralph'. The citizens of his video game never invite him to any parties or gatherings because he's the 'bad guy'. In actuality, he's not a bad guy. But everyone reveres fix-it Felix as the 'good guy' and refuses to let Ralph prove that he also deserves to be in on the fun.
So Ralph decides to go on a journey in order to get a medal and prove his worth of 'heroic ability' to the citizens in his game. However, he needs to go to another game in the arcade to do it, so he goes on a journey to do so. Along the way, he meets a young girl called Vanellope, who is from a candy-themed racing game. She wants to win the races in her game so that she can be on the official roster of playable characters in the game, and so that people will stop calling her 'the glitch', due to the weird bugs she experiences when racing. Along with Felix and a hulky female soldier (whose name I forgot), Ralph and Vanellope ultimately help each other out and save the arcade world from disaster. It's a typical children's movie, of course.
Anyways, from what you can see here, she's fairly simple in terms of design. You won't need Victorian bustle skirts or a feathered mask. She looks somewhat normal here. All you need are striped stockings, a minty green hoodie, a black skirt, and some candy ornaments in your hair. Simple, right?
I did my research and maybe someday I'll actually follow through and cosplay her. But so far, here are the best things I could dig up for a costume like this:
1. Solid Pullover Fleece Jacket (Price: 20.99$) 
A minty shade of green for her hoodie, supposed to look like mint I guess. Pullover hoodies are hard to find when zip-ups are so popular. Anyways, this is just one of the many colors you can find on the internet, and many of them are of the same price range as this one.To make the red string from her hoodie, I suggest you try dyeing the drawstrings, or just replace them altogether with a red ribbon, red shoelaces, etc. I've never tried replacing a hoodie's drawstring before so this is still kind of hypothetical.
In addition, get some thick, wool thread and a needle, then loop the thread around the area where the pocket starts three times to get the right pattern from the picture above. Simple, right? Try it out here!
These tights are simplistic and not much else needs to explained for them. Just remember that even if your tights are not necessarily the 'mint' shade of green, the white in the tights makes that color seem lighter anyway.
Since one of Vanellope's tights have purple stripes, I recommend you get a purple sharpie or fabric marker, lay out the tights on a even surface, and draw straight purple lines across every white strip on ONE leg of the tights. It might take a while, and you might need a ruler, but it'll look better than nothing! Get the tights here!
Vanellope wears a black miniskirt that looks pretty plain in terms of design. Any black, pleated miniskirt would do fine, really. And these can be found almost anywhere.
The is one can be found on Amazon. Remember: what you pay for is what you get, so if there's a skirt you like better than this one, make sure to think about what is more important to you, saving money or the quality of your costume. In all likelihood, this skirt I listed could feel rough and cheap. The point is, make sure you know what is more important.
4. Women's Boots (Price: 10.99$)
Vanellope has these shiny pair of boots that can be replicated by buying any type of boots that are at ankle length. If you don't want them to be shiny, then get fleece boots or whatever. The point is, she wears a pair of ankle-length black boots. The bottom seem to have red springs or something, so if you want you can add some red paint on the bottom. Regardless, the boots are pretty plain and normal, just like the skirt.These pair of boots can be found on Amazon as well. Remember to put your correct shoe size!
5. Twizzler Hair-tie (Price: 8.83$ -9.99$) The Twizzler hair tie might just be the hardest to obtain in this costume. Which really isn't saying too much. There are many ways I've seen this done. Some people go as far as to buy clay to mold into the twizzler shape, while others will use actual twizzlers (ew, imagine that in your hair). For me, using simple cords would be preferably. The hair tie doesn't even have to be functional. All you would need is some red rope to tie together into a knot at the top of your hair.
I would prefer for the cord to be kind of sleek and shiny though, just to give off that twizzler appeal. I've found cord online in bulk, and I don't think it's not sold any other way. There's a satin necklace that looks perfect for the item on here too, but I'll let you decide which you prefer! :)
Lastly, Vanellope has a few pieces of candy in her hair. If you were a real stickler for the real look, then you shouldn't really be following this, as you know by now that this cosplay guide isn't really 100% accurate. I normally prefer very accurate costumes, down to the cosplayer's facial expressions, but since Vanellope looks really plain and simple, almost like a normal girl, I can shy away from details on this occassion.
For the candy pieces, I recommend you look all over the internet for anything that resembles candy and looks cute. I found several good course on Etsy, like some pink bowtie candy pins, candy and cupcake hair pins, and other 'kawaii' pins. Again, this isn't accurate to the photo of her at all, but it's the general idea that counts. If you're interested in getting more accurate pins, you'll have to make your own, or go do some advanced searching.
EST. TOTAL COST: 75$ (without wig)
I make no guarantee that this is exactly how much you will be spending. It is a estimate of the costs from the products above, give or take. If the products above are sold out or out of date, I apologize but I can do nothing about it as they are not associated with me in any way.
So here's my first cosplay guide post! There will definitely be more to come!
Suggestions are welcome, and I look forward to seeing requests!
I'm thinking of doing a Black Lady cosplay guide from Sailormoon next!
Hope you enjoyed reading, comment and suggestions are welcome, as always!
-Kari-kun
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