This is one of my favorite months of the year. It’s not too cold, not too hot, but most importantly…. Halloween is coming up. As a cosplayer, I’ve enjoyed dressing up. However, when it comes to choosing a costume, it can be pricey. Stores like Party City and Spirit Halloween have a great selection; however, they’re overpriced. You can create your own variation of a costume easily and less expensively. Here are some tips that I’ve learned over the years of cosplaying that have helped me not break the bank.

 1.      Thrift Stores

 Depending on the costume you want, you can easily find plenty of regular shirts, dresses, etc., to make a costume. Using thrift stores has helped me create cosplays such as:

 Raven from Teen Titans: dark blue curtain to make the cloak. ( I had to get the decorations for the belt and arms from Joanne’s Fabrics, but it wasn’t too much}

Rey from Star Wars- I got beige capris (I personally picked a pair with pockets because I needed to have my phone somewhere during conventions}

Hela from Thor: Ragnarok- I used a black dress, as I didn’t feel like I would look good in a body suit, and I used fabric paint.

Genderbend Loki- For this, I used my black mini skirt I already owned, bought green fabric for the cape, used a bicycle helmet to make Loki’s helmet, and I used a curtain rod to make Loki’s Scepter.

 Also, people donate old costumes all the time, so you can pick one right from the rack. I saw one that was originally over $60, but it was marked for only $2.

 2.      Amazon

If you didn’t want to go searching through thrift stores, you can always go to Amazon. They normally have them decently priced, or of course, you can order the fabric, paint, clothes, etc, to make the variation of the costume you want.

3.      Household Items/Your Own Clothes

You can re-purpose things from your own home. Like if you’re going to be Gambit from X-Men, use a deck of cards that you have.  Use your own clothes to make your costume. This is a very creative way to re-purpose your old clothes.

I’ve gone to conventions where people have made their robot/mecha cosplays out of cardboard. And they were very well made.

4.      Social Media Sites

Sites like Facebook are FLOODED with cosplay groups who sell their cosplays, as well as Facebook Marketplace and even your friends. I’ve gotten a few wigs from my friend off of Facebook. However, be wary that it’s actually the cosplay pictured and not a scam. Also ask about the quality of it to determine if the price is worth it.

5.      Craft Stores

If your costume is going to have to be painted or need weapons or anything like that, you need to go to craft stores such as Joann’s Fabrics, Michaels, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, etc. You can even buy crafts at your retail store like Target.

Basically, you don’t need to spend $50+ for a costume when you can easily make or get one for less.

This was written by our contributing writer, Gigi Grindley.