!!!ATTENTION!!!: ~ Prepare yourself... This will be a long post! ~

!!!DISCLAMER BEFORE READING!!!: ~ I am not criticizing anyone, or their choices. Do as you wish it is still your life and you chose what you will do with it. I am here to give you my honest opinion and to help out if I can. I had no intention to hurt anyone so please don’t take it personal and respect my thoughts as I will do the same with you! ~
~ Thank you! ~


I am a cosplayer that has few cosplays on the sexier side, and so I decided to talk about a topic very common to all female cosplayers. Is sexy cosplay a good or a bad thing? Is there such thing as a too revealing or too sexy costume? Is the costume done for attention or out of love? Or perhaps, are modifications on a cosplay okay and is it sexier? All of this and more you can read in this post.


Cosplay Yuuko Ichihara - xxxHOLiC by Ferasha

These questions trouble many female cosplayers. So let's start with the first and basic one.
~ WHAT IS CONSIDERED A SEXY COSPLAY?

In today's community, a sexy cosplay is considered anything a bit more revealing. Showing your legs, having a cleavage, a short skirt or wearing just a bra as a top, all of these are considered as a sexy cosplay.
Why is it when a normal girl wears a really short skirt and short shirt (which shows of her stomach) during summer count as a normal and okay thing, but a cosplay that shows the same amount of skin is considered as sexy or even vulgar? I must say that it isn’t so fair. But then we think, maybe it is because the cosplay is worn in winter and not summer? Even so some of the costumes are still criticized even in the season when it is relatively "okay" to show more skin. Or is it because it isn’t shown at a place where it is expected to be, meaning a girl in a bikini should be next to a pool or something?
All kinds of things similar to this and more ruin confidence of many girls around the world who wish to cosplay their favorite character, but are sacred because it is categorized as a sexy cosplay by society. There are some that will do their favorite character no matter the cause but some women would go to that extreme of getting a mark of an easy/slutty woman for the price of popularity. So can we really say that a cosplay is sexy when we are torn between two points of view and two ways of presenting a cosplay to the world? I personally think that we can.


Cosplay Rider - Fate Stay Night by Tenshi

~ IS SEXY COSPLAY GOOD OR BAD?

On this questing many seek answers still. Is it good or bad thing to do a sexy cosplay?
Looking back at the answer on what is considered sexy cosplay, we can't surely come to a conclusion is it ok or not. To some it may be but to some it may not. Everyone of course has their own preferences and we should respect them, but for some occasions I personally think that critique is needed. A good cosplay to me is any cospaly followed but the guide lines it was given, manning following the design as it is no modifications no matter how reveling, but a bad one is the one that is modified to be more revealing on purpose for a personal or any cause.
Being insecure and modifying a sexy cospaly to be more covered is ok but following the guide lines is the best thing to do. Whatever the case it may be or whatever you think is good or bad, you should be nice to a person making it.



~ ARE COSPLAY COSTUME MODIFICATIONS OKAY?

Whatever is the reason for modifying a costume, I personally think it is not okay. The design is made as it should be and any modification is ruining the original design. Yes your costume may not be 100% same color or something might not stand as it should, but modifying it to that extent that it is not recognizable isn’t okay. As you are doing a cospaly, you are giving your respect to the author who designed it. When it come to "sexier costumes" modifications may come in 3 ways.
1. Modifications to make the costume functional.
Some of the sexy designs are defying all laws of gravity, so having extra parts is very welcome and that is reasonable and okay. You probably wouldn't want your boobs spilling out in the middle of your performance or during the day.
2. Modifying the costume to have more covered skin.
This is okay as well but it might be considered as bad way of cosplaying. It is bad because it changes the original design, but, on the other side, it is okay because it covers the parts that are to revealing, or so it is thought by society. But my personal opinion on this is that if you can't have the courage to wear a costume as it, don't wear it at all (or at least do not compete with it). Try to stay true to the character you are cosplaying as much as you can and take all consequences while doing so. If you don't have the courage leave it, let it sink it, let yourself get used other costumes then maybe this time next year you could gather the courage and wear it.
3. Modifying the costume to be more revealing.
This is a rear case but there are people who modify their costume to be more revealing. I personally have a low thought on these people, because for me these people for me are screaming, “desperate for attention”. The modifications made for this are something like making a smaller bikini to cover just a small part of skin or even less. As I said these modifications are rear and I really hope that by now some people will get it that showing off more skin by modifying the costume isn’t the only way of getting cosplay attention.


Cosplay Morrigan - Dragon Age Origins/ Dragon Age Inquisition by Ferasha

~ IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A TO REVEALING, SLUTTY OR TO SEXY COSTUME?

Yes there is. There are many revealing costumes and we can’t lie. But wearing a revealing costume has many flaws and bad sides.
Many thoughts come to someone’s mind when a woman wears a revealing costume, such as she is a slut or she is desperate for attention and so you have to know that you will come to such a society where not everyone is a nice, jolly, ball of happiness and joy. There are as well some very horny creeps, and some very rude people. That is the first thing you need to know when you do a revealing cosplay as well to respect someone’s thought on your cosplay if it is not rude. someone might say you wear a to revealing cosplay in a nice way and respect that cause not everyone will like it.
If you are wearing such a revealing costume you should deal with all consequences that it brings, meaning you have to bear all the catcalls and rude comments. Let us be real for a second. You asked for it in a way! No one told you to wear that costume, you did it yourself so deal with it. It is your responsibility to deal with what comes your way cause you knew it is a more revealing and sexier costume. Of course deal with it to the extent that it is somewhat normal. But there are as well people that make a costume revealing on purpose. These costumes can not be called costumes and are not counted as original. Yes, a very revealing costume does exist but making a costume that is not revealing too revealing is your problem.
When it come to being to sexy, well that entirely depends on you. Some cosplays that are sexy have a, let's say sexy personality. So it is your choice to stay in character or not. I respect all people who stay in character, but if you make a hot headed, tsundere girl in a semi - sexy armor and you act like a slutty girl who licks a sword, well my friend that is entirely your fault. A slutty costume however can be a one where you mix a purposely to revealing costume, or modify a costume to be revealing, with a purposely sexy/slutty personality. There are characters who are slutty but as I see they are rarely cosplayed.

In general, yes people may wearing a revealing costume is being desperate for attention but when a person wears this costume, that is true to the original design, you may never know why the person wore it in the first place and what is the reason behind all unless you come up to them and ask or search their cosplay page. Maybe that person has a full armor costume somewhere home that she wore during the winter. So as the old saying says don’t judge the book by it's cover. So people you try as well to find out a little bit more on cosplayer before jumping to conclusions.




~ IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A SEXY VERSION OF A COSTUME?

No there is not. Unless it is League of Legends with million skins for one character. But, in general, no there is not. Wearing a bikini and putting make up and a wig on with contacts, then posing in your bed can not be called a cosplay of a character you mentioned. That character has it's design and you should follow it. Yes there are filler episodes, and designs with them in a bikini and all, but doing just those costumes can not be considered a cosplay if you did not do the original, or let’s say, main design first. Doing one or two cosplays like this without doing a main costume design is okay, if you, however, have other costumes that are done by the given design. Cosplay is about doing it out of love for the character and the design. Remember that!

~ SEXY POSING IN SEXY COSPLAY? IS IT OK?

Yes it is, if this character has some sexy poses it is ok. Posing sexy because the characters personality allows you so is quite alright, when done in normal amount of course. And following the original art that has sexy poses is okay too. But doing sexy poses just for attention and putting your boobs and butt on a plate for people to see is more of a attention seeking move then posing for cosplay. Just so you can be reminded, if you pick a character with the personality that allows sexy poses or has sexy artwork, don't go overboard. Try experimenting and do other poses as well, when posting try to mix and match a bit of normal and sexy poses just so you don't show them all the good stuff!


Cosplay Rider - Fate Stay Night by Tenshi

~ GENDER BEND SEXY COSTUMES. HOT OR NOT?

Gender bend costumes can be great costumes, depending on a design made by the cosplayer. This is a relatively okay thing, and it got very popular. Though I am not a fan of gender bends, because I think you should stay true to the character you cosplay, even if that character is male and that means you have to put a fake beard on and bind your chest. Try it it might be fun and I must say I saw some pretty amazing crosplays. But to go back to the point of gender bend, as always, like any other costumes, these costume designs, that are freely done by a person making a cosplay, can go over board. As I saw some amazing costumes of "Ironwoman" and "Lady Thor" (I know this is a character now but before she did not exist), I also saw some very disturbing ones. From full armor, glowing and working iron suit, to a bra and underwear with a helmet on. Yes my friend you have your hands untied, it is allowed, and you have full right to do it, but you may consider looking at the original costume again and putting some more clothes on. The point of doing a gender bend costume is making it as similar to the original design as possible. Let's give "Lady Thor" for example. Many girls make an armor on their chest that reveals their stomach, make a helmet, mjolnir, wear leggings and put a cape on, and still look more sexy then an girl who just puts on the cape, helmet, bra and underwear.
To conclude everything, yes there is a sexy gender bend costume and it can be pretty hot, but sometimes it can be very revealing and it can shift over to the not section.

~ ARE YOU DOING THIS FOR ATTENTION?

Many girls get this question. Are they doing sexy cosplay for attention?
To be honest, all of us do cosplay for attention unconsciously, and it doesn't just count the sexy costumes. Sexy costumes have a big spotlight because they are somewhat provocative and show off some natural features of a woman. Now does someone do it for attention or popularity we can’t surly say until we get to know more about the person. As I said before, never judge the book by it's cover. Some people you see on the convention maybe wear a sexy costume for the first time in their cosplay life and you might think they do it for attention when behind them, they have amazing costumes that are well crafted and bad ass. When you meet a person try to get to know them and their cosplay story and don't run to conclusion. If you find a sexy costume while searching on the net don't automatically say what a slut until you check out everything. Knowing that a person does it for attention will clearly be seen by the amount t of sexy costumes, and sexy versions of costumes they do. It will be shown by the revealing modifications and a very vulgar approach. It will show in the way they pose and the way they highlight body parts. There are even people who got popular over their sexy costumes but that does not mean it is their favorite. You might see them at a convention and they are wear a "normal" looking costume. When someone wants attention it will show. Just don't jump to conclusion and start criticizing the person or making fun of them as I said before.

~ YOU WORE A SEXY COSTUME! YOU ASKED FOR IT!

The last thing I wish to talk about just a little bit is harassment of any kind towards cosplayers who wear sexy costumes.
The most common comeback is "you asked for it". Well yeah maybe we do have to take the consequences but that does not mean you can harass us as much as you want. Getting cat called once or twice or trying to touch us (KEY WORD HERE IS TRYING, BUT INAPROPRIATE TOUCHING AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT DOESN’T COUNT HERE OF COURSE!) we can bear to some point. Harassment of any kind is NOT nice, nor allowed in a way and it is also just showing how much of a rude and low person you are. Dealing with harassment is hard and you should know that. But girls, never react hot-headedly on the first comment, just continue with a head high. If you get a rude comment just ignore it, but if it continues the best way to deal with it is to have a polite talk or tell the security of the convention. Just remember that you kinda asked for it and that they are going to comment but if they are bugging you try to deal with it as calmly as possible.


with Ferasha as Poison Ivy

So in other words be proud of what you do and don't go over board. Learn to balance your cosplays and to do the cosplays right as you should. Try to deal with all the comments politely and just be yourself and have fun!

In this post there were pictures of
Tenshi: http://tenshicosplayarts.althemy.com
Ferasha: http://ferashacosplay.althemy.com