Used to buy all my cosplay fabrics new. Not anymore.

I spent about $80 on a single bolt of spandex for a Spider-Gwen suit two years ago. That was before I found the thrift store bins in Seattle where they sell clothes by the pound. Now I make everything from old bedsheets and curtain panels I found for $3 total. My last cosplay was a full steampunk outfit made from a discarded velvet dress and some leather from a torn-up couch. The trick is digging through the piles and knowing what fabrics work for armor or draping. Has anyone else switched to scavenging for materials instead of buying off the roll?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_john20d ago

Now I make everything from old bedsheets and curtain panels" - this is the way man. Its funny how we went from buying everything new to realizing the best stuff was sitting in a bin the whole time. I see this pattern everywhere now, not just in cosplay. People are starting to question why we need brand new everything when the world is already full of perfectly good materials being thrown out. My neighbor fixed his whole porch with scrap wood from a construction site, my sister makes quilts from old t-shirts, its like we're all waking up to the fact that consumerism trained us to buy new when repurposing works better and costs way less. That thrift store bin mindset changes how you see everything around you.

faith_price720d ago

we're all waking up to the fact that consumerism trained us to buy new" - that line hit me hard because it's so true. I started doing this with Halloween costumes a few years back, now I'm making curtains out of old tablecloths and patching up jeans with fabric scraps from a friend's sewing bin. @the_john it's wild how once you break that "buy new" habit, you start seeing potential in everything. My coffee table is literally an old door I found on the curb with some spare cinder blocks under it, and it actually looks cooler than anything I could've bought at a store.