How to become an award-winning cosplayer on the cheap
By @edent
· cosplay red dwarf Sci Fi techsmas · 1 comment · 550 words · read ~539 times.
I love cosplay. Or, rather, I love the utter joy which leads people to dress up like their favourite characters. This is the story of how I won 2nd prize in a beauty contest for dressing up.
It seems to me, there are three ways to find success with cosplay:
- Be pretty and coat yourself with colourful latex.
- Spend a lot of time, money, and effort on building/buying an incredible costume.
- Cheat!
I am not body-confident enough to go for the skintight option. And I've previously gone down the replica route. So I went for the cheap option!
Skip To The End
For an 1980s themed #Techsmas party, I decided to go as Arnold Rimmer BSc SSc, from Red Dwarf. 
And, yes, Red Dwarf first aired in 1988 - so it totally counts.
Ingredients
It is important to remember that you want to be accurate to people's memories - not necessarily reality.
I based my costume off my memories, and supplemented it with photos from the Official Red Dwarf site's article about Rimmer's outfit.
Khaki shirt
£20 from Amazon. 
It was important to me that it had suitable pockets and epaulettes - but any dull coloured shirt would do.
Patches
£3.25 from eBay. 
A simple set of iron-on patches. Nothing fancy, but looked the part.
Hologram H
£3 from eBay. This was what sold it. Everyone recognises the H! 
This was where I cheated a little bit. Rimmer didn't get the sparkly H until Series 3 which was right at the end of 1989. Whereupon he also started dressing in snazzy uniforms. 
Identity card
I didn't need this - but I wanted it! I found a company who would print anything on an ID card for £4
So I mocked this up and sent it off. 
No, it isn't using the right fonts. And it wouldn't pass muster trying to access a starship, but it'll do!
Oh, scan the barcode ;-)
Total cost
About £30. I didn't bother buying special trousers or moon boots, and I never wear a tie.
I did learn how to do the "Full Rimmer" salute - and took great pleasure in having several people salute me back!
Nobody does it better
I came second in the prize-giving. The victor? Pauline, with this epic Goblin King costume.
Had a great time at my first #techsmas - so many people I’ve heard about, folk I’ve met before, new interesting people,oh and I won the fancy dress 😉 pic.x.com/iem3xe9qwp
Other notable entries
At #techsmas channelling my inner MC Pitman youtu.be/bHQRY17Tk8U pic.x.com/gc7j0yilfw
Archive Links
- https://twitter.com/Thayer/status/1076182125479645184
- https://twitter.com/jukesie/status/1076251727316353026
- https://twitter.com/Thayer/status/1076197578742657026
- https://twitter.com/Thayer/status/1076195954007642112
- https://twitter.com/Thayer/status/1076210809523658753
- https://twitter.com/Thayer/status/1076209263083692032
- https://twitter.com/Thayer/status/1076197804719120384
- https://twitter.com/Thayer/status/1076192883198357505
Thanks, as ever, to Thayer Prime for organising such a lovely evening.
Mike says:
The barcode text is much longer than I thought it would be. I was expecting it to indicate the wearer is a fan of particular Italian brand of high-end domestic appliances.