Tips and Tricks for Cosplaying at MuggleNet Live!
Planning on cosplaying for MuggleNet Live! 2017: Nineteen Years Later? Well, whether MNL will be your first cosplay or your hundredth, there are certain things to keep in mind.
1. Drink Lots of Water
Since MNL is being held in Florida, it’s going to be hot. And costumes can only make that heat worse. As such, it’s important to keep drinking water. I would recommend carrying a water bottle on you and refilling it throughout the day.
2. Bring a Change of Clothes
Sometimes you just can’t stay in costume. So it’s always good to have another option available. You can carry this change of clothes in your backpack or leave it in your hotel room or if you brought one, car. If you don’t need it, great! But if you do, it’s there.
3. Seal Makeup/Body Paint
If you’ve done a really great job with your makeup that day or you’ve painted your face in your House colors, you want it to stay looking good. So to avoid a careless hand smudging it or the heat making you sweat it off, you want to seal it. You’ll use a setting spray for this, which can be found in almost any store that sells makeup.
4. Be Ready to Reapply
Sometimes even setting spray isn’t enough to prevent makeup and body paint from needing a touch-up. For example, eating can often mess things up. As such, carry some of your supplies with you. You don’t need to carry everything, but maybe have a tube of lipstick or a small container of face paint.
5. Consider the Rides
MNL isn’t your everyday convention. It’s going to be at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Which is amazing but also brings up some extra concerns, like will your costume fit on the rides? So make sure to test this before the day of the event. See how you can tuck robes and cloaks in, and figure out what you’ll do with your hat.
6. Test Out Your Backpack/Purse
Sometimes cosplays can make carrying things a pain. So this is another thing to test out before the big event. Try packing what you plan to bring into your backpack or purse and try it on with your costume. Hopefully, there won’t be an issue, but if there is, now you have time to make readjustments.
7. Carry a Cosplay Repair Kit
Accidents happen, but they shouldn’t ruin your cosplay, and while you may not be able to bring it back to perfection, there are some things you can carry that will keep it together for the rest of MNL. I recommend carrying duct tape, some superglue, and maybe some needle and thread. Between those three things, you should be fine.
8. Bring Magic to Life and Lines
Experiences like the Forbidden Journey and Ollivanders can be wonderful, but the lines can be pretty boring. So to make the lines less tedious, try magic tricks. You can entertain not only yourself but also the people around you. Not to mention the sheer awe on kids’ faces when they see you performing real live magic.
9. Practice a British Accent
You can really get into your character by seeing if you can sound like them. This is something you can practice in the weeks leading up to MNL, until you get it just right. And as a bonus, to perfect your accent, you have to watch all the movies over again for research purposes.
10. Be Prepared to Take Lots of Photos
When you’re in costume, people will want to take photos with you. Now, you don’t have to, of course, but there’s no harm in letting your work be admired. Also, you might get some little kids who want to take a photo with their favorite character, and it’s always better to be nice to them.
MuggleNet Live! 2017: Nineteen Years later will be the experience of a lifetime. And keeping these tips and tricks in mind will only make it all the better. So good luck, cosplayers. You’re going to be magical.
