Cosplay may seem like it has to be super complicated and expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. While it’s fun to spend long hours and lots of money creating a super complex cosplay that resembles the character to a T, there are plenty of other methods of creating fun cosplays that will look just as good and won’t break the bank.

I have been cosplaying in my porn for a long time, and while I have done some exact replica cosplays, I’ve also done plenty that were easy to create and inexpensive. Here’s a few ways you can make cosporn that looks great and won’t be the cause of too much stress!

The Casual Cosplay

This is the kind of cosplay I usually like to do with complex characters. Characters who have armor, weapons, or other accessories that require massive construction, time, and money.

An example of one of these cosplays would be my casual version of McCree. Instead of getting his entire outfit, I simply got his scarf, hat, boots, and Nerf gun and made a super simple (and super hot) version of his outfit. It was easy to put together and didn’t cost a fortune.

Another way you could do the casual cosplay is by taking a character who usually has armor and just throwing them in casual clothing that has brand recognition or a similar color scheme.

For example, instead of doing a full-on cosplay of Pharah from Overwatch that has her entire suit, you could wear a t-shirt that features her Overwatch symbol, a t-shirt that features the Overwatch symbol, or just clothes that match her gold and blue aesthetic. All you’d have to worry about at that point is getting your hair and make-up on-point so that you’re instantly recognizable despite taking creative liberties with her outfit. As someone who is super into comfort and seeing people dressed comfortably, I am a big fan of this approach to cosplay.

Casual McCree

The Alternative Cosplay

Another way you can approach a difficult cosplay is by doing an alternative design of the character you want to cosplay as. Going this route may make you not as instantly recognizable, but fans of whatever series you’re doing might actually appreciate the cosplay even more. It shows that you really care about the source material and know more than just their main outfits, and having fellow fans recognize the character may validate them and make them be even more into it. I do like this approach a lot and have done it multiple times.

My two best examples are my Bombshell Batwoman cosplay and my Nurse Mercy cosplay. Batwoman is instantly recognizable in her suit, but her dress from Bombshells is an alternative approach that was way cheaper and easier to do and showed how into her as a character I am. The same goes for Nurse Mercy. It was a much cheaper approach than getting her entire normal outfit, plus it was just a lot of fun! I got to do the sexy nurse thing and a Mercy cosplay at the same time, I was super simple and easy to put together, and it didn’t break the bank.

Bombshell Batwoman

Nurse Mercy

The Closet Cosplay

This approach is actually its entire own little challenge among cosplayers, and it really brings to light how creative one can be. For these types of cosplays, you don’t go out and buy anything new. Instead, you make cosplays from things you already have lying around your house. An example of a time I did this was with my Faith Seed cosplay. Aside from the butterflies, which weren’t technically part of the outfit, I already owned everything I used for the outfit. It looked just like her, which proves this isn’t impossible if you put your mind to it!

Closet Faith Seed

The DIY Cosplay

Now, let’s be honest, DIY can get expensive. And not everyone can make a cosplay from scratch. But you don’t have to spend a fortune to DIY, and you don’t even have to sew. I have two examples of DIY cosplays I’ve done that were incredibly cheap, and though I did have to do some sewing on one, it was super simple. If you have never sewed before, this type of sewing was beginner level, and you could probably do it with a quick tutorial.

My two examples of this are my Ashe cosplay and my Yennefer cosplay. For my Ashe cosplay, I found everything online. All it took was a long afternoon of browsing, and I was able to put together a cosplay that resembles her outfit almost exactly. It wasn’t premade, it wasn’t a casual version, it was a true-to-character version of her outfit that I assembled from various stores just by looking online.

I did something similar with my Yennefer cosplay. I found almost exactly the same stuff she wears by shopping at various places online, and all I had to do was sew the feathers onto her shirt. After that, I had a near-identical outfit that looked like I bought it premade from an online vendor.

While it’s awesome if you can sew everything from scratch, here’s proof that you don’t even need to do that to make the perfect cosplay.

DIY Ashe

DIY Yennefer

The Halloween Store Cosplay

Now for this one, I’m simply here to tell you it’s okay to use Halloween costumes to make your cosplay. Especially when it comes to cosporn. I know there’s a stigma against it in the cosplay community, but I find that incredibly silly. Go buy that Halloween store costume, save yourself hundreds of dollars, and have fun. You aren’t here to enter it into a competition, you’re here to make porn. I have done it so many times and no one has ever said a word to me about it. I become the character when I put the outfit on, and that’s what matters.

Halloween Costume Mera

Halloween Costume Arwen

Closing Thoughts

At the end of the day, all that matters is that you enjoy the character you’re cosplaying as and that you have fun. I know there’s a lot of doubt when it comes to cosplay, and people often don’t do it and hold themselves back because they feel like it won’t be good enough. If you ask me, that defeats the point of cosplaying at all.

Cosplaying is all about becoming the character and having a great time doing it. Even if the only true-to-original-design thing about my Mercy cosplay is my wig and halo, and the rest of my outfit is just casual colors that match her aesthetic, as long as I act like her and enjoy myself, that’s what matters.

Now, get out there and cosplay and don’t let any self-doubt hold you back!

This article was written for us by Espi Kvlt, if you’d like to contribute to the AP Lounge, please get in touch via email.