When you just get started cosplaying the whole idea may seem intimidating. Who could you possibly cosplay? Where would you get a costume? Do you have to make it yourself? You may think you have to start by cosplaying the simplest possible character costume, but usually, the only reason to do that is if you love the simple character.

In general, the best character to cosplay is the one that gets you the most excited. Of course, you still need to take the amount of time you have, your budget, and your skill level into consideration too, but there is a lot you’ll be able to learn if you use your favorite character as motivation.

While it’s not always necessary to start with a simple character, you also don’t want to jump in with a really complicated character design that uses full-body armor or a super gravity-defying hairstyle. It’s best to decide on a couple of favorite characters, look at their various costumes, and move forward from there. When choosing what character to cosplay for the very first time, ask yourself these questions to narrow down the choices.

1. What characters do you love?

The first and most important thing to do is make a list of the characters you like most. In many cases, this will be an instinctive feeling. It’s the characters that you really connect with while watching the show, playing the game, or reading the comic. These are the characters that will get you excited about cosplay and make the experience so much more fun.

Remember, the characters on your list don’t have to look like you. They don’t have to have the same hair color or body type. They don’t even have to be the same gender or race as you. Think of characters from all different types of media you enjoy, it doesn’t have to be specifically from a comic book or anime. 

2. How much time do you have?

Whether you’re purchasing a costume and getting it shipped or you’re making it yourself, you are going to need to give yourself time to get your costume together. If you already know how to sew clothing, you can probably create a costume in a short period of time. However, for most people starting out with cosplay, creating a costume from scratch will require the longest amount of time. 

If you are purchasing a costume from an online cosplay shop you also need to be conscious of time. In most cases, these are made after they’re ordered, so it will take a couple of months for the costume to be created and shipped to you. It will be a lot easier to get costumes for characters that are very popular because they are more likely to be already made and only need to be shipped.

The quickest costumes to put together are going to be the simplest. These are the ones that you can put together using the clothes you already have in your closet or clothing that you can easily find in a store. If you’ve got less than a week to the convention and you want to go in cosplay, try to decide on a character that has a simple design such as shorts with a T-shirt.

If there is really no time before the convention, you can always put together a casual cosplay instead of a full costume. This is a type of cosplay that is inspired by a character you love, but it’s not meant to be an exact replica of the character design.

Wigs can usually be shipped within a week or even purchased in the dealer’s hall at a convention. As long as you don’t require a highly styled wig, you should be able to find something that can work even last minute.