I want to give off a vibe of 'anime' without being a particular character.

October 25, 2009 5:23 PM

[AnimeCostumeFilter] What are some elements that could make up a 'generic anime costume'?

The main plan is crazy blue spiked anime hair, with halloween as an excuse (suggestions on how to accomplish this aspect welcome). But I can't think of any particular anime characters with blue hair I want to dress as, so I was thinking 'generic anime figure'. My main requirement is that the costume doesn't go anywhere near 'school uniform' or 'cleavage/slutty' themes, and apparently that is cutting out all the ideas the google is giving me. (I'm going to have the hair, so I want to be able to wear the outfit to work, where normal dress is jeans and tshirt but some people will be in costume for the day).
me: 24, female, needs long sleeves and pants for warmth, blue eyes, wear contacts but could put on glasses if it fitted in. I would like it to be recognisably 'a costume' not just look like 'what those crazy kids wear these days', but it's going to be DIY.

Ideas so far
- really bright colours? I have shiny blue trousers and a bright orange gaming tshirt.
- karate style outfit? I'm sure someone I know has one.
- particular logos/symbols/details I can add that people would associate with anime?
- is it possible to do the eye makeup without looking as weird as all the photos of people trying it on the net?

posted by jacalata to clothing, beauty, & fashion (13 comments total)

Cat ears is the obvious thing that comes to mind.
posted by dead cousin ted at 5:30 PM on October 25

I think the "'school uniform' or 'cleavage/slutty'" caveat is going to make it pretty difficult to be recognizable as "anime."

Not that there aren't non-slutty/schoolgirl female characters, but I can't think of any of the anime-hair variety.
posted by cmoj at 5:31 PM on October 25

Stinkoman embodies a ton of anime cliches and has blue hair.
posted by ignignokt at 6:08 PM on October 25

I found this the other day while looking for hairstyles for my 12-year-old son. If you can pull of #46, I think you'd be good to go.
posted by cooker girl at 6:58 PM on October 25

If you wear an asian style tunic/pants outfit with a huge paper fan of doom, you'll be a great generic anime character.
posted by patheral at 7:05 PM on October 25

How about a sailor-suit dress, or some other military/cute combo? (Space military would count also - think Sailor Moon or Macross)
posted by amtho at 7:51 PM on October 25

Comically huge sword. Styrofoam or cardboard would be good. It may be a little Final Fantasy specific though.
posted by chairface at 8:13 PM on October 25

I know you said you don't want to use school uniforms. Is it because they tend to be too sexy? Winter uniforms are more demure, and you can use them with black leggings. Gakuran (male high school uniforms) are very cool, too. Maid uniforms are very popular too, but if you don't like uniforms, they might not be your thing either.

Popular symbols: angry veins, sweatdrop. They are very popular in fleece hats.

Regarding makeup, I just saw this tutorial (YouTube link), but I don't think that style would suit everybody. I prefer this 60s inspired makeup for a girly character.
posted by clearlydemon at 8:22 PM on October 25

Most of the anime tropes have to do with character design (big eyes, small mouth, etc) so they're hard to do in real life. That means your costume's going to be at least partially clothing-cue-based. It'd help if you had a genre in mind -- mecha, magical girl, slice-of-life, slapstick comedy, etc.

It seems like you may have "slapstick comedy" in mind, so a giant inflatable mallet might be fun. I don't know where to get them, but I have a couple of relatively big inflatable squeaky mallets an amusement park I visited gave out for free..
posted by Alterscape at 12:26 AM on October 26

Since you're going down a very generic road, you'll need some things which will scream hints to people. I like the suggestions like the cat ears, the fan/oversized weapon are good ones. You might consider wearing a headband with a kanji character written on it. Perhaps combine something dojo'ish with the bright colors or aim for some kind of kimono. A military type uniform would also work with some alterations. The main problem is simply that anime is very diverse, so there's a lot of options, but since a lot of people aren't familiar with anime your left with more limited options to make your costume recognizable to them.
posted by Atreides at 5:23 AM on October 26

What do you mean by "weird" when referring to the eye make up? If you're talking about drawing humongoid anime eyes on your eyelids, I think that's actually a good (and pretty funny) idea. Unless your eye to face proportions are akin to Masha Tyelna, disconcertingly huge eyes is hard to pull of naturally.

The problem with going as "generic anime character" is there's sort of no room for subtlety. There's so many styles of anime, it's just really hard to say what represents it singularly. Big freaky eyes are pretty much one of the few standout things a lot of people will recognize. Even with a lot of good suggestions above like angry veins, sweatdrop, etc., there's a big chance it's going to go over the heads of people depending on the crowd. But I agree that if you're going go to be representing/parodying something you kind of have to go big or go home.

If you don't mind dealing with sometimes shady dealers and stories of possible bad affects on your eyesight, circle lenses migth be another possibility. Just be sure to pick the ones very different from your usual eyecolor, or something that incorporates really striking color or even patterns or design rather than the ones that are just made to enchance. Then be sure to use lots of liner, false lashes and mascara to emphasize the eyes even more. Be sure the foundation/base on your face is smooth as possible. Blush on the cheeks and try to keep the lips muted, whether you go for a matte almost skintone like neutral tone, or just a soft shiny sheer pink just on the insides of your lips (actually foundation and powder over lips, and try to just dot a bit on the innermost areas of your upper and/or just lower lip. You still run the risk of just looking overly made up with some extra oomph from the circle lens. Disclaimer for the usual "talk to your optometrist/IAMYO, I don't sanction the following links, just showing examples" disclaimer: 1 and 2, or google for the Geo Animations Lens series made with anime in mind.
posted by kkokkodalk at 9:45 AM on October 26

I sprained my ankle and was pretty housebound for the week, so didn't get around to making a costume at all. I will probably come back to this next year and, with the extra lead time, hopefully make a kickass version. Thanks for suggestions :)
posted by jacalata at 1:18 AM on November 1

Blah. Sorry about that ankle! Hope it's feeling better now.
posted by Atreides at 2:27 PM on November 6