So me, my friend, and my kid sister have decided to be the utter video game nerds we are and cosplay as characters from the Final Fantasy XIII saga.  My sister is dressing up as Yeul, and I thought it'd be neat to play the role of Noel.  However, all of the costumes I've found for him are just so . . . eh, well, fake-looking, and I was really wanting to get something a bit more genuine.  So, having said that, I'm actually contemplating making his costume myself.  I know it'll be quite the daunting project, but I just want to look like the real deal, y'know?

 

Has anyone else ever cosplayed as Noel before and, if so, how did you go about doing it?  Any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated.

I've never cosplayed before, but I found this comment on here by someone called "Tifa ~" http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=276585

 

"I'm not planning to cosplay him, but I hope I can give some suggestions. First of all, never buy pre-made shoes, it's not worth if you don't have tons of money. Sure they are very strange, they are a hybrid between converse and espadrillas, with an extra piece around the ankle. I'd just choose one or this other pair of shoes, cut the naked piece, and add the thing around the ankle. Trust me, it's not worth killing yourself with work if you are short of money and not interested in looking perfect.

You can find patterns for gloves on the internet, and I'm pretty sure there are also some for trousers. Just make the crotch veeeeery low, and make them a lot larger. Keep the waist of your size, and add later the piece that goes up. There's a rigid fabric you can add to yours to make it more sturdy just ironing them together, I think it's very useful. The orange belt reminds me a karate belt, while the light-blue and pink pieces of fabric are just... pieces of fabric. I see he has two (or one very long) interlaced leather belts. At the end of the hanging one, you could put a curtain ring. On the right arm he has just a strip of leather wrapped around, on the left one, he has a gauze and a protection that looks to be made of leather, but you could make it out of wonderflex (or pleather sticked to a thick piece of paper). Just buy a sport shirt for the top part, if you don't mind detalis. I'd make the floral embroidery painting them with acrylics. Maybe you can do the round decorations on the necklace and the belt with plywood, and you could be able to find the smallest ones as beads.

Hope it helps (:"

Edited January 6, 201411 yr by LightChaser

When fabric shopping, make sure to use coupons and sales. Costumes are beastly otherwise. Sometimes altering clothes from a thrift shop works, but Noel's clothes are weird enough that its probably going to be easier to just make them yourself. Buy the black undershirt premade, of course.

 

Do you have any sewing experience? And access to a machine?

If so, the rest should be relatively easy.

So me, my friend, and my kid sister have decided to be the utter video game nerds we are and cosplay as characters from the Final Fantasy XIII saga.  My sister is dressing up as Yeul, and I thought it'd be neat to play the role of Noel.  However, all of the costumes I've found for him are just so . . . eh, well, fake-looking, and I was really wanting to get something a bit more genuine.  So, having said that, I'm actually contemplating making his costume myself.  I know it'll be quite the daunting project, but I just want to look like the real deal, y'know?

 

Has anyone else ever cosplayed as Noel before and, if so, how did you go about doing it?  Any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated.

 

How does a ____ cosplay as a ____?

This seller from Ebay, does some nice cosplay costumes, though they are a bit pricy and may take a bit of time(around a week) to get to you, since they ar e handmade and shipped from all way over from China. This Noel cosplay costs around 99.99, takes 7-14 days to be done and arrive, and is made to your specifications, though it doesn't come with the shoes, nor a wig.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Final-Fantasy-XIII-2-Noel-Kreiss-Cosplay-Costume-/261093444574?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cca61cbde

This seller from Ebay, does some nice cosplay costumes, though they are a bit pricy and may take a bit of time(around a week) to get to you, since they ar e handmade and shipped from all way over from China. This Noel cosplay costs around 99.99, takes 7-14 days to be done and arrive, and is made to your specifications, though it doesn't come with the shoes, nor a wig.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Final-Fantasy-XIII-2-Noel-Kreiss-Cosplay-Costume-/261093444574?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cca61cbde

I would highly recommend not buying from any Chinese eBay sellers. Even if they have stellar reviews, I have learned from personal experience that they're often bs and the costumes, even if they're pricey, rarely look anything like the photos. eBay is an absolute last-resort. 

 

That said, before you go about this, you'll have to take into account your sewing abilities. Buying a cheap, not-perfect cosplay might be necessary if you don't have amazing sewing skills. 

 

Since I've made most of my cosplays myself, here's what I would do if I were to make this: I'd start by finding a nice, tight-fitting (probably Under Armour) black/navy t shirt. The necklace you could probably make out of some cheap supplies at Michael's. For the shirt details, buy fabric of the right colors, make sure your squares are cut right, and sew it all together. Chances are, the back will look MUCH neater, so put it on "backwards". (I'm sorry I don't quite know how to explain that) To achieve the flair at the top of the pants, you'll probably need some sort of hooping that you can sew in. The pants should be rather simple otherwise. Just get some proper-colored fabric and sew the pants. For the pattern at the bottom, I'm willing to bet you can probably find something a bit similar at a fabric store, so just sew a little strip of that to the bottom. The details can be worked out with a quick trip to Michael's (or Hobby Lobby, or whatever craft store is near you). Beads, belts, and scarves will probably be your best friends in making this one. I would probably recommend not making it yourself if you're not really good at sewing, because this looks rather complicated for someone not extremely good at sewing. For the shoes, honestly, don't worry too much. I don't see a lot of cosplayers with completely accurate shoes, and oftentimes I don't even notice other people's shoes. As long as they look pretty similar, don't worry about the detailing on the shoes. The wig is the one part of the costume I'd highly recommend buying from a reputable cosplay site. I know it's possible to make wigs, but I have no idea how and I'm sure it's probably even more difficult than making the actual costume. 

 

That was a very, very rough overview, but good luck!!