Buying a Cosplay Costume on eBay.com

Cosplay is a very interesting form of costume dressing. The kind of dressing involved is really intricate because you have to match the original character as much as possible in every way. Cosplay is found in conventions, exhibitions and events to celebrate occasions or to bring out the spirit of the occasion. For example an event that announces the launch of a new video game, can have people dressed looking just like the characters of the Video game. This is done to draw interest of all those who are attending the event, to the focus of the event, which in this case, is the new video game.

 

So, you’ve decided to take up Cosplay and want to buy a Cosplay Costume. One of the easiest ways of doing this is through eBay.

 

Through eBay you can get a whole range of Cosplay Costumes. Whatever be the character you want, you can surely find it, in this versatile online store. Buying is easy and the best benefit you get is the ability to make comparisons between different offers. This helps you to buy one that suits you the most. It also brings you across to a wide range and you also buy something that suits your budget.

 

Buying through eBay is the best choice, especially if you have to get into Cosplay in a short time. You can buy the Cosplay costumes right away and it will be delivered to you, in a short while. No more worrying if you can find the right costume in time or make it yourself. You can concentrate on your make-up and hairstyle, as the costume is readily available for you through this store.

 

In order to select the right costume, decide beforehand what character that you would like to dress up as. This should be based on the reason for take up Cosplay. For example, if it is for a convention in which Anime Characters will be the highlight, then you should select an appropriate Anime Character to reflect the spirit of the event. Once you’ve decided on this, your search is narrowed. Next proceed to check out the many eBay offers, based on what you want. Make sure that the character you choose can be truly reflected by your costume, your physical appearance and your dressing style. You have to match up, in every way to the original character’s looks and so the costume you select from eBay must have this element in it. Compare prices and also features of each offer, so that you can find one that exactly matches the character you want to dress like and which also suits your physical features the best. Proceed to purchase through credit card.

 

Shopping through eBay makes your Cosplay costume selection even more interesting. You have a wide range to choose from and you are given information about the size and colors available for a particular costume. You can save a lot of time, in doing online shopping through eBay. Your purchase will be of the best quality and will be shipped to you on time.

Harajuku Cosplay Costumes

In Tokyo’s Harajuku district, many teenage Japanese people gather with their friends in places like the Harajuku station to engage in cosplay. The types of costumes worn by these people are known as the Harajuku cosplay costumes. The Harajuku costumes come in various styles, and their looks range from Visual Kei which are punky and modern looking and inspired by the Japanese rock group called JRock, to elegant Gothic Lolita looks. Today, many people from around the world are influenced by the Harajuku style, but the actual fashion of this style stays in its place of origin, that is in Harajuku itself.

 

The Harajuku cosplay costumes involve a clothing style of mixing and matching different styles and fashions. Sometimes, the costumes are a mixture of traditional Japanese clothing like geta sandals and kimonos with some other styles and hence they keep on changing and evolving. For creating an individual and unique style, everything from designer clothes, punk and Goth are mixed and matched along with colourful accessories. Though in recent times brand loyalty has become quite prominent, but still the basis of the Harajuku costumes are doing it yourself and second hand clothings. This may involve a flowered skirt along with a pinned ribbon, attached with a hemline that is more angular. Those who have the talent can use their sewing kit and scissors to make their own store clothes for themselves in the style of the Harajuku fashion.

One of the important characteristics of Harajuku costumes are dressing in layers. Sweaters, vests and jackets are layered over the t-shirts and blouses, or ruffled dresses are worn to give the impression of layered clothings. Sometimes the dresses are worn with leggings, etc. For example, wearing a white and pink, striped leggings along with a plaid dress of pink colour. This kind of clothing adds more dimensions to the outfits and gives them more of a variety.

Extravagant accessories are worn with the costumes, like belts, earrings, jewelry, hand bags, hairclips, etc. While dressing in the decora style of Harajuku costumes, the key is wearing loud and colourful clothes and accessories. The outfits are embellished in pink, green, yellow and purple from head to toe and accessories which stand out. Wild hairstyles and makeup are also worn with this type of costume. Crazy or cute hairstyles are done which sometimes include cute pigtails and dying of the hair in various colours. Wigs of various types are also worn with the costumes. Makeup is generally done in a theatrical way. Harajuku costumes, unlike punk rock is not about rebelling the mainstream fashions, but they usually include clothes that look good in a person.

Japanese School Girl Costumes

Japanese dressing and outfits have always caught the eyes of the masses. They are flamboyant and add to the spark with its vibrancy in the choice of colors. The Japanese fashion has evolved from its traditional beliefs. For most of the masses Japanese outfits are synonymous to kimonos and of course the breathtaking and refreshing school uniforms. There are many trends and styles that have given a well defined look and distinction to the Japanese way of dressing.

The schools all over the world have a well defined and strict way of dressing. The Japanese schools too have a particular dress code and ethics to be followed in schools. The traditional way of dressing was very different from what is being practiced in schools nowadays. The school boys wore gakuranin which was inspired from military style uniform. The school girl’s uniform was a sailor outfit commonly known as sailor faku. The middle school as well as high school girl students adorned sailor dress serafaku which was again inspired from military outfits. The naval military styled uniforms for girls are still prevalent. Now if we go back to have peep into what introduced this kind of dressing then we would be a bit amazed. Well they were inspired from the military pattern of dressing in the Meiji era.

In the 19^th century, with the modernization sweeping and taking everything in its embrace, the Japanese way of dressing in schools also changed. The Japanese school uniforms have westernized and it has become universal to spot girls in uniforms-be it public schools or private schools or women colleges.

Nowadays, the boys and girls are required to wear bright colored caps as a part of the school uniform. This helps them to be spotted in traffic and thus preventing any road mishaps from occurring. The elementary schools in Japan have a universal style of dressing and the uniforms have a worldwide acceptance. The boys wear shirts, shorts and the caps of course whereas the girls are dressed in pleated grey skirts and white blouse. Also, neckties, blazer with school crests also form a part of the uniform.

The school girls of today still wear the uniform inspired from sailor dresses. Still SeraFaku i.e. sailor uniforms are worn as uniform. Elizabeth Lee, principal of Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University, introduced the sailor fuku as Japanese school uniform in 1921. The idea was taken from the uniform sported by the British Royal Navy. The Sailor dress includes a blouse which has a collar, again inspired from the sailor style collar, along with a pleated skirt. It is common to spot a ribbon in these uniforms, which is tied around in front and is looped with the blouse itself. You may find ribbons in various ways. It could be in the form of neckties or bows. Well! The colors are commonly dark and formal like black, navy blue or grey or could be white as well. It could be accessories with belts, caps, badges. The socks are both navy blue and white colored and the shoes are brown or black colored.

The Japanese School girl uniform, especially sailor uniform, is not only common and popular among the Japanese culture but it has also caught the attention of the youth inclined to fashion. It has become a part of Halloween costumes too.

 

Ebay Tips

 

Always read the entire item description carefully before you bid or Buy It Now.

The item description has so much useful information — you should read it all carefully. It will tell you not only about the item itself, but also about other important information like:
• What are the Shipping & Handling costs?
• Where is the item located?
• Will the item be shipped internationally? (There may be extra fees and taxes.)
• What payment options does the seller offer?
• Does the seller have a return policy?

When you place a winning bid, you are agreeing to make a purchase based on the contents of the listing. Before bidding, read the item description carefully!

Always review a seller’s Feedback before you bid or Buy It Now

A seller’s Feedback reflects the experiences that other buyers have had when trading with them. Read the seller’s Feedback before you bid or Buy It Now on eBay to evaluate:
• The number and percentage of positive Feedback
• The type and value of items sold
• Comments included in the Feedback — both the comments left about the seller, and comments left by the seller.

If other members have had similar successful transactions with this seller, you can be more confident that your transaction will also be safe.

So, what is a good Feedback score? A seller must have at least 98% positive Feedback to become a Power Seller. It may still be safe to buy from sellers with Feedback scores below 98%, but you should read their listings closely before you bid, and use the safest possible payment method.

Always use a safe payment method to complete your transaction!

The safest payment options are PayPal or credit cards for those sellers who accept credit cards directly. (The seller will never see details about your bank account or credit card when you use PayPal.)

Not all sellers accept PayPal or credit cards. If a seller doesn’t accept these, then personal checks, cashier’s checks, money orders, and bank-to-bank wire transfers all provide reasonable levels of safety in most transactions… but they don’t provide as much protection if you don’t receive satisfactory goods. The most risky forms of payment are cash and “instant cash transfer” services likeWestern Union or MoneyGram — don’t use these for eBay transactions!

A seller should never ask you pay using a method not included in a listing you have won! If the seller said "PayPal, Credit Card or Check" in the listing, but later asks you to pay by cash or "instant cash transfer” — don’t!

Now, let’s look at some of the finer points of buying safely on eBay.

Some members report receiving “outside of eBay” offers from sellers who insist that the buyer pay with cash or instant cash transfer services. Offers to buy or sell "outside-of-eBay" pose serious risks to the buyer. Purchasing items in an outside-of-eBay transaction may be unsafe, and sending cash or using "instant cash transfers" is always unsafe.

When you buy "outside of eBay ", you also lose the benefit of eBay services including:

• Buyer protection coverage
• Access to seller contact information
• Feedback

Sending money to pay for purchases through direct bank-to-bank wire transfers is usually safe, and often happens for high-value transactions.

Sending money to pay for purchases through instant cash wire transfer services such asWestern Union or MoneyGram is always risky when using eBay because:

1. Generally, you have no recourse if you pay with instant cash services and the item is not delivered as promised. Sending money through these services is just like sending real cash, and there is no way for you to get your money back if something goes wrong.

2. There is no eBay coverage. Items paid for through instant cash wire transfer services are not covered by any eBay buyer protection program.

Buying safely includes communicating safely!

The safest way to communicate with your seller is through “Ask Seller a Question” on eBay. Copies of the emails will be sent to My Messages, and you have the option of hiding your email address if you don’t wish to share it with the seller. In addition, if you communicate with a seller through eBay ’s "Ask Seller a Question" system, eBay may have the ability to warn you if something goes wrong with the seller. You should be wary of any eBay seller who asks you to use another form of communication!

Sometimes you might bid on an item, but not win it. If for some reason the winning bidder doesn’t complete the transaction, the Seller can offer you another chance to buy the item! This is called a Second Chance Offer.

A copy of any real Second Chance Offer will appear in My Messages on My eBay. It will have a blue background with a message saying, “eBay Second Chance Offer for Item…”. If you receive a Second Chance Offer in My Messages with a different subject line (for example, “Message from eBay Member”) — it is a fake!

It is also a fake Second Chance Offer if you receive it outside of eBay and you can’t find a copy of it in My Messages. Don’t respond to the sender, and please forward the fake second chance offer to spam@ebay.com.

Escrow services — independent services that hold your payment money until you actually receive an item, then release the money to the seller — can be very useful in some types of transactions, particularly for high-priced items. However, because there are fake escrow services on the Internet, you should approach escrow with caution! For eBay transactions, you should only use one of eBay’s approved escrow services.

eBay does not hold money for the seller in any type of "protection account." If you receive a message from a seller stating that they "have money held in an eBay purchase protection account", it is not true and could be an attempt to defraud you.

If you receive a message or offer of this kind, please forward it to spam@ebay.com.

When a seller is suspended by eBay , their eBay status changes to “No longer a registered user”. Winning bidders are not obligated to complete transactions for items listed by a suspended seller.

Have fun on eBay… and buy safely!

Thanks for shopping at GOTHICCOSPALY.com

Maid Cosplay Costumes

The maid cosplay costumes are one of the outfits most popular among Japanese cosplay. Cosplay or Costume Play among the young Japanese are very popular and it includes dressing up in various costumes in private or public. The various cosplay costumes include the manga style, video games and animated styles. But among these the maid costumes have become more popular due to the popularity of the ‘Moe’ characters.

Originally the maid costume was a term that referred to dresses or maid clothes that were made in imitation of the clothes worn by the late 19^th century maids and housekeepers of Britain. Today, this dress type is known as ‘Classical Maid Costumes’ and they are not mainstream maid outfits.

The maid cosplay costumes are a combination of the traditional French maid costumes and the apron. This costume’s length is generally above the knee, not much clingy, navy blue or black coloured and sophisticated, separated or one piece dress. These dresses mostly have a frilled apron which is shortened in the length and a pleated skirt area. The petticoats and knickers worn with these dresses are mostly ruffled and sometimes the dresses are very short to display them.

The maid cosplay costumes come in various types which include.

i) The Long Maid Costumes- These costumes mostly look like classical maid outfits worn by the maids and housekeepers in the western countries in the late nineteenth century. The long maid costumes which are somewhat business-like and very austere are in high demand among the cosplay people in Japan for their snobbish demands and rare value.

ii) The Short Maid Costumes- These are another style of maid costumes of Japanese cosplay, and are an altered style of classical French maid costumes. These costumes which come with short skirts are quite popular among the Japanese youngsters. The style of these dresses are based on the 19^th century maid uniforms of France, but also many Kawaii refinements are added to their original shapes.

iii) The Mini Maid Costumes- These kind of maid costumes have skirts which are very short and above the knee. Along with these dresses, often the girls wear petticoats or knickers with the mini skirts which are short enough to display them.

iv) The Lolita Maid Costumes- These costumes which are like Lolita costumes are sometimes worn by the Japanese ladies instead of the apron dress to look like ‘Moe’. Also, along with these costumes, they behave in a cute ‘Moe’ like manner.

v)The Modern French Maid Costumes- These costumes are the strongly modified styles of the black and white uniforms worn by the French maids of the nineteenth century. These costumes, depending on their designs can sometimes be also classified as lingerie.

vi) The Walloli Maid Costumes- This type of maid costume is the combination of the Lolita fashion and the traditional Japanese clothing. The costume consists of a yukata or a kimono with an apron dress.

Among all the above maid cosplay costumes, the most common accessories worn by all Japanese maids are petticoats and maid socks.

Yuko Ogura Lolita Maid Cosplay

Maid Cafes in Japan

 

Made Cafe

Since the year 2000, many cafes called Maid Cafes have opened in the Japanese cities of Akihabara, Osaka and Shinjuku. These cafes are referred in Japanese as ‘Meido Cafes’ or ‘Maido Cafes’. The Japanese Maid Cafes are mostly like the regular cafes serving teas, coffees, cakes, etc, with their waitresses dressed up in the costumes of French maids. Sometimes the costumes also include bunny ears or cats to increase their cuteness.

The maids in the Maid Cafes use honorific languages towards the café’s customers, like those used by the servants towards their master. Customers are greeted by saying, ‘welcome home, Master’, than a wipe towel is offered and a food or drink menu is shown. Some of the popular dishes include, ice-creams, cakes that sometimes are baked by the maids, spaghettis, omurice, drinks like milk, tea, coca-cola, alcoholic beverages like beers and sometimes even champagnes.

Generally, all the Japanese Maid Cafes charge regular prices for serving drinks. They charge extra for the extra time the customers are present that is for every 30 minutes, 400 yen. Some of the cafes offer other services like, grooming services, ear cleaning and shampoos, or fully clothed massages. Other options include, taking polaroids of the maids together, or single, or with the customer. These polaroids are than decorated with stickers or coloured markers. In one of the unusual option, the customers can get themselves slapped by one or more girls. In some of the Maid Cafes, the customers on paying an extra 900 yen can chat with a maid in a private room which are cluttered with animation DVDs, character figurines and comic books.

Nowadays, due to their increasing fad, the demand of women in Japan wanting to become maids in these cafes has been on the rise. In the country, where many adults have nostalgic dreams of their childhood fun, this offers a rare opportunity to role play by dressing up in various costumes and transport themselves away from the tough daily life. Also, many of these Japanese women are devoted fans of animation videos, comics, video games that portray maids as heroines, and thus these women enjoy themselves immersing into these characters. Patronage of these Maid Cafes among the young women are also on the rise as they hope to turn a geek into a Prince Charming.

 

Recently, a latest form of Maid Café has come up in Japan known as the ‘Princess Restaurants’. Here the waitresses wearing maid outfits treat the customers like royalty and show them to their ‘throne chairs’. These cafes mainly target the female customers between the age of 20 and 40. in Tokyo Ginza, the ‘Princess Restaurants’ have become very popular, providing service only to couples and women.

Thus the Maid Cafes in Japan, dispersed in their various cities add a new charm to their already interesting places.

Christmas in a maid cafe

Cute Maids Singing!

Japanese Lolita Costumes

Many Japanese young adults or teens dress amazingly in elaborate Japanese Lolita costumes and walk the streets of Osaka and Tokyo. Looking pretty, these young ladies sit around and pose for pictures taken by tourists. These costumes which they wear are glamorous and beautiful like those worn by their favourite visual rock stars.

The basic looks of these Lolita costumes include a Victorian look. The costumes have the following criteria.

i) Frilly and poofy skirts of mini size or knee length size with crinoline, which do not show under it. Victorian blouses that are ruffled and elegant.

ii) Blouses that are generally black with cuffs, sleeves and white Peter Pan collars. At the collars and the capped sleeves’ bottom, white laces are present. These blouses can be both embellished and plain.

iii) The baby doll costumes are mostly knee length, mini or sometimes below the knee length. These dresses mostly come in the colours white or black or sometimes a combination of both. They also come in the colours of pastel blue, pastel pink and red which are only worn with white.

iv) In the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ look or the French maid look, a white apron is worn over the baby doll dress of black colour. This costume which is not worn much now was one of the original Lolita costumes. Thigh high or knee high stockings are worn with these skirts or dresses. The stockings are mostly of opaque material and black in colour. Sometimes they may also be white coloured with ruffles and bows at the top or in black fishnet with or without holes. With this kind of costume wearing a black and white or a black headdress is a must. The headdress is a rectangular and small headband which is made of ribbons, lace and ruffles. The headdress is worn under the chin with a bow and at the head’s crown just above the bangs. They can also be used to hold in the hairpieces. Most of the white headpieces extend like a small bonnet over the forehead. Sometimes this costume includes a small top hat that is worn on the head askew.

v) The shoes worn are large platform shoes or platform heels of Mary Jane type. The shoes are clog like and very chunky.

vi) Ladies wear with these costumes large, short curls or long curls on their heads’ either sides, or full head of curls like that of Shirley Temple. Also worn sometimes are straight and long hair with bangs. Mostly the hairs are of black or brown colour. To achieve these shades and looks hairpieces and wigs are also worn.

vii) The makeup worn with the Lolita costumes are little or none. A pale complexion is required and shades of red lipsticks are worn with black eyeliner of a small amount with black eye lashes.

viii) Pocketbooks of large sizes are carried, which are large container like suitcases. These suitcases have various forms, from the form of circular hatbox to carpet bags. Sometimes women also carry handbags having the shapes of coffins and bats.

ix) On some occasions the costume includes lace arm warmers of opera length and lace gloves.

Costume Publishing

Many cosplay costume fans love to share each other’s costume creations, which could be hand-made or purchased. Usually the pictures of the costumes are shared and posted in web sites. There are also groups that conduct contests to choose the Best Cosplay Costume at various cosplay events. Some groups have also created innumerable tutorials and web based books with the help of cosplayers to motivate different cosplayers all over the world.

 

Dedicated websites provide tons of information about the Japanese Cosplay Costumes. These website highlight detailed information on the anime costuming of different varieties, and the costuming dance parties. The special feature of these websites is that some costumers have beautiful and wonderful portfolio web pages which furnish pictures of the self-created costumes with awesome designs. You could also find cosplay groups where costume designs are webcasted by the cosplay group members.

 

It is indeed not exaggerating to make a statement that the Japanese Cosplay Costume designs are so exquisite and intricate that anyone could just lose their heart and mind to it. The websites laid the cosplay costume information neatly using different attractive cursors and lot of pictures in them.

Japanese Cosplay Costume

Just hearing about Cosplay? Does it sound Greek and Latin to you? It shouldn’t, as Cosplay is a Japanese term that refers to Costume Play. Cosplay is just an abbreviated word to represent Costume Play and is inherited from the Western fan terminology “Masquerade”.

 

To make it more clearly to you, “Cosplay” translates to the meaning of dressing up in the character of a person, may be a celebrity like a sports personality, to whom you are a fan. Cosplay concentrates in itself so much to represent the character in detail, and takes care of even the minute details of the person it represents. The costumes are designed in such a way that the Cosplay exactly fits the character without any flaw.

 

Some of the features of Cosplay Costumes:

• Designed to match the character’s attire

• Artistic and innate

• Properly finished seams

• Accurate thread colors

• Exact fabric colors matching the character

 

You could opt to buy the cosplay costumes from well talented artists. If you are very interested and intelligent in creating your own costume design, you can also opt to create a self design which may take a few months to get a precise and perfect costume design.

 

The person or the fan in the Japanese Cosplay ideally gets dressed up in their favorite character, and behaves almost like the character in which they are dressed up. Not only the costume, but they tone their mannerism and body language to suit the character. This induces a fun and interest among the fans. The Japanese cosplay costumes can cover any costume which could be either uniforms, or any modern attire.

 

Costume types

Japanese Cosplay is very popular even in the United States and Europe. There are different types of Japanese Cosplay costumes towards different purposes which could be

• Anime
• Manga
• Gaming
• Tokusatsu
• Comic books
• Video games
• Graphic novels
• Fantasy movies

Gothic Cosplay Costumes

 

The abbreviation of costume play is Cosplay. In Japanese the terms cosplay is pronounced as ‘kosopure’. It is a subculture of the Japanese which is based on dressing like various characters. The Gothic cosplay costumes include dressing in the Gothic styles. This type of costumes are worn by people in some of the shows, public events and some dedicated cosplay parties.

One type of Gothic cosplay costume, usually come in a combination of white and black. The dresses are often black in colour with white coloured laces and are decorated typically with laces, trims and ribbons. Skirts are mostly knee length and may include petticoat or crinoline to add volume to them. Like the mainstream Japanese fashions, these costumes also include stockings and over the knee socks which are very popular. Also common are black or white tights and black fishnet stockings. Boots and shoes with high heels like those of Mary Janes are worn with the costumes. The shoes usually do not include stiletto heels. In the EGL type of Gothic cosplay costumes, Victorian blouses with frills, ruffles, or lace trims are worn along with long skirts and jackets. Though sometimes their skirts are short, mostly their designs are modest. Sometimes the blouses also come with long sleeves which are lace capped.

The other type of Gothic costume includes an apron of the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ style. These costumes also include parasols, top hats, lace headpieces and lace gloves. The headgears worn are mostly black or white in colour and consist of headbands with bows, ribbons, ruffles and laces. Even bonnets are worn sometimes. Hairstyles with these costumes include curled hair to give a porcelain doll like look. The hair is usually kept in their natural colour of black or lightened to a shade of blonde. Sometimes wigs are also worn.

Makeup is normally used more with the EGL style of costumes; otherwise makeup is generally kept light. Since the pale complexion is the preferred complexion, white foundations are used on the face. Black eyeliner is used on the eyes and lipsticks of red or black colours are applied on the lips.

The Gothic cosplay costumes are worn with a variety of accessories and other props. They include conspicous pocketbooks, handbags, hat boxes and other types of bags having shapes of coffins, crucifixes and hats. Stuffed animals like teddy bears are also carried. Some brands make the special teddy bears from PVC or black leather solely for this purpose. Also in some cases, the Gothic costumes include super Dollflies which are carried around as accessories.

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