* The ultimate guide for Costume vs. Cosplay

My intention with this guide is to inform you of the differences between the Artisan Crafts > Textiles > Costumes gallery and the newly added Photography > People & Portraits > Cosplay gallery.


I would like to ask you a favour - please help spread this info! Put a link in your journal to this guide, inform your watchers about the difference with the Costume-gallery and Cosplay-gallery and use this as an educational tool for yourself and others.

If you have questions, or think something is missing or is unclear - just make a comment in this journal or send me a note.



For the longest time, the Costumes gallery has struggled with having the highest amount of miscats of all Artisan Crafts galleries and unhappy deviants having no suitable category to submit to.
The problem, as I see it, has been that many of the cosplayers aren't showing the crafted costumes as the focus, especially if they didn't make them, but are instead submitting photos of costumes to Artisan Crafts > Textile > Costume because they have no where else to go, hence all the miscats. With the newly added gallery we hope this problem is solved and that most of you are happy with the change.


• Browse Artisan Crafts > Textiles > Costumes

• Browse Photography > People & Portraits > Cosplay

Need help with relocating miscats?
If, after reading this guide, you realize you have many deviations in your gallery that should be in Photography -> People & Portraits -> Cosplay and are in need of a mass-relocation button - note me and I'll help you. Please include a link to your costume gallery (i.e taeliac.deviantart.com/gallery…) and I'll move all deviations to the Cosplay gallery.

My deepest gratitude, thanks and love to taeliac and kellin for the help with the photos I'm using in this guide.

Cosplay, short for "costume play", is basically describing a performing-art behaviour of self-rigging out as a character with corresponding costume, accessories and/or parameters.

Taken from Wikipedia, read the entire article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosplay

The Costumes gallery in Artisan Crafts is, and always has been, reserved only for costumes (i.e historical, cosplay and original designs) that are constructed by deviants because the Artisan Crafts gallery is only for handcrafted art. That would include many if not all aspects of costumemaking, which include patternmaking, draping, cutting, fitting, and stitching for a major part or all of the costume. [This does not mean, however, that any accessories or props for the costume must also have been made by you. Footwear, headgear, accessories, weapons, etc. do not have to have been made by you, only the costume itself.]

The Costumes gallery was never intended for photos of costumes that were purchased or commissioned, photos of costumes that were assembled using new or second-hand garments or stock, photos of friends or of random strangers at conventions, photos that have been photoshopped to show the artistry of the photo rather than of the costume, headshots, photos where poses and objects obstruct the ability to view the costume, and most especially, all photos that focus only on the character and roleplaying rather than on a hand-made costume. The purpose of the Costumes gallery is to focus on the artistry and skills of the costumemaker, not on cosplay photos.

//Taken from Kitten-of-Woe's journal

1. It must be made by you!

Artisan Crafts on dA refers to anything of a 3D nature that is  made by the deviant.

• If it's a purchased costume, or your mother/sister/friend made it, or if it's made from clothes you found in your wardrobe or your local thrift shop, it does not belong in Artisan Crafts and should be in Photography > People & Portraits > Cosplay.

• Photos of friends or random strangers at conventions do not belong in Artisan Crafts and should be in Photography > People & Portraits > Cosplay.

2. The costume must be visible in the photo

• Photos that focus only on the character and roleplaying rather than on a hand-made costume do not belong in Artisan Crafts and should be in Photography > People & Portraits > Cosplay.

• Photos where poses, objects, props, or camera angles obstruct the ability to view the costume do not belong in Artisan Crafts and should be in Photography > People & Portraits > Cosplay.

• Photos where you are too far away in the distance to see the costume clearly do not belong in Artisan Crafts and should be in Photography > People & Portraits > Cosplay.

• Headshots and close-up portraits do not belong in Artisan Crafts and should be in Photography > People & Portraits > Cosplay.
Close-ups are of course allowed in the Costume-gallery, but those should be a complement to the photos of the costume, not on a facial expression or hair-do's!

• Group photos in which the focus is so much on the group that little to none of your costume can be seen do not belong in Artisan Crafts and should be in Photography > People & Portraits -> Cosplay


The focus is on your textile-crafting ability, not how well you portray a character - that's why the costume must be visible in the photo for it to be submitted to Artisan Crafts!</strong>

3. Parts of a costume

• Props, masks, weapons, and other non-textile parts of a costume do not belong in Costumes and should be in Artisan Crafts > Misc or any other fitting subcat.

• Gloves, hats, wigs, wings, bows, belts and other textile accessories to a costume do not belong in Costumes, they should be in Artisan Crafts > Accessories.

• Photos of make-up do not belong in Costume, they should be in Traditional Art > Body Art > Make-up.

• Drawn designs of costumes do not belong in Costume, they should be in Design & Interface > Fashion > Fashion design

4. Reference images

Copyrighted reference images included in deviations are a serious violation and is considered stealing. Provide a link instead of using an image; giving credit to the artist is not enough.

As in every other genre of Artisan Crafts, the way you present your work is essential. As artists who create 3-dimensional art/craft, there is a challenge to show our creations by photo - in a portfolio, as a deviation on dA, or anywhere else on the internet.

The viewer can't touch the surface or feel the fabric. The photograph of the item is all we have, and if the photo doesn't show your creation in a good way, the whole impression can be completely destroyed.

Read my guide for improving your AC-photographs and maybe you can get some useful tips on how to take better photos of your craft.

Some visual examples of some of the do's and dont's:


• In this photo the costume is blurred and obscured by the light and mirror, and it really doesn't show any details at all of the costume.

• This photo is way too blurry to see the actual costume.

• These are good photos, where the costume is clearly visible.

1. Someone else took the photo

You can submit photos of yourself to Cosplay even though you are not the photograher.

You post the photos as models, so include the name of the photographer to give credit and if you don't know how took the photo - clearly state that you are the model and not the photographer.

At the moment there is no Gallery Director set to handle Photography > People & Portraits > Cosplay. Send your DD suggestion for Cosplay to moonbeam13 and your DD suggestions for Costume to either Kitten-of-Woe or me.

Please remember to send your DD suggestions to one person only, or it could cause great confusion.

• DAOS-The Way of The Cosplayer Pt 1!!
• The DAOS 15-The Way Of The Cosplayer Pt. 2

• Cosplay Feature from the Artisan Crafts Gallery


You know of other resources? Let me know, and I'll inklude them here.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and we all hope that you enjoy and make use of the new Photography gallery for cosplay to share your creations on dA!