Wigs or no wigs?

A good alternative is to not cosplay.

>Are wigs an absolute necessity for a costume?
Yes.

>What are good alternatives to people who can't or won't wear wigs?
Don't cosplay.

Unless your natural hair is a perfect match, don't cosplay that character.

>>9462111
Unless you can absolutely 100% perfectly replicate the character's hair on your own head, get wig.

There's just something more polished looking about a good wig that ties it all together.

I don't cosplay I just kind of admire cosplayers from afar, and as much as I hate some of cgl's nitpicky shit, I do agree on the wig thing (Even for lolita but i prefer natural looking wigs instead of odd colored ones)

>>9462111
>Are wigs an absolute necessity for a costume?
Do you want it to look like shit?

>What are good alternatives to people who can't or won't wear wigs?
Helmet. Mask. Basically anything that hides the hair.

Also:
>can't
>won't
just say you're poor and/or lazy, anon.

>>9462111
>Are wigs an absolute necessity for a costume?
Not if it's live-action and your hair resembles the character (I hate seeing cosplayers use cosplay-quality wigs for live-action characters, they never look good and it's not like a cosplayer is going to fork out for a human hair wig that would fit the character), but for anime it's nearly always necessary.

>alternatives
>cosplay from live-action movies and TV shows
>cosplay very realistic comic characters (not female superheroes etc with voluminous hair)
>cosplay characters without hair or that wear helmets/masks
>be Asian and cosplay an anime character with an extremely basic design that doesn't have giant hair (e.g. I've seen Asian YOI cosplayers look better without wigs)

>>9462121
i have a question , what about black wigs ? i feel like they always look glossy and like you can spot that its a wig , i thought of using my natural hair but after reading and reading this board i feel like i have to get one now. any recomended places or just go to ebay?

>>9462144
Look for the colour 'natural black' rather than 'true black'.

>male friend getting into cosplaying
>Says wigs look unrealistic.
>"It's okay, I'll use some temporary hair dye."

I want the best for him but I don't know if that will end up very well.

>>9462182
It won't end up well. He's going to just dye his hair, "style" it terribly, and then walk around and probably ruin the collar of his shirt.

Wigs are pretty much "style, bag, and go" and I love the ease of it

>>9462182
I know someone in her thirties who REFUSES to use wigs. With the same response as your friend.

"it looks fake!"

Anime character hair doesn't look REAL in the first place. Oh my god

>>9462182

If he's going to use hair dye, run the gambit. He should actually dye his hair rather than using temporary dye.

>>9462118
>>9462182
The very reason is that natural human hair doesn't have the same volume as anime hair even if you have a perfect color match.

Only way around it is to cosplay someone
>wearing hat/helmet covering almost all hair
>bald or peach-fuzz length hair character

>>9462199

It does if you're black. Source: being black.

>>9462205
>tfw you try to fit your hair under a wig and it looks like shit because your hair is too big now

I'm pretty much stuck with helmeted people now

Your hair did nothing to deserve the damage you'll be putting it through to style it just right for a cosplay.

>What are good alternatives to people who can't or won't wear wigs?
I mean you probably won't look very good, but it's cosplay. Do whatever the fuck you want. I don't care.

>>9462144
asian/black hair can pull off certain characters imo as long as it's styled correctly. But generally speaking it will not last a full convention the way a wig would.

>>9462111
They are not, sometimes they even make the cosplay worse. But there's no point arguing about this on cgl.

>>9462111
Wear a fucking wig you cheap bastards! Jesus!

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>>9462111
>Are wigs an absolute necessity for a costume?
Not if the character's bald or has a buzz cut. There are some cases where a wig just isn't possible for like mohawks or certain types of braids. The hair in Kingsglaive was modeled to be as natural as possible so everyone's hair is thinner and respects gravity. If someone were to make a full Nyx Ulric wig, it'd likely look pretty wonky.

There's also the case of why or where you're wearing it. Competition? Yes. Halloween party? Not so much.

What are good alternatives to people who can't or won't wear wigs?
As it has been stated, TV/Live action. Or go after characters with hair that is meant to look natural or just realistic. 2D hair will almost always have turbo volume depending on the artist's style. So unless you naturally have the same hair color, length, and a lot of natural volume, wigs are the way to go.

Or- just disregard anything /cgl/ says because quite frankly no one will care that much because they are focused on having fun at the con. If you are not confident and don't want your picture taken, you can always just say no.

>>9462257
If you're Black, couldn't you just corn row your hair to get it to fit without cutting the length? I get it's a pain in the ass, but it's an option

>>9462111
I always wear wigs if I'm doing anime cosplays, but, for buzzed hair and mohawks, I just use my natural hair. Especially if I am doing non anime cosplays

>>9465764
It's so easy to do this and I do it for my cosplays now that my hair has gotten so big. This isn't really a good excuse; there are ways to manage thicker hair

>>9462257
there are tutorials out there for stuffing big natural hair into a wig cap.
its totally doable so dont get discouraged

>>9466036
>>9465764
I actually dreaded my hair so it's pretty much just a large mess of dense rope on your head. I don't think I can pin it to get it flat enough to make it look normal without having a weird unnatural bump.

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>>9466079
Cosplay characters with dreads? Or make an alternate fit? Cosplays that put effort into intentionally being good while still true are great in my opinion. Like, if a specific color makes your skin look gross, change it. But pallet swap the entire thing

In your case, dunno what it looks like or how long, it's possible to make alternatives.

>>9466091
>intentionally being good
That's not the right word to use, "off model" or "different"

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>>9466079
Ah yeah, you're just going to have to style it to fit certain characters? I've seen some cute ones done before

>>9462205
If you're black, your cosplay choices limited by skin color is the way bigger factor than anything else. Almost all characters would be a "joke" cosplay due to it so wigs only add to the comedy.

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>>9466098
Don't listen to this anon. They're retarded.

>>9466091
>>9466097
I'd much rather just stick with stuff that doesn't really show off me in general. You get a lot of flack at times when you don't look right and I can be very anal and weird when it comes to being off model.

>>9466100
Nah, it's the pretty much that truth usually. I've pretty much balked at the idea since I saw a bunch of people joking around that darker skinned cosplayers were doing the "burnt" version.

>>9466102
Are you so steeped in petty online fights to believe this? Or do you actually go to cons where people are openly racist and insulting?

If you're always going to shell out quite a bit of money on a cosplay, it isn't outlandish to drop an extra $20-40 on a wig.

>>9466111
Petty online fights? I'm simply talking about comments. Of course no one will say it to your face. They'll say it on here or some other site. I'd much rather have someone focus on my actual costume than my skin since that's the thing that gets picked out immediately. So I'm sticking with stuff and that keeps me covered. I'm happy and I get good critique instead of some pat on the back for just being a black cosplayer and having the constant "just do what you want, sweaty uwu" shit talked at me.

>>9466102
>>9466121
Feel kinda bad for you that you're limiting yourself this much because of some racist assholes (online no less) but do what makes you comfortable, I guess

>>9466098

How are your option limited by your race?

>>9466121
Isn't the most important aspect just cosplaying what you want anyway? No one pats you on the back for being black while cosplaying. In fact, you get critiqued harder unless the character is also black.

>>9466655
Yeah, I want to wear shit that makes me look accurate so basically mostly stuff that covers me up completely. So it's a win-win.

>>9466655
>In fact, you get critiqued harder unless the character is also black
Pretty much this. You might as well do what you want because people are going to be assholes regardless. And if you DO happen to get some positive attention, there will be the ones crying that it's 'just because you're black!!1!'.

>>9466677
...Skintone really has nothing to do with how 'accurate' a cosplay is. I think you've spent too long listening to people online

>>9466097
Like the idea, hate the execution

>>9466825
To me it is soooo idc
>I think you've spent too long listening to people online
nah, this is basically me

>>9467064
>>9466825
also this shit happens offline too

>>9467064
Like I said, do you. Don't really get why you're in a wig thread though

>>9467077
I made a comment and people commented back. If you scroll up you can see where it all started.