Shoes in Cosplay

[SolRogue]

I always wonder about the shoes people wear in their cosplay since I can't imagine a cosplay of anyone in Dragon Ball Z wearing running shoes where they have those weird boots that kind of look like ugg boots. This brings me to question a few things: Do you buy specially made shoes for your cosplay? Can you made your own? Are the materials going to wear out when you are walking? If you spill/step/damage the shoes in anyway, does it cost heavily on repairing them?

[Chiaki]

Shoes are one of the hardest parts, and most over-looked parts of cosplay.... The best thing you can do is wear something as close as you can to what the character wears. If that's weird boots, that's weird boots. Sometimes it's heels, and occasionally it may just be dress shoes or tennis shoes. Or, it may be barefoot entirely (IMHO if this is the case find clear plastic flip-flops with a thin strap and small sole and wear them around and just take them off for pictures, if barefoot grosses you out)

People will sometimes make shoe covers, like bags for their shoes... these normally look like crap, because they're not fitted to the shoe at all. I've painted, glued fabric to, or just bought new or custom shoes that some cosplay sites sell. Sometimes with success and other times not. Like anything with cosplay, do what looks best, even if it's not completely technically perfect. For example, Nanami has these weird yellow ankle boots that I've never been able to get to look good. But my knee-high black heels over my thigh-high leggings look awesome. So I normally wear that. I wouldn't enter a costume contest because it's not perfect, but the average person doesn't notice and it looks good.

For Nami I made the shoes using faux leather and nails with a wedge base. Yay for cutting things up. Those still need to be repaired. If you're not a cobbler (old school term for shoe maker) you'll likely do it wrong. It's rarely expensive to repair them, just normally tedious at the worst. If they're dirty you may have to use less cleaner and more elbow grease to repair them. But if they're really badly ripped or there's a hole in the sole you may just have to get new ones, which is the most expensive option.

So, in sum...

If the shoes are simple enough like uggs (you mentioned) or cowboy boots, etc, that I can ALSO just wear normally I'll buy them for the cosplay and just to have in my closet.
If they're close to a real shoe but I can't find something perfect I buy a base and adjust. Like Nami or Miria - where I bought heels that worked and painted them with fabric paint to get them the right red. This is normally cheaper than buying a custom shoe if you don't want it in your wardrobe anyways.
If its a really specific shoe to the character, like Nanami, I either use what I have that looks very good, or will buy custom made from a cosplay site.

Generally shoes hold up pretty well, like your normal shoes would because they're all "real shoes." If they're scuffed, or damaged slightly I'll repair them as best I can. If it's a major damage, like a heel breaking off, I'll replace them.

[SolRogue]

I totally forgot I posted this thread. I wanted to follow up on this.

Material-wise, what is generally good to have if you want to customize a shoe? I want to say leather or some kind of plastic are some generic choices. I have seen some boots that look like Styrofoam is the main material somewhat like this: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QhB0OvPuMig/T ... 0/orga.jpg

Another question: If you know Gantz, you probably know that the Gantz suit has some funky shoes with the 4 yellow gauges, would you need to apply it directly to the shoe or have it as a ankle bracelet?

[Chiaki]

Material-wise, what is generally good to have if you want to customize a shoe? I want to say leather or some kind of plastic are some generic choices. I have seen some boots that look like Styrofoam is the main material somewhat like this: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QhB0OvPuMig/T ... 0/orga.jpg

You're pretty much on the ball here. Since its on your feet and will be abused throughout the day - no matter how hard you try - it needs to be 1) Durable, 2) Flexible, 3) Well put-together. If the material meets these three requirements it's great for a shoe. One other consideration: Materials that are easy to clean are great, since (again) no matter how hard you try they will get dirty.

I've used faux leather, elastic, and nails (to nail it into the cork of the wedge heel I was modifying) to make my Nanami sandals. As you said with those big shoes craft foam can be a great thing to use because it's bendy and it's colored. The hard part is just making it not look cheap. I think a lot of material decisions depend on if you want to literally customize a shoe - which is normally what I recommend - or make a cover for another shoe.

Another question: If you know Gantz, you probably know that the Gantz suit has some funky shoes with the 4 yellow gauges, would you need to apply it directly to the shoe or have it as a ankle bracelet?

It depends on your preference. To customize you'd need boots, which can be pricy. And you also have to still keep in mind the logistics of taking your shoe on, and off (something I've failed to do in the past when constructing a shoe. Looked PERFECT when I was done but couldn't get it on my foot)

If you use an ankle bracelet it may be easier to get on and off, and perhaps construct in general. But then you have to worry about making it "mesh" with whatever shoe your wearing and stay in place. So it LOOKS like part of the shoe and doesn't move around like some kind of weird anklet.

[SolRogue]

Ah, thank you Chiaki for your knowledge on this subject.
Even though I still don't know who Nanami is when you mentioned her to see her boots to see the design.
I think I got one more question I want to pose. See, I overheard someone was going to soak their boots in some acidic fluid, like salt/vinegar water, in order to make it look aged. Would you consider that a bad idea since it ruins the boots' construction, weakening the durability?

[Chiaki]

I don't think I would SOAK the shoes in Acid... Because if you soak it then it could get really into the guts of the shoe. You really just want them to LOOK old, not be old and worn, so superficial scuffs and "damage."

I'd take some sandpaper and scuff them that way... and if that doesn't work to your liking I'd apply some of the very watered down acidic mixture to the surface and take it off quickly, so it only "damages" the very top layer of the material.

But that's just me.