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[mokulen22]

I'm starting this thread because I can't be the only one who this has happened to. This morning I just found my basement is flooded. I believe it happened due to the quick melting of snow and all the rain we got last night.

I was housing all my old cosplays in my basement because we are planning to move in the spring. They were in normal cardboard boxes...so naturally all that water soaked right through. I haven't really gone through everything but I know a lot of stuff will be damaged to the point of no return.

Has this happened to anyone else? Either a house fire, a flood, animal mistook it for a chew toy? Etc....

[Ilafatyu]

Ugh, that sucks. I've had cosplays ruined by moths and soot, but never by a flood. Here's hoping most of the stuff can be repaired.

[chibierwin]

The bolt thing I can think of us when I was building the base for Yamamoto's sword. I got got up to get a drink, and my little sister started to swing it around. She accidentally hit the table with it and it broke in half.

[SA2R]

*hugs mokulen22* ;A; I am so sorry! In our last house (with more problems than I can name) it also had a flooding problem. Our hall closet flooded, taking about half of the shoes we have collected for cosplay. In addition to that, my room flooded taking all my gf's cosplay stuff in cardboard boxes. The flood also took boxes of artwork by my little sister, and a lot of personal stuff from my childhood. (Not cosplay thank goodness, but It was still horrible...) I am so sorry this happened to you. It was one of the most sinking feelings, walking in to that mess.

My dogs also like chewing/sleeping on the faux leather and fur. This however can be saved usually.

And I don't know if this counts, but my gf's mother trows anything cosplay related out. She doesn't approve of it, unless we are making it for other people. Bah~

[Mehdia]

Puppies that aren't house broken have gotten to some of my cosplay when on my dressform before. Luckily that can be wash. I've gotten pretty lucky that when something gets damaged, it has been repairable. I hope you can salvage most of your stuff after the flooding.

[mokulen22]

Originally Posted by SA2R

*hugs mokulen22* ;A; I am so sorry! In our last house (with more problems than I can name) it also had a flooding problem. Our hall closet flooded, taking about half of the shoes we have collected for cosplay. In addition to that, my room flooded taking all my gf's cosplay stuff in cardboard boxes. The flood also took boxes of artwork by my little sister, and a lot of personal stuff from my childhood. (Not cosplay thank goodness, but It was still horrible...) I am so sorry this happened to you. It was one of the most sinking feelings, walking in to that mess.

My dogs also like chewing/sleeping on the faux leather and fur. This however can be saved usually.

And I don't know if this counts, but my gf's mother trows anything cosplay related out. She doesn't approve of it, unless we are making it for other people. Bah~

Aww thank you for the hug.

Thank god I used rubbermaid tubs for most of my newer cosplays. Only 2 wigs and 3 costumes were damaged to the point of throwing them out. I am hanging a few costumes now that were only slightly wet. I will wash them and see if they can be saved.

I'm really thankful none of my snuggy-type cosplays got wet but I did have to throw out beautiful floral printed fabric that I was planning to make a Kimono out of...it was like 10$ a metre too.

[Tangledinblue]

Oh my God, that sucks majorly mokulen22. I'm sorry.

Well mine got damaged thanks to another con goer. I was cosplaying Oichi from Sengoku Basara, and I was walking with two of my friends. For those who are unaware with her outfit, she was these stripes going down the back (which I have named "Butt Flaps") All throughout the day people kept stepping on them, and it was becoming a hassle. So my friends decide that they were going protect anyone else from stepping on them, by walking behind me. Well some guy cut in between me and my friends and I hear a ripping sound.I turn around and see one of the strips had been ripped off my costume. The guy just looks at me, shrugs, and says "I'm sorry, I guess." and just walked away. I was so mad, mostly cause the guy was just so...meh about it. If he showed a little concern, maybe I wouldn't have been so upset. But dude, you just damaged my costume!

[Curucar]

Originally Posted by Mehdia

Puppies that aren't house broken have gotten to some of my cosplay when on my dressform before. Luckily that can be wash. I've gotten pretty lucky that when something gets damaged, it has been repairable. I hope you can salvage most of your stuff after the flooding.

Ditto, but with cats. One of my costumes fell on the floor and I didn't realise it until a day later. Luckily it was white so I ripped out the lining and bleached it, but it never was quite the same after. I ended up tossing it instead of trying to sell it after I retired it.

[Akahime]

That really sucks to hear that happened to you! D: My basement floods every year so I always kept my finished cosplays hung up. Anything else though are sitting in boxes like my props and extra boxes in the basement... though they're pretty safe (for now) because they're sitting on a platform a couple of inches up from the ground that my dad made a few years ago. >>;;

The only thing cosplay related that got damaged so far was my Tomoyo-hime's wig headdress that my little sister dropped. :/ Now I gotta remake for the third time, which isn't as bad as most cases. And I suppose I don't mind remaking it again. Just gives me a better reason how to remake it better. >>;;

[ShadowDrac]

One's own silliness. Boyfriend, dressed as Dark Link, managed to rip his pants from butt to, well, nearly to front because he hopped onto a small horse statue/figure in the park. X3 Thankfully his tunic covered everything and no one was the wiser. XD

And cats. I'm sure everyone with a feline has had fabric ruined by their claws. I, oddly enough, have yet to have this happen, though there's been a couple of near misses at my friend's house. Our cats stay out of my room for the most part, and the one that does hang out with me when I work on projects leaves my fabric alone when I tell him to (and he's a kitten), though he does love to lay on whatever's in my lap at the time. He's a smart little devil.

I am sorry to hear about the damage to your cosplays. It's really sad and unfortunate.

[Mehdia]

Originally Posted by Curucar

Ditto, but with cats. One of my costumes fell on the floor and I didn't realise it until a day later. Luckily it was white so I ripped out the lining and bleached it, but it never was quite the same after. I ended up tossing it instead of trying to sell it after I retired it.

Yeah, I've got a kitten that thinks he's a big man now and likes to spray a bit, so he's about to be neutered and that will save me some trouble with him.

Originally Posted by ShadowDrac

One's own silliness. Boyfriend, dressed as Dark Link, managed to rip his pants from butt to, well, nearly to front because he hopped onto a small horse statue/figure in the park. X3 Thankfully his tunic covered everything and no one was the wiser. XD

And cats. I'm sure everyone with a feline has had fabric ruined by their claws. I, oddly enough, have yet to have this happen, though there's been a couple of near misses at my friend's house. Our cats stay out of my room for the most part, and the one that does hang out with me when I work on projects leaves my fabric alone when I tell him to (and he's a kitten), though he does love to lay on whatever's in my lap at the time. He's a smart little devil.

I am sorry to hear about the damage to your cosplays. It's really sad and unfortunate.

I wish my cats would leave my fabrics alone! They love to sleep on my sewing tables, so I have to throw sheets over all my stuff that I don't hang up at the end of the day.

[Kikuka]

I've mostly just had problems with other congoers damaging my cosplay. I was at Otakon with my Fuu from Magic Knight Rayearth cosplay, which if anyone knows the character has loads of floaty pieces of fabric and large pieces of floating armor.

I was in the dealers hall when someone slams into my shoulder and hits my shoulder armor piece, bending it nearly all the way back. Didn't even stop to acknowledge that they hit me let alone say sorry. We leave the dealers hall so I can check my costume and as soon as we're out and I bend it back, it breaks! There was heavy gauge wire running through the inner part to hold it all together. The wire was all one piece and on the shoulder it snapped. I had to go back to my room and fix it and it was right before the masquerade. T___T

[Blue Leader]

Eesh, that does suck. I've had things ruined by water flooding, things like comics, magazines, collectibles, but never a cosplay. I keep all of my cosplay in garment bags and hang them in a closet, or for cosplay that have a lot of heavy pieces and that I need more frequently and transport around (like my B-wing pilot) I keep them in a sturdy plastic tub.

I have had parts of my cosplay ruined by other means, however. A few years ago I got back home from a vacation to Florida (where I attended Star Wars Celebration V in costume), and I had set a few things on the table, though I'm not really sure why I did, one of which was a cloth-covered hose that connects to my chestbox... Well, my youngest cat jumped up and peed on the table, which of course soaked into that cloth covering... Not only did it stink but it had a sickly yellow tint to it afterwards. The piece just had to be made over again.

Just a couple weeks ago I took out one of my helmets to get ready for a troop-- to check out everything and make sure everything was okay-- and much to my surprise, and horror, I noticed that somehow the visor on the helmet got dented in (which also distorted the helmet a little). I have no clue how it happened as the helmet was stuffed, put in a helmet bag and stored in my tub... But it happened nonetheless. I've kept the helmet stuffed for over to weeks now, trying to push out the visor back into shape but so far it hasn't worked and I don't know what I'm going to do... x.x

[seiryuux]

I haven't anything catastrophic, though I have torn the inner linings of a jacket and a vest just from putting them on.

[MirniMausi]

I was in the lucky situation that most damage on my cosplays could be repaired. My moogle cosplay got damaged twice. The wings were smashed after I first wore it because I had to walk in a crowd, but I could bend them back to their old shape. The red ball on my head fell also down one day at a con because I was moving a lot, but we could put it back on.
But my Rikku Festival Goer Cos can't be saved (I'd have to redo my pants completely), because I ripped my pants after a private meet-up when I sat down in the car ;_; I wouldn't wear it anymore, but it still hurts to now it's destroyed...