+

[LilLadyBug]

Hey all!

I've been lurking your boards for ages while I work on my first Blizzcon Cosplay, and I have a bit of an opinion question for you.

My costume can/will show several of my very large, very visible tattoos. Now, I'm not normally one to even begin to think about covering my tattoos...I even wore them proudly at my wedding...but I'm really afraid that they will end up detracting from the costume. I'm aware of how to cover them...but my heart hurts when I think about it.

What I'm looking for is honest (even brutally honest) opinions about whether you feel the visible tattoos that are obviously not part of the cosplay detract from the cosplay itself. If it matters, we're not talking about rotting zombies or anything like that (not that I have anything against rotting zombies).

Help?

[Nozze]

Originally Posted by LilLadyBug

Hey all!

I've been lurking your boards for ages while I work on my first Blizzcon Cosplay, and I have a bit of an opinion question for you.

My costume can/will show several of my very large, very visible tattoos. Now, I'm not normally one to even begin to think about covering my tattoos...I even wore them proudly at my wedding...but I'm really afraid that they will end up detracting from the costume. I'm aware of how to cover them...but my heart hurts when I think about it.

What I'm looking for is honest (even brutally honest) opinions about whether you feel the visible tattoos that are obviously not part of the cosplay detract from the cosplay itself. If it matters, we're not talking about rotting zombies or anything like that (not that I have anything against rotting zombies).

Help?

Personally, I like as much accuracy as possible in a costume. Adding your own flair and details to a costume are fine as long as they are within the character. If I was cosplaying someone who clearly doesn't and would never have tattoos, I'd cover them up. With cosplay, it's kind of like acting - portraying a character's personality AND attire.

However... if everything is well-made and you look happy in your costume, well who is to judge? Unless you're in a contest or doing a photoshoot, I wouldn't stress over it too much. Just be aware that there are some who will say it definitely detracts from the costume and could even be quite harsh in their judging and critique.

[Merodi]

Depends honestly. Personally I say cover them, but that's only if you really put some effort into the costume. If you are just cosplaying casually, then I'd say it's okay if you didn't cover them.

[HEYOashley]

Again, as Merodi said, it matters. I think if you're cosplaying a fairly timid character or a character that doesn't have the edge a tattoo can carry (aka Princess Peach) or something, you might want to cover up the tattoos. Personally, I think it would be pretty awesome if I saw a Peach costume or some Nightelf with tattoos haha

I would hide mine (if I had any) because I like to really get a cosplay spot on.

[LalaFTL]

I'm a detail fanatic so I would (and am) covering mine up for my Blizzcon costume. I wore a Lovely Black Dress last year and didn't cover my back tats, which are pretty distracting, and I actually got more compliments on them than my dress, lol.

I think if you're doing your own personal character that I'd say go for it, wear em with pride. But if you're doing an NPC, I'd go for accuracy and hide em. The coverup makeup isn't too bad, really.

My two cents:
Hiding tattoos for two days will not imply that you are not proud of your tattoos. It will also not change who you are or why you have the ink.

You are not hiding yourself by hiding your tattoos.

(This seems to be the real issue at hand.)

My personal opinion: If I had tattoos (work says I can't, so I won't get them right now), I'd hide them when in every costume. I am a stickler for accuracy and authenticity, so even though it's cool to have *you* shine through while in a costume, tattoos do not belong unless the character has them or *could* have them -- like for original characters.

[LilLadyBug]

This is all what I needed (and expected) to hear. My thoughts on it are similar, but my husband, who's helping with the costume, thought covering them up was silly.

For a little perspective - the costume is kinda custom. I'm making a humanized faerie dragon - full cello wings and spine, stuffed tail, boots that are outfitted with clawed feet. Think Aspect of a dragonflight taken a little further into dragon form.

One tattoo is very easy to cover with a modesty panel added to the corset, no problem there. I have two tropical birds on my shoulders that may or may not be visible through everything else going on back there. They're actually the ones that probably "match" the cosplay the best. The real stickler is a large pink peony on the front on my shoulder (think cap sleeve). My biggest worry is exactly what LaLa said - this particular tattoo gets a lot of attention in plain clothes. I don't want it to become the focus over the costume.

Thanks for the input everyone, I really, really appreciate it. I talked to the hubs about it, and we're going to see if we can get creative with makeup and come up with a fitting way to cover them. If not, spaulders are always an option.

[LalaFTL]

They do make makeup specifically for tattoo coverup if you don't want to make spaulders. :>

http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=43469
http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=194970

Kat Von D and DermaBlend are two products I see referenced the most for this purpose. You could also probably do some cool effects with bodypaint as well for that costume - I saw your sketches on the WoW forums (if indeed you are the same person) and they are pretty neat and colorful. :>

[LilLadyBug]

Yeah, I'm not a huge Dermablend fan, but I was thinking of using body paint to bring some scales through my skin.

AND now you have me scared! This is the first place I've revealed my cosplay! So it sounds like there may be another faerie dragon floating around this year!

[AnimeGamer]

You know, sometimes having a costume that matches the tattoo actually makes the overall costume better. Whether or not you want to cover or accentuate that is up to you, considering this is sounding pretty much like a original design costume with some Blizzard flair. Besides, if you are going with a Night Elf-ish/Faerie Dragon kind of look - it wouldn't be surprising at all for a Night Elf to have tats - considering the women have them all over their face. :P