Colour my gear. How to step outside your comfort zone with colour.

Hey Players

I love colour. Colour has played a big part of my life as far as I can remember.

Everyone has their favourites and can change throughout your life. There are some colours that are not your favourite, however it gives you a sense of empowerment and inspiration. It is awesome if they are both! What those are, is personal choice (based on your current mood) or purpose.

Like many plants and animals on our planet, colour is used for survival, communicating, and to grab attention. We know all too well, when it comes to video games; change your outfit to suit the environment (camouflage), your cross-hairs change colour with a hittable object, an enemy and friendlies, your health indicator changes colour depending on how much health you got left and in the interrogation scene in Detroit: Become Human.

There will be times when you would not be able to add colour to your outfit, like your profession or an occasion. If you are used to wearing a certain colour or colours for long time, it can be challenging breaking free from this habit. This is a journey of exploration and grow an understanding on how colour affects you, others and the world.

Purposeful ColoursBackpack with green, black and brown pattern

As a player, you would be familiar with military style games, like Battlefield and COD (Call of Duty) and others like them. Some character’s outfits have the familiar camouflage print. Each print is used for different environments. It is a means to survive and hid from the enemy and threats. You might as well, wear Christmas lights, turn up your iPod to max, play party music and dance your butt off (sounds like my kind of party). That is a sure way to get killed. I personally love the camouflage print (especially green), due to its use of colour and function and I like the military look. I learnt a lot about camouflage from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Who said you cannot learn anything from video games?

Power Colours

Each person has their own “Power Colours”. Power colours are colours that inspire you or gives you a sense of empowerment and strength. One of mine is blue. Blue makes my natural eye colour stand out and I feel empowered and relaxed when I wear it. For other people, it could be yellow, which, in my opinion, is a happy colour. To add a bit of sunshine to a gloomy day.

Communicating with colourWoman with blonde hair wearing a black, white and red outfit with a Deadpool mask

Colour can be used for communicating or to stimulate an emotion or feeling. The colour we choose to wear, can be a reflection of our mood, and purpose. Let’s take the colour red for example. When you see or think of the colour, what does it remind you of or think about? There are lots of characters (too many to list here) who wears red or have red as part of their entire. Red is often symbolizes, warmth, passion, love, danger, blood (good way to hide the stains (pro-tip from Deadpool)), strength, power, sexiness, anger and energy. Red is also used to encourage decision-making and also grabs our attention. Why do you think certain professions wear certain colours? Just for this reason.

Ways on how to step outside your comfort zone.

Thinking about to try something new can be exciting, however, making the decision to take the first step can be scary. If you decide to make a change, do it one step at a time, otherwise you will get overwhelmed (saying from personal experience). This applies to anything in life.

Below are suggestions for stepping outside your comfort zone with colour:

  • Know yourself. Know what colours you like and what are your power colours. I would suggest looking at the colour wheel and see what colours shout “Pick Me!!!”
  • Know your inspiration. You can start by looking and taking note of your inspiration. What is it you like about it?
  • Try on your current stuff. The key is looking at main colour itself. How does it look? How do you feel? Does it make you say, “Yes!!!” or “I look good. Really good”? If so, then that is awesome. Take note on what they are.
  • Go to the shops and try stuff on. Remember you do not need to buy anything, unless you can afford it and you love it. I would suggest starting something small like accessories, (a hat, scarf, bracket, rings, necklaces, earrings, socks and so on). If you are feeling brave, I would suggest going for the clothes. Go around the shop or store and see what catches your eye. You will never know on what you will find.
  • Remember that time when. Do you remember a time when you wore something and someone you have a great relationship with said “You look lovely, awesome, handsome, wonderful, in that colour? Take note of those times. You can use these as a guide to how others see when you cannot see it yourself.
  • Read the post “My 50 shades” (Coming soon). If you would like to deep dive into what colours would suit your natural colourings, please consider reading this post. Have a look through and see the requirements of each category to see what is the closest to your natural hair, eyes and skin tone. From there, you will know what will look best on you. My 50 shades is Bright.
  • Ask someone you trust for help. There is nothing wrong in asking for help, especially if you are not sure, colour-blind or visually impaired. This person (or even a group of people) needs to be honest with you on what looks awesome and what looks sickly. My Mum is this person. She is very honest with me when we do shopping. Her opinion has really helped me with my fashion style.

Keep trying until you make it.

Start small and work your way through until you feel comfortable. There is no harm in trying something new, as the saying goes “Do not knock it until you try it”. You might discover something new about yourself.

What do you think of colour? What colours do you like, and they mean to you?

Signing off for now

 

 

Bex

MyGamerWear.com

Cosplay: A beginner’s guide and how to do it cheaply.

Hey Players

You do not need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get “the look”. Cosplay is more than clothes play. It is a means to express your passion for a character, franchise, or a style. At the beginning of your cosplaying journey, all you need, at this moment is, to understand the basics of the look and recreate it, to the best of your ability and budget. With time, you will be able to invest more time, stuff and money into your outfits. What I like to use for my cosplay is, the 3R system (Research, Resource and Result). I find with this method; you will discover more opinions and find alternatives to achieve what you want. We all have to start somewhere, so let’s start at the beginning.

Research – Back to Basics

Research is a great starting point. Look at what you want to recreate and write everything you do notice down (or take up close photos or screenshots). You can do both if you wanted to. Focus on the basics, like colours, a common print or a common motif, time period (this will give you lots of options and ideas to play with), basic pieces and season (time of year). Examples of these are below. With this information, you will be able to find ways on how to achieve the look and what will be okay for now. You do not need to create the “perfect” or “A+++” grade outfit first time. Even with the “perfect” outfit, you do need to have some alternatives, just in case things do not work out, the way they were supposed to, or if things get broken. It will change as you go deeper into this craft.

  • Colours:
    Camouflage (all patterns), olive green and black (for all military games)
    Black, white and red (Hitman)
    Yellow and Black (Pac-man)
  • Print or motif:
    Triangles (Deus Ex, and Detroit: Become Human)

    Hexagons (Horizon Zero Dawn)
    Crescent moon (Bayonetta)
  • Time Period:
    L.A. Noire in 1920’s
    Mafia 3 in early 1960’s
    A Way Out in early 1970’s
    Dragon Age series in Medieval times
  • Basic pieces:
    Jackets (dressy, casual or sporty)
    Shoes (dressy casual or sporty)
    Shirt/trousers/pants
    Socks, no socks, stockings
    An one piece suit (like a wet suit, jump suit, overalls, a dress and so on)
    Top (blouse, shirt, T-shirt and so on)
    Accessories (watch, tie/scarf, hat, mask, glasses, earrings, necklace, bracelet, gloves, gear, budges or pins, belt and so on).
  • Season
    There are some outfits which are best suited for a time of the year. It would be an idea to have more than one outfit at your arsenal. That way, you can cosplay all year round. In a reference YouTube video (see below for the link), there is an example of military cosplay for Summer and Winter. Being overheated and getting a cold is not pleasant.

Resource – Build it

After you made a list of the basics of the look, you will need to find resources to make it. You have lots to choose from. You can reuse, borrow, buy or make it. Below are some examples on where you can get resources to build it.

  • Near you
    Have a look in your closet (wardrobe), your dresser, chest of drawers, storage; anywhere you store your clothing and accessories. Look at the item and think on how you can reuse it. If you are lucky enough, you could borrow some stuff from family and friends.
  • At the dollar store/secondhand/Online shop sales
    Dollar stores, secondhand shops and online shop sales are great for cheap things. Some things would cost a few dollars even cents. It will depend on the shop and the item. You will never know what you might find.  Another place is a clothes swap event, where people donate their clothes for free and you pay for it.  Some clothes swaps are free and others for fundraising.
  • Make it yourself or ask someone to make it for you.
    If you are a creative and artistic person with basic equipment, you can create anything on your own, whatever by hand, by computer or by machine (like a 3D printer or a sewing machine). You could also ask someone to make items or garments for you. You will need to check them about pricing and the time required in making it, plus refitting.

Result – How do I look?

After you build the outfit, you will need to test it to see how it looks. Does it create the feeling and the essence you wanted? Do you need to add, take away or change something? Over time, you will be able to evolve your outfit (like Spiderman, and Batman to name a couple). Cosplay is a journey of exploration, inspiration and fun. If it is not the result you want or want to take it to the next level, have a look at your research and begin the cycle again (Research, Resource and Result).

If you would like to see the 3R system in motion, please see the YouTube video here:

Proof is in the pudding

I remember years ago (before mobile phones had cameras) at a comic-con like event in my city, there was a guy cosplaying as Sonic the Hedgehog. I am pretty sure he was. He painted himself from head to toe and cardboard spikes in blue paint. He also wore a sandwich board saying, “Not Sonic”. It was a clever and well thought out costume. He said hello to everyone and was nice to everyone who encountered him. When it came to the cosplay contest, he entered it. There were some impressive entries, and it was up to the audience to vote. The audience (including myself) voted him for the best cosplay that year.

End Game?

Cosplay is a representation of what you love, whatever it is. Like everything, your outfits will evolve over time due to having more money to invest, developing a deeper understanding and life changes. Whatever you are in to, there will be ways to achieve your dream outfit. Is there an End Game? The End Game is what you decide it to be.

How do you cosplay on a budget and what is your ultimate outfit?

Please consider sharing your thoughts. Love to hear from you and you could help others with theirs.

 

Signing off for now

 

Bex

MyGamerWear.com

About Us

Humble Beginnings

From Pac Man to Control, video gaming has played a big part in my life. For those who love gaming, it has shaped our lives somehow. To me, gaming as a way to connect, grow, heal and learn.

Video games is now one of the biggest past times in our civilisation to date with its fast growing and evolving industry. For some people it is their bread and butter, from Artists and Actors to YouTubers, Twitch and Mixer players and E-sports professionals.

Your One-stop Shop

We all what to express our passions to the world and one of the ways to do it is through what we wear. We know it can be overwhelming when you search for video game clothing and get (what seems like) millions of websites.

Here at My Gamer Wear, we want to make things easy for you to find the best way to find the perfect cloth whatever it is for yourself or for someone you know.

For the Love of the Game

If you ever need a hand or have any questions, feel free to leave them below and I will be more than happy to help you out.

Signing off for now

 

Bex

support@mygamerwear.com