If you like to make and wear costumes, you continually find a reason to play dress up. Halloween, conventions, renaissance faires, theme parties, movie premieres – you get the idea. Because of that, I like to have a few staples in my cosplay wardrobe that can be ready at a moment’s notice and used for different costumes. A cloak can be part of an elf costume, a wizard costume, a Harry Potter costume, a Sith costume, etc. And Melissa has a simple to follow elven cloak tutorial on her blog, There’s Something About the Rainbows. She used this video from Ann Le for guidance but made her cape much longer so that it would reach her ankles. As long as you’re comfortable sewing and drafting a simple pattern, you can make this cloak. Or, you can politely ask a friend if you can hire him or her to create it for you or to show you how to do it.

Melissa also made a pair of elven ears to go with her cloak. Again, having a set of pointy ears that fit your own aren’t a bad thing to have in your cosplay arsenal. She created her ears by sculpting a model of her own ear from clay (using a photo as reference) and adding a pointed tip. After the clay dried, she then painted on layers of liquid latex onto the pointy addition and the top of the clay ear. She was left with a latex elf ear that was matched to the shape of her ear. It can be blended in with makeup. Read the entire how-to at Melissa’s blog.

What basics do you keep in your costume wardrobe?