Pocket, Purses and Potty Breaks

I had the delightful experience of sitting on a panel at GeekGirlCon with Meris (Fabric Alchemist) and Katrina (Needle Drive), the topic of which was ‘Pockets, Purses and Potty Breaks.’

As a collection of cosplayers we have all run into similar problems, we are frequently dressed as characters that never need to have anything on them or use magic invisible storage solutions; plus when have you ever seen any of your favorite characters go to the bathroom in their epic get ups? But as cosplayers at a convention these are things we can’t really avoid, so the three of us wanted to share some of the strategies we have found, and get other people to share out on what they have done too!

Overall the biggest take away we had was to think about these concerns before the day of the convention. Planning where your things will go, and how you will get in and out for potty breaks makes a big difference and prevents those last minute ‘oh dear’ moments on con day.

For those of you who did not have the pleasure of hearing us talk about bodily functions, you’ll find a summary of our panel, as well as some of our favorite audience suggestions!

This first portion seemed an obvious one, but we wanted to start with the basics as in many costumes there are already natural storage options on hand. Bras can be used to store many things, for the ample chested they can often fit phones (I recommend putting the phone on the side, under the arm), and most people can fit cards and some dollar bills.  We also heard suggestions of stuffing bras with your stuff if you are planning on making you chest chestier. Boots also work well, you can add a little pocket to stop a phone from slipping down if there isn’t enough natural tension, or at least store it on the zipper side to make access less tricky (Red provides and example of using both these thing, just remember you need to have cleavage access!).  When that fails, hand your things over to your handy cosplay buddy to carry (such as in the RWBY group pictured).  And lastly, don’t forget some cosplays already have things like pockets and pouches – use them (like with Starlord)!

The next step is coordinate with your cosplay, when you can’t just tuck things into your existing clothing.  This can take a few different forms, such as picking something already in the world though your character might not carry it – for example Rapunzel is carrying Flynn’s bag.  Or select a bag/ pouch that matches in materials and style, leather for oldy world sort of things, satin for the fancy schmancy etc… Thrift stores are a great way of finding these sorts of bags, or pouches to cannibalize.

An extension to coordinating, is creating an object that can store items – this might be an object from the world that does or does not normally act as storage.  False bottomed baskets, (Aurora’s is pictured), can fit quite a lot, and be completely in character.  Plushies of characters in the world (like the white Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland), can be hollowed out and a pouch with a zipper put inside, making an excellent and adorable purse.  You can even get very creative, and make random props into purses – for example the Sailor Mars curse, pictured, is actually a pouch that is open at the top and supported with a chopstick to stay up straight – it fits a phone and cards/cash!

Lastly, and most sneakily, are the truly hidden purses! In all three pictures there is a purse hidden within the costume. Jeanie, under the armpit, Elizabeth, in the sleeve, and Homura, by the crotch.  The basic idea was the ‘crotch pocket’ (TM), a small pouch attached to an elastic waist band that can be slung around the hips or various other body places.  Running armbands can also work around a leg under big puffy skirts. With these remember to think about what do you really need to have on you, your space will be limited so take only essentials!

I won’t lie, this was my favorite part… Anyway, the basic jist is access – how do you get to what you need to in order to do your business. Consider using as few pieces as possible for your bottoms, this will make deconstructing and reconstructing in the bathroom simpler. Conversely, break the top and bottom into two sections, unitards mean getting a lot more undressed in the bathroom than pants and a shirt – watch my video on my FemShep cosplay for an example of what I did. Also consider using crotch snaps on leotards rather than taking the whole thing off.

As a side note – this was where I learned that there were two very distinct ways people had for going to the bathroom in a swimsuit as a child – either pulling it to the side or taking it all off.  Everyone had been convinced their way was the one true way…

For those in big skirts, suggestions included tying strings on the underside of the skirt so you can lift it all up by just pulling on the string up and over your shoulder, or straddling the toilet bride style (look up ‘peeing in a wedding gown’ for other suggestions).  Also be aware of things that dangle, like long wig hair, place them into the front of the skirt when you lift it up or drape them over your arm, lest you want them covered in toilet water,

Remember you are human –  you need to drink water. You also need to get in and out of your cosplay.  Its ok to add things like zippers to make it physically possible to be in the costume, even if it means it is not 100% accurate.

Finally we talked a little it about other miscellaneous cosplay hacks.  For example

• Putting a slit in the finger of a glove to be able to use a touch screen phone more easily
• Safety pinning a badge to the inside of a skirt or slipping it under a flap in a cosplay
• Try the whole cosplay on before the day of the convention!!!

I hope these suggestions have been helpful, feel free to ask any of us questions! Or make your own suggestions for how to carry things or go to the bathroom when cosplaying at a convention!