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With Brocon on this weekend and Nom-Con coming up in August, I thought it might be a good idea to give some convention advice! I’ll be talking about what to bring with you to survive the convention and how to behave at the con.

Convention Survival Kit

It’s so so important to plan ahead and make a survival kit for your convention. If anything can go wrong. It will. With that in mind, here are the essentials that any cosplayer absolutely must have with them at all times, or at least in their hotel room. It’s a really good idea to bring a small backpack with you to the convention. It may seem like a bother at first, but you’ll be so thankful for it throughout the weekend! If you’re worried about a backpack ruining your cosplay, perhaps try to get one that looks good with your cosplay!

Adhesives: You’ll need a glue gun, super glue, masking tape, and duct tape. These are so important. Cons are busy and crowded places. People will accidentally bump into you all the time and possibly break something off of your cosplay. Also, masking tape can be used to fix a ripped hem when you don’t have the time to sew it!

First-Aid: Always bring some plasters, tissues, sugary sweets and granola bars(for when you start to feel light headed from all the fun!) and of course, painkillers. Having a headache at a con is a horrible experience. And with all the noise and bustling there’s a high chance of getting one. Also, bring a bottle of water! It’s very important to keep hydrated over the weekend of the con.

Toiletries: A travel toothbrush and toothpaste are very handy, especially when you’re going to be smiling in a lot of photos. Bring face wipes, hand wipes, spare glasses or contact lenses, eye liner, lipstick, or any other make up you might need to reapply. But the most important thing is deodorant. I cannot stress this enough! You will be standing, walking, posing and having fun all day probably in a stuffy costume. You will get sweaty. And there is nothing worse than bad body odour.

Wig & hair care: If you’re wearing a wig for the convention, it will need to be maintained throughout the day so that it doesn’t become irreparably knotty. Bring a wide toothed comb, a spare wig cap, hair bobbles, and hair pins. Lots and lots of hair pins. If you’re not wearing a wig, it’s still good to bring a hair brush or comb with you to keep your hair lovely and knot free!

Costume repair: A little sewing kit is extremely useful. If your cosplay rips or starts to fall apart you’ll need your trusty needle and thread with you! I’d recommend bringing clear thread unless your costume is all one colour. It saves having to bring multiple colours of thread. Also bring a little scissors to cut your thread or any loose threads coming off your cosplay. Depending on your cosplay you could need a pliers or a screwdriver. So if you think you need them, bring them! Bring Velcro, extra fabric and fabric paint. And most importantly: Safety pins. All the safety pins. If you think you have too many safety pins. You don’t. Double that amount and then you’ll be close.

Other items: Don’t forget to bring your phone(fully charged), camera, chargers, wallet, pen, sharpie, notepad, convention map, convention schedule, a jacket for if it gets cold or rainy, flat comfy shoes if you’re wearing heels and food like sandwiches or crackers so you don’t have to pay for the extremely expensive food they sell at the convention.

Always remember to share your convention survival kit with others. If you see someone in trouble, help them out. Give them a few safety pins to fix their cosplay. Help them glue their prop back together. Give them a plaster and a sugary sweet if they’ve gotten hurt. Be the hero and give a helping hand!

Come back and see next week’s blog post for Part 2, where I’ll give guidelines on how you should behave at conventions and how to approach cosplayers!

~Erica :)