Let's Talk About Realistic vs Stylistic Cosplay

Intro to the concept

These two modes are on a spectrum, not in binary or strict opposition, and most costumes fall somewhere in the middle. I would say most cosplays are somewhere closer to realism on the spectrum, up to just past the middle of the spectrum. 

Note to self: make a graphic of the spectrum and pull examples and place them on said spectrum

Realism is

The most extreme versions of realism would be costumes with 

Stylism is

Due to the nature of stylization, it is hard to do stylization halfway. Typically, stylized costumes involve flatter colors and more extreme shapes. Think exaggeration and trying to imitate the artwork or model rather than trying to look like something from real life. The most extreme versions of stylization would be something like a fully cel shaded cosplay or a manga cosplay in full black and white with drawn-on hatching as "shading." 

One thing to think about when doing a cosplay is where you want it to fall on the spectrum. If you have some parts that are highly realistic and some highly stylistic, or otherwise a mismash of styles, it can look odd because the parts don't form a cohesive whole. I can imagine costumes where, for example, a single prop has a different mode than the rest of the costume for a specific effect, but generally, you want the whole costume to be cohesive with the other parts of the same costume. 

For example, you may have noticed that I don't do Jojo face lines. Absolutely no hate on people who do, since a lot of these things come down to personal taste. I would absolutely do face lines in my makeup if the rest of the costume had similar lines and shading, but for me personally, I don't want to mix the much more realistic costume with the heavy stylization of the face lines. 

When thinking about which mode you want to do, ask yourself a few questions. Do you gravitate towards certain styles? Is there something specific you want to accomplish with this costume, such as learning a new technique, doing a lot of detail work, or doing a specific photoshoot concept? What does the series itself look like? Something like Jojo, Space Channel 5, Borderlands, Jet Set Radio, etc. that has a very distinctive visual style naturally lends itself better to stylism, whereas something with more realism in the style like Silent Hill, most Western RPGs, almost anything live action, or something like Berserk that references real life clothing naturally lends itself more to realism. Of course, you can do whatever you want, and sometimes it can be fun to do a cosplay where you reimagine the aesthetics of the series in the opposite direction.