Women’s Corsets & Bustiers

Cosplayers have long been on their own when creating costume replicas and remixes for their favorite characters. That often meant doing everything from finding the right fabric to fashioning a custom pattern—with lots of trial and error.

But that’s starting to change. Companies are creating products with cosplayers in mind. Considering all the amazing cosplay that’s been created over the years, it seems almost hard to believe that it took companies this long to realize there was a market of cosplayers waiting.

The potential became clear to Simplicity Patterns when it took a visit to New York Comic Con. According to Simplicity consumer services assistant Tiffany Pegram, who told the Daily Dot she’s been cosplaying for the last 16 years, a bunch of their designers went to the convention for the first time a few years ago.

“Their general consensus was, ‘Hey, all these people are making awesome costumes, maybe we should give them patterns for it.’ So it’s been an ongoing process and an eye-opening experience,” she said.

The costume patterns section of Simplicity’s website includes cosplay mixed with what customers might think of as more Halloween-style designs. Some of the looks are licensed by brands like Marvel and DC Comics, with one of Simplicity’s latest releases taking inspiration from the DC Comics Bombshells costumes of Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Supergirl. The company also works with cosplayers and designers directly to create its patterns, including Effy Sews Cosplay and LoriAnn Costume Designs, who Simplicity often highlights on its YouTube channel. According to Pegram, the company keeps an eye on the cosplay community to see what it’s looking for, making, and using.