Sometimes cosplay calls for some crazy stuff. Whether it be a revealing bikini with short shorts, crazy huge armor, or even huge prop weapons, it gets a lil hectic. See, a lot of this stuff is not exactly "okay" to wear in public. Why though?
Revealing cosplays:
Characters like Yoko (Gurren Lagann), Shura (Blue Exorcist), Any character from Witchblade, Gray (Fairy Tail), Cammy (Street Fighter), are always showing off quite a bit of skin on the norm. Its sometimes hard enough for us to muster up the courage to wear such costumes at a convention, surrounded by people who know what we're doing, and why we are dressed this way. Now cosplaying outside of a con is a completely different story. If its outside of a convention building to get some food, or walk to your hotel, or cosplaying at random in public, I highly suggest covering up at least a little. It may be completely okay to wear this type of outfit inside of a con, but when in public respect that other people may not be so comfy seeing so much skin. When I go out in public as Yoko, I try to cover up with at least a zip up sweater. Now there are still the short shorts, but thats not as bad (especially when there are girls out there these days wearing shorts like this on a daily basis). If you want to go the extra step (and have room enough to carry extra stuff with you around a con) i suggest bringing a pair of pants, or even a scarf or another sweater to tie around the waist. This way it will fully cover your backside, but not be difficult to put on. You could do this with any character with some booty, like Cammy. A scarf shouldn't take up much space in your bag either. Doing this is so simple. It makes people outside of the cosplay community feel just a bit more comfy when they walk by a stranger with odd hair and a huge weapon.
If you're on the beach, I think beach rules can apply. So bikini, and bikini bottoms are okay. Along with the men wearing trunks. Just be aware of people around you still, since some can be judgemental of cosplaying, not knowing what it is.
Cosplays with Weapons and Armor:
Now we all know this is a difficult one to avoid when you're out for a convention. So most of the time we are forced to carry our large weapons with us, a deal with the bulky armor. The best advice I can give for this is to first check if the con you are at has a bag check that will hold your items if you are just going out to get a bite to eat or something and plan to go back to the convention. This way you can avoid bringing everything into possibly crowded areas where people are confused what you're doing. The only other suggestion I can really give is to just be aware of your surroundings at all times if you have to take everything with you. Being in a bulk costume you might not realize how much space you take, or that you're bumping into people. Also with weapons, especially bigger ones you might not realize you are hitting someone with it by mistake if you aren't paying attention. This can also go for in con as well.
Sometimes people who don't understand what you're doing can get scared by seeing you with a weapon of any kind. Now we cosplayers might realize it isn't real, they might not. Especially when carrying a normal toy gun without an orange tip that you have modified to look realistic. My cousin has had an expirience where she got on a train to go to NYCC and saw a couple of cosplayers with guns that looked very real. If she didn't know they were cosplaying she said she probably would have been much more scared and uncomfortable.
Cosplaying Outside Of Conventions:
When you cosplay outside of a con for fun, for a small get together with friends, or for something like International Cosplay Day, be aware this is not a typical cosplay setting. If you do g oout in cosplay I highly suggest wearing a simple cosplay. Something that covers like a normal, everyday outfit would. Even casual cosplay is fun to do if you're going out for fun in cosplay. In 2011 I went out as Miku Hatsune (Vocaloid) in every day clothes. My friend had borrowed my Vanille cosplay too. While Vanille seemed a little iffy since it shows your tummy, she decided it wasn't to bad since some people go out wearing belly shirts, and people would probably realize she is dressing up. Luckily enough, nobody really directly gave us any problems when we went out. Some people enjoyed seeing us in our crazy wigs and took pictures. We also lived in a very small area that doesn't have much to it so some people are very un aware of things like cosplay around here.
