The process of creating cosplay from scratch is incredibly intimidating to me, but Emily White found a new love for it post-lockdown: 'It can take anywhere from a month to a year to bring a costume to life.'

The process of creating cosplay from scratch is incredibly intimidating to me, but Emily White found a new love for it post-lockdown: 'It can take anywhere from a month to a year to bring a costume to life.' I've always admired people who make their own costumes. Even when it's for something as simple as a Halloween party, if someone's gone an extra step to create something from scratch specifically for their costume, it just shows that little bit of extra creativity and dedication. That's something I tend to lack. A lot of the time, the costumes I've worn have been largely dependent on what I've got lying around, which is probably why I haven't fully dedicated my free time to cosplay yet. I lack in the creative and crafty department. Emily White, a cosplayer based in the UK, is a prime example of this creative flair, building each and every one of her cosplays from scratch, no matter how intricate the characters and outfits become. So, to learn more about her process, I spoke with White about what it really looks like and where it started. Character Select Welcome to Character Select, a weekly column where PC Gamer takes a look at the art and cosplay created by you. Each week, I'll highlight a few of my favourite pieces, spotlight and interview creators and artists, or generally just chew your ear off about the talents of the gaming community. "I first discovered cosplay as a concept in general when lockdown in the UK first hit. I was bored and downloaded TikTok to keep myself entertained, and that is where I found this whole world of creators who cosplay. I first started by recreating facepaint looks, as that was the most accessible way for me to dip my toes into cosplay at the time. My first full cosplay though came about when I started streaming on Twitch in the second lockdown that happened. "I was encouraged by my community on Twitch to transform myself into Ciri for my stream of The Witcher 3. I made a sword and some accessories from cardboard, cut up a white shirt, and altered a corset I grabbed off of Amazon. Since then, I never looked back and my motivation to cosplay only grew more from there. I discovered how enjoyable the process was of bringing a beloved character to life and becoming them." However, crafting costumes from scratch in full came shortly after. Once lockdown had lifted and events such as Comic-Con were permitted to run again, White could spend more time with other cosplayers for some inspiration. White tells me: "It was only once the lockdown finally lifted and I attended my first ever MCM Comic-Con that I made the switch to fully crafting costumes myself. Seeing so many incredible cosplayers all in one place was amazing, and I was able to chat to them about how they made their costumes, which was very inspiring. There was one particular costume that caught my...

Preview: ~500 words