OKay. I've just recently took an interest into cosplay, because who doesn't like to dress up? But..I'm African-American and have light brown skin. I'm sorta worried..if I cosplay characters who are of fairer skin than I that I might look a bit,well, ridiculous. I don't even know who I should cosplay...T.T....what to do?

Well I think it all depends on the cosplay. I have seen cosplayers who have extremely dark skin and they choose a very light cosplay and I think the clash makes it look almost rediculous, no matter who good the coslay is. But I saw another one, who too had very dark skin, but they wore a black themed cosplay and they looked perfect~

i dont think anything would be any more rediculous than an overweight man wearing a small sailor moon cosplay so i say have fun! go wild! hehe

XD! I've always wanted to see that just for the heck of it, then again..no *shudders*

You know....I feel that "hey, thats how god made us". And other cosplayers may be able to loose weight, dye their hair or other things but theres nothing you can do about being born a different race. I say cosplay whoever you want!

 

However I kinda agree with Lolita_Tobi somewhat. Sometimes to make it, I feel people with darker skintones should sometimes tweak the cosplay.

 

For example...I'm african american and have cosplayed Misa from Deathnote once, insted of getting a high yellow blonde wig I purchased a more muted brownish blonde. It matched my skintone more, and seemed more natural, yet I was still in character.

 

xD I hope I made sense here ~

you did! thank yu...would pink hair be alright? i'd love to be Miwako frm Parakiss

I mean pink sounds cool. But determining what shade of pink would honestly depend on your skintone.

 

I suggest maybe finding a wig shop/or a place that has those little hair dye samples and comparing them to your tone.

 

But in the end, it really comes down to what looks right to you : D

i think that our differences (in skin, hair, height) gives the cosplay a much better character.  

^^ yep.

Don´t feel awkward about your skin tone. Or feel obligated to cosplay dark-skinned characters exclusively. I agree with some of the other people who posted, perhaps when it comes to it you could try and tweak some of the colors to suit you best, but other than that....go wild! Be brave! Cosplay with the rest of us!  :D