Ranch Story Cosplay

Welcome to BokuMono Cosplay Central, a blog dedicated to sharing and celebrating cosplays of characters from all Bokujō Monogatari games and spin-offs.

[bokumonocosplay]

Hey There!

Welcome to the Ranch Story cosplay blog, a space for sharing, supporting, and celebrating Bokujō Monogatari cosplays and cosplayers.

What we do: reblog cosplay photos and tutorials, post submissions, make original cosplay content, and answer questions.

What YOU can do: like, comment on, reblog posts, and submit your own. If you're proud of what you made, we want you to share it!

Links

About & FAQ

Tag List

Cosplay Spotlight form

Ranch Story Discord

[fwoosheye]

My sister just told me about a site called freesewing, where you can adjust patterns from your exact measurements and it will "generate" them — but not generate as in what ShitGPT does, just mathematical tweaking of existing patterns, the way professionals would do it if you were going to a tailor. Many patterns also have photos of people posting what they've made, and it seems like it works really well most of the time. I just thought it seemed like a neat site, especially since i saw a lot of example photos with my build that had gotten some pretty good results. That they also don't sell your data is a neat bonus

Free Bespoke Sewing Patterns | FreeSewing

FreeSewing is open source software to generate bespoke sewing patterns, loved by home sewers and fashion entrepreneurs alike.

[20dollarlolita]

After quite a while of operating on a very scaled-back inventory, Amphigory.com closed up shop last month.

Amphigory was a very fun site that, in its prime, sold cosmetics, hair dye, incense, cool jewelry, and wigs. They did not manufacture their own wigs, and instead they were a distributor for several wig brands. They existed long before Arda and Epic Cosplay Wig were selling their own lines of custom-built wigs for cosplay, so a lot of cosplayers had to make existing costume wigs work for their cosplay.

The thing that set them apart was that they very thoroughly documented every wig that they sold. They would have pictures of the outside from all angles, the inside, and text about things like the size of the skin top, how easy it was to dye, and if there was crimped fiber in it.

Lacey Costume (also called Morris Costume as far as I can tell) is still around, so you can still purchase a lot of the wigs that you would have bought through Amphigory from other sellers. A lot of shops actually are selling Lacey Costume brand wigs at discounts or clearance. The problem is that most Lacey Costume wigs have a single stock photo, that may or may not be at a useful angle.

For example, this is their ONLY picture of this red ponytail extension.

A lot of the Lacey Costume wigs are available on sites like Amazon and Walmart.com, and it's not hard to search around and see if any of them are on clearance. I bought a pigtail wig for an upcoming costume for $9 and it arrived in less than 2 days.

Amphigory renamed their wigs to match their own line. I can't blame them, because you'll see how the manufacturer names are kind of terrible. I have wanted to match up Amphigory's detailed pictures with their manufacturer names, so that people buying these wigs from other sellers can know what they're buying. Even though they'd stopped selling wigs, I still didn't want to repost their content while they were still in operation, because I wanted to let them have a chance to bring this product line back. However, with the site fully closed, I don't feel so opposed to it anymore.

So, here's some of the classic Amphigory wigs and their equivalent names from their manufacturer.

Long and pic-heavy under the cut:

Their three most popular wigs for cosplay were the Femme Fatale, the Innocent?, and the Enchantment. All of these wig matches are confirmed on Amphigory at some point in time. I've been all over the wayback machine for this.

Femme Fatale and Enchantment are both full skin top wigs that are made of smooth fibers with no crimped hair. Back when Katie Bair was doing wig commissions, most of her wig styles started out with a Femme Fatale.

Femme Fatale is Lacey Costumes 1960's Prom Pageboy.

Enchantment is Lacey Costumes 1448 or Long Cher No Bangs

Innocent? is Lacey Costumes Little Women II. This wig feels like a modern "pre-crimped" cosplay wig; the fiber isn't slick and smooth. When you take the ponytails down, the sides are just short fiber. It looks good up and you can take the ponytails down and re-tie them to get it to fit your head better, but it's not a wig to be worn in any non-pigtail style.

Sweetness is Lacey Costumes Little Women I.

Z (Zigzag Part) is Lacey Costumes Gina

FIngerwave is Lacey Costumes Fingerwave Short

Bad Girl is Lacey Costumes Teased Up Beehive

5-Layer is Lacey Costumes Zebra Lady

I'm pretty sure Suzi is a Character's Costumes Yuki (which I think has changed slightly over the years).

.

.

I was going to keep going with this but something has come up and I can't keep sitting at my computer doing this.=. So, if anyone is interested in doing this yourself, starting in like 2017, Amphigory started putting the names of the models of wig on their sites. I'm grabbing those off the Wayback machine, checking through the years for the best photos and descriptions, and then using the general internet and cosplaysupplies.com to confirm the brand name. I hope this is helpful to someone and I'll come back later and add more if there's demand.

(Also everyone please be aware that I don't think any of the Lacey Costumes wigs are heat-resistant).

I'll talk to y'all later. Bye!

[ranchstoryblog]

Do you think matching couples are cute? New DLC Announced for Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar

A set of costume DLC that matches you up with your special someone was announced in a new DLC pack for Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar on the Japanese PR page for the series. You can either purchase a full set, matching you with every candidate, or separate sets that match just the boys or girls, depending on your tastes.

Full set, 1000 円, half sets 600 円 each.

So far, these aren't available on Steam or international platforms outside Japan, but will likely appear in the next day or so. This post will be updated accordingly at that time.

The PlayStation Store has added the costumes for the just-launched PS5/Xbox versions! Below are the prices in various regions, such as US, UK, EU, and AU. Though the images use PlayStation, it should be the same across all platforms. We can confirm the 1.5 update is live now on Nintendo Switch.

[candybitess]

So random question for cosplayers out there

My eyes have always been really sensitive, and although i am nearly done with altering my Zanka cosplay, the only thing i don't have is contacts at the moment. (little context, everytime i use contacts, my eyes heavily water, and even after they stopped watering everything is so blurry, i cannot see, and it constantly feels like something is IN my eyes, wich well yea there is, but that feeling drives me nuts)

Can i do anything against irritation? Is there a brand thats better? Or is prescription colored contacts better? (although that wont look like the character probs)

Or should i just.. give up and be void eyed Zanka, since i have dark eyes, and better to not go blind for cosplay lmao

[fabrickind]

Hello there!

I will give my standard disclaimer before any possible solutions.

Contact lenses are a medical device, and not needed for cosplay in any capacity. Some people can wear them without issue. Some people (like you!) can wear them but with issues. Some people medically cannot wear them at all. These are the least important item for any cosplay, and not having accurate eyes is not an issue at all.

(I can wear specific types of clear lenses, but it was years that optometrists thought I couldn't wear them at all due to a corneal deformity that I didn't realize I had before it was diagnosed, just as an example)

You only get one pair of eyes, and those have to last you your whole life. Don't take risks with them for the sake of a costume. Photoshop and other image editing programs are there for a reason! All my cosplays with different colored eyes are shooped.

That said:

Did you get properly fitted by an optometrist before wearing cosplay lenses? There might be an issue with the size or shape of the lenses with your eyes, you might need lenses of a slightly different composition, or you might just not be able to wear them. Be sure the base curve is correct. Also, if you have astigmatism and they aren't toric lenses, they might just not fit right.

Are they daily lenses or yearly or monthly lenses? Most people I know who wear cosplay lenses find that dailies are MUCH more comfortable than the longer use ones. It's more expensive per use if you wear lenses a lot, but if you don't wear them a lot, it tends to be cheaper since they last a long time unopened (and you might only wear the yearlies a couple of times).

If you do have monthly or yearly lenses, did you clean them first? Many of these lenses come in a solution that will hurt your eyes if it isn't cleaned off first. If you are using a peroxide-based solution (the type where you put your lenses in a little plastic cage and have to let it sit overnight), be sure you let it sit long enough that the solution fully does its thing and becomes inert. You can also try different types of solutions to see if they help.

Have you tried antihistamine eyedrops? Be sure to get ones that are contact lens safe and put them in maybe an hour before your lenses. These will help with your eyes overreacting and getting irritated. You can also try using contact safe rewetting drops (NOT ones with anti-redness ingredients) once the lenses are in to see if that helps. The antihistamine drops are relatively inexpensive and might be your biggest help.

Also make sure you're putting them in correctly, that is, not inside out, and with clean fingers.

Make sure the lenses are from a reputable source, as well, and not sketchy AliExpress lenses or something.

Your eyes might just simply be too sensitive for lenses, and absolutely ask an eye doctor about it and if they have any advice. Colored lenses are also usually a bit thicker than clear lenses because they have to hold the pigment, so that might be part of the issue.

Absolutely don't take any major risks with your eyes and just go without if you don't think you can wear them safely.

I hope that helps! Good luck :]

[fabrickind]

Something I'm curious about.

To overexplain what I mean: If you didn't know the term "cosplay" until you were older, when you learned the term, did you then retroactively consider any previous costumes of pre-existing fictional characters to be "cosplays"? Such as dressing as a Disney Princess or Darth Vader in 3rd grade, etc. If you knew the term from a young age, same question applies.

Did you consider, or reconsider upon learning the term, dressing up as fictional characters (for Halloween, parties, etc.) as a child to be "cosplay"?

Yes, known about cosplay <5 years

Yes, known about cosplay 5-9 years

Yes, known about cosplay 10-14 years

Yes, known about cosplay 15-19 years

Yes, known about cosplay 20+ years

No, known about cosplay <5 years

No, known about cosplay 5-9 years

No, known about cosplay 10-14 years

No, known about cosplay 15-19 years

No, known about cosplay 20+ years

idk what cosplay is

Voting ended onMay 27

I wish I could get more granular and overlapping statistics, like "your age" and "how long you have actively considered yourself a cosplayer" because I have a feeling that would change the way the results are read a LOT. (I suppose also "how long you have been going to cons/cosplay events" and "if you parents are cosplayers" to catch outliers like my friend in roughly my age group whose mom wrote a still really good furry tutorial in the 80s LMAO) I actually went back and forth on "how long you've been cosplaying" and "how long you've known about cosplay" but I feel like the latter is more to the heart of what I'm asking?

Back in my day (lmao), pretty much no one would have considered that type of thing cosplay. I first learned the term circa 2002? and did my first cosplay in 2003 (at a con), but things are VERY different these days. I've noticed that at least in help spaces, it's much more common for parents to be asking about making or buying cosplays for their kids or helping their kids with Halloween cosplays, etc., and I'm curious about how the term has been used over the years.

Maybe I'll make a full survey that can capture all the nuance I want eventually LMAO for now? Tumblr poll.

[plow-and-propose]

what's this?! Leia made a deal with the Witch Princess and now she has legs?? 😂

happy Mermay but also HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY STORY OF SEASONS! 🎉

bonus: LEG

[thesaltyblobfish]

hey cosplay mutuals! Where do u guys find ur wigs? Im tryna make a cosplay and have never used wigs in one

[fabrickind]

Hello there!

First, check out my partner's Wig Seller Masterlist, though she hasn't updated it in a while and could probably add a lot of Amazon and Aliexpress brands that she likes.

Wig fit is such a personal thing that a brand that works for one person might be terrible on another (Arda gives me tension headaches, for example, but a lot of people swear by their fit), and what fiber you like is also personal and depends on what you are doing with it.

That said, if you're looking online for cheaper wigs, here's some tips (and me rambling about styling and wearing tips by the end lol):

Look for "rose net" instead of "button net." These terms will very likely not appear on the listing, as they are translations of Chinese terms and hardly anyone uses them in English (instead this just doesn't have a name :']), but the difference is in how the wefts are attached. Rose net will almost always be higher quality and more comfortable.

Rose net on left, with the individually spaced wefts with strips holding them, button net on right, with wefts sewn to a full mesh cap.

Look for measurements of the wig. They likely won't have full measurements, just circumference, but even that will help to know if it will be way too small or large.

LOOK FOR REVIEW PHOTOS. Even better if they aren't super filtered and show the inside of the wig as well. colors can be off, the fiber can be much shinier than you expected, it can be much thinner than expected and show the tracks, etc. Review photos will show you what product actually arrives.

Start with simple styling. You don't need a crimper unless you're doing styles that require one. You don't need to do a helmet wig. A flatiron or steamer (or both lol), some thinning shears and regular shears, and a comb will be your best tools. Look at tutorials, and not just the TikTok style "here's quick cuts of my process and not actually explaining what anything is" type of "tutorial." Look at older tutorials in addition to newer ones, since wig styling trends change, and something in an older tutorial might be the styling you actually need.

Another styling tip: wig hair is plastic. This is a material that, unlike real hair, holds style upon being *cooled* in a specific position. You can heat it all you want, but if you don't hold it in place until it's fully cooled, it won't hold the style. curlers, pins, clips, etc. will be your best friends there.

For wearing: get a wig cap. Stocking type that's closed on top vs fishnet type that's open on top is up to personal preference. Get something in beige or close to your skin tone rather than black so it's more versatile under different wigs, since a black one can show under a light-colored wig (they often throw in a free one with wigs, and sometimes these are black). If you have long hair, do French braids coiled around your head or pincurls. I swore by pincurls when I had hip length hair way back in the day, but basically you want something that will distribute the hair evenly around your head and also allow you to pin into it to help secure the wig.

Some people swear by wig grips (either velvet or silicone, though if you do silicone get the name brand Wig Fix, it really is that much better), some people hate them. YMMV.

Hope that helps! Good luck :]

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

I'm not a gatekeeper so yall. the best thrift stores are the ones that look bad. do not go to cool trendy thrift stores with hot alt twenty-something employees. (I mean you can if you want but enjoy paying $40 for a fuckass shirt.)

here's what you actually want in a thrift store:

in a rich town

run by a church

staffed exclusively by little old ladies

most of the clothes will be butt ugly. but they will also be 1) good quality and 2) cheap af. the 70 year olds running the shop think a thrifted shirt should be $3 and they are correct. everyone else shopping there is over the age of 45 so you won't have to throat punch any depop resellers over a cunty little top. you will get hyped up by old ladies and if you frequent the same shop they may start trying to set you up with their grandkids. everyone wins and who knows their grandkids might be hot.

[galileosballs]

Addition: in my many years of Seeking the Great Thrift Store, let me add some extra wisdom.

The best places for thrift shopping are small-medium sized cities (not towns, cities). Bonus points for a city that's seen some population decline in the last 40 years. You want a place where there are lots of wealthy homeowners who are dying, because it's their stuff you want to be buying. A small town thrift shop is going to be 80% sweatpants and t-shirts, a large city thrift shop is going to be curated within an inch of its life and cost a billion dollars. Think Rust Belt.

Small town thrift shops do tend to be quirky, but they're not reliable. I once found one that was dominated by the complete collection of the town's now-former pageant queen. I think it had been there for a while.

Avoid places with universities. The students are your competition.

I know this increases the degree of difficulty (it sure does for me) but the best places will be inaccessible to anyone without a car. The harder a place is to get to, the more likely it is to not be completely picked over.

The best time for thrift shopping is right at the end of a season. The stores will be trying to shift as much of their winter coats as they can before spring hits so they don't have to store them or toss them.

You can find a lot more at a thrift store than you might think. In my experience, the best categories are coats (because they tend to be old, well-made, and indestructable), glassware and cookware (the sort of stuff people get rid of while cleaning out a relative's house), plant pots (after people learn they don't actually like caring for plants), and picture frames (typically sold with terrible art already inside). Just be a little careful about moths or lead.

Always, always, always bring a tape measure

[ranchstoryblog]

Farm/Life Sim Survey

A good ol' friend from the now-defunct Ranch Story forums, ClassicTyler, asked me to share a little form asking about what makes people interested in life/farm sims for a project of theirs. It's just a little one-page thing, so give it a look if you have a moment.

Farm/Life Sim Fan Survey

Help us by answering some questions about the genre! Thank you for your time!

[truebluemeandyou]

Types of Sleeves Infographic from Enerie 

*3 images because Tumblr still cannot seem to host clear and sharp images of vertically long images.

Writers continue to reblog these infographics for their useful terminology. If you’ve missed any infographics, here they are:

Know Your Shoes Part 1 Lobster Claws anyone?

Know Your Shoes Part 2

Know You Heels

Fashion Pattern Vocabulary Part 1

Fashion Pattern Vocabulary Part 2

Know Your Check Fabrics

Know Your Animal Prints

Know Your Hosiery

Know Your Gloves

History of Hairstyles Part 1

History of Hairstyles Part 2

Know Your Braids

Know Your Scarves

Know Your Belts Part 1

Know Your Belts Part 2

Know Your Sleeve Lengths

Know Your jacket length

Know Your Skirt Lengths

Know Your Pant Lengths

Know Your Front and Back Yokes

Know Your Yokes and Hems

Know Your Pleats

Know Your Darts

Know Your Denim Pockets Part 1

Know Your Patch Pockets Part 2

Know Your Pockets Part 3

Know Your Sleeves

Know Your Bras

Know Your Collars

Know Your Hair Buns

Know Your Sunglasses Infographic

Know Your Necklines

Sleeves and Necklines

Know Your Hats

Know Your Collars and Cuffs

Know Your Necklines

Know Your Skirts

Know Your Nail Shapes and What’s Popular on Instagram

Know Your Eye Liners

Know Your Wedding Dresses

History of Swimwear

Know Your Vintage Sleeves here

Know Your Vintage Collars and Necklines

Know Your Zippers and Zipper Pulls

[ranchstoryblog]

A set of wallpapers for Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland that were part of the 10th Anniversary DVD. I wonder if more people vote for the StH protagonist over the HoLV one, maybe some time in the future the great sin of removing the ponytail will be rectified...

Bring back the ponytail!

Remember to use your daily poll vote today! You can vote once a day until April 6th!

Story of Seasons: www.bokumono.com/anniversary

Rune Factory: jp.runefactory.com/anniversary/

[hellohimawarihana]

Story of Seasons Grand Bazaar Petit Acrylic Stands.

[aludrakijurorin]

Chibis from Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, specifically from 牧場物語 Let's！風のグランドバザール 公式ガイドブック, edited to be transparent and uploaded to the Ranch Story wiki <3

This was a fun little project cause I finally learned how to remove that pesky white border when making images transparent, without removing any of the original art. It's not perfect since the lineart is colored, but it'll work.

Art by Igusa Matsuyama. I have absolutely adored their work since Harvest Moon 64, and they're such an inspiration to my own art ;w;

[cinnamon-snail]

[a-totally-reasonable-username]

@namelessennes

[20dollarlolita]

This is going to surprise no one, but people can put fake things on the internet.

If you're on the internet and you see some tiktok atelier or instagram influencer showcasing a super easy technique, but you just can't make it work right, it might not be you.

Are they demonstrating their "never clip a princess seam!" technique or their "magical 1-handed rolled hem using nothing but a cigarette and a ball point pen" strategy on muslin fabric?

Muslin is often used for demonstration and test garments and it's not inherently dishonest. It's very useful, because it's stable, doesn't fray a lot, doesn't shift, but will sharply hold a crease when ironed and will stay put if you iron it into a curve or on the diagonal. If someone's hemming a circle on muslin, they can press the turned up area, and a good muslin will stretch at the long edge and compress at the short edge, making a very smooth and flat seam that will just stay there. Not all fabric stretch, compress, or hold a crease.

Using muslin in a demonstration isn't cheating at all. The sewing world uses it in a lot of places for a lot of reasons. The way that it works when it's stretched or compressed or ironed is part of why we do use it. But if you see someone showcasing a super amazing technique on a piece of muslin, and then you can't make it work, it's not you. It might be that they showed a technique that doesn't work on all fabrics, and your fabric isn't one of the ones it works on. People don't disclose this in short-form videos because there's not enough time and people don't go viral by giving the viewer all the information that they need.

Anyway, it's all a conspiracy, don't trust anyone, drink some water, don't hunch your back over your work, and don't blame yourself when something looked way easier on Social Media Application Tick Tock than it does in front of your sewing machine on your kitchen table.