Book Review: EVA Foam by Beverly Downen

 

The full title of this book is Cosplayer's Ultimate Guide to EVA Foam: Design Pattern Create: Level Up Your Costumes & Props by award-winning cosplayer Beverly Downen. As an educator who must work with a campus bookstore for course materials/texts, it's exciting that FanPowered Press, an imprint of C&T Publishing, is bringing out such high-quality titles from cosplayers through a traditional publishing avenue! (I reviewed a prior title of theirs on gloves/gauntlets/bracers here.) 

My perspective as a reviewer of this book is that of a professional costumer for entertainment--theatre, film, ballet, opera, and other performances. As such, I've kept informed in general of innovations that come out of the cosplay community [1]. Cosplayers have more control over the choice of projects they pursue and the timeline in which to finish them; entertainment costumers like myself often have minimal influence over the projects on which we work and even less control over the timeline to completion. 

In part because of this, innovation with newer materials and technologies comes more quickly from cosplay costumers. And I'm particularly appreciative of how forthcoming cosplayers are about the methods and techniques they develop, how generous they are with their expertise, and how dedicated they are about documenting their work. Cosplay is a different context and purpose for the costumes created, so it's helpful to keep that in mind when reading references written for a cosplayer readership.

It's also useful when reading this book to consider that its author is not only a renowned cosplayer, but also boasts a degree in industrial design. An industrial designer and a theatrical costume designer are related in that both are design specialties, but having worked as a fabricator for both, IME a costume designer can be more devoted to aesthetic whim than technical specifications. I'm getting pretty far into the weeds here though, so back to this fantastic book and why it belongs in the libraries of entertainment costume and propbuilding studios.

The book is packed with valuable information, and the author starts with the basics--how foam differs from fabric, and why a maker of foam costume pieces will likely need a body form as well as how to make one. Downer covers the materials, tools, and adhesives needed and how to safely use them. She also discusses topics like patternmaking for foam structures and how to create seamless joins and dimensional decor elements. She also reveals "hacks" for how film armor pieces disguise the closures and supports that allow actors (and cosplayers) to get in and out of EVA foam armor.

Examples of surface textures and finishes are shown, and charts on the properties of various media/products are found throughout the text, from comparisons of adhsives to primers to thermoplastics and much more. The section providing an overview of hardware types and uses in a costume armor context is fantastic, comprehensive, concise, and well-illustrated. In fact, full-color photographs clearly illustrate the materials, media, and processes described throughout.

At 240 pages, this is no thin pamphlet either--it's almost exhaustively thorough. I will definitely use this book as a reference in my class this spring semester! Highly, highly recommend.

[1] ...which overlaps with performance costume making--there are many artists active across both spheres...