Thanks for this post! You've got some nice costume designs in there that I'm sure will spark new ideas for folks, I know it did with me.
I've been trying to work a new costume out for my Peacebringer that had an old classic superhero look. I wanted the design to incorporat the over the shoulder cape and some type of chest design that gave the appearance of the cape color coming down the chest. One of your paragraphs there will help finalize that design. Thanks!
Well make sure you click the link at the bottom. I have more costumes uploaded than I have linked in the post. The link at the bottom where it says "check out" takes you to the photobucket folder where they're at.
Pretty cool, some of those costumes looked awesome, others not so much 
. Overall a great guide, you gave me a few ideas.
Woah.. NICE!! i love the creative ways you made costumes look so unique... But one question.. How did you get vanguard costume pieces?? Vet reward? Or i just cant find it. Whats it under?
I give this a 10 out of 10 on the coolometer
and a 10 out of 10 on the creativitymeterr
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
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--Johnny Depp
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Don't tell the others, but I usually cringe at the style suggestions most players make because they say things like "use contrasting colors!" without realizing the many, many ways that that statement is just wrong.
However, you've got a great eye and good handle on theory of design.
Five stars.
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Woah.. NICE!! i love the creative ways you made costumes look so unique... But one question.. How did you get vanguard costume pieces?? Vet reward? Or i just cant find it. Whats it under?
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Vanguard pieces can only be earned through merits. But you can't start earning them until you hit 35 (which is when you can enter the zone).
P.S. Thanks for the kind responses guys 
you made my day.
Very interesting & inspiring guide.
It not only gave me new ideas but also pointed out to me some of my own costume design flaws or limitations.
Hey if you guys can, I'd like to see some of the costumes you've come up with if this thread gave you any ideas. I'm always looking for inspiration as well.
dude i love ur way of making costumes its amazing just one Q how do u get the glow eyes and the fire eyes
nice guide soulie. i like the point made over focal points. 
Kittens give Morbo gas.
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dude i love ur way of making costumes its amazing just one Q how do u get the glow eyes and the fire eyes
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When you hit level 30, you can do a mission to unlock auras at Icon. I think you get it from the same person that gives you your cape mission. Hope that helps.
@Ixion
Villains:
~Infinity~
Ixion - FM/FA Brute lvl 50
Scaver - Rad/Rad Corr lvl 36
Mr. Wink - DP/Devices Corr lvl 34
Heroes:
~Champion~
Penthus - Kat/Regen Scrap lvl 50
~Freedom~
Omega-Sentry -SS/Inv Tank lvl 37
Chloro-Phil - Spines/Regen Scrap lvl 21
I like it. Good info that I can use.
Badging in a PvP zone?
If you are treasure hunting on a battlefield wearing an enemy uniform, there is a high probability that you will be attacked.
This is an enjoy-the-ride game. "50" is only a number, not the goal of the game. - Noxilicious
That's some good tips. I disagree on using more than 3 colors. 2 should be considered the standard, 3 only with the third color used very sparingly, and using more than 3 colors only in very special circumstances where the creator knows exactly what he's doing.
I also notice your "bored" example breaks your "no bleed" rule. I hate bleeding colors too. Looking at Ms. Liberty makes me shake my head.
However all your other tips are just great. The costumes you used as examples are very, very well done and you obviously have a very good eye.
Costume creation in this game is a mini-game unto itself. Now if only I had a dollar for every obviously-color-blind person I encounter in the game, I could retire in comfort. 
The best comics are still 10�!
My City of Heroes Blog Freedom Feature Article: "Going Rageless?"
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WARNING: I bold names.
Alright, I got a PM requesting some Female costume Ideas. I don't really play female characters and when I do, they always somehow end up half naked.
Being straight probably limits me to that, lol, but here's a female only gimmick that I've discovered so far. Most of you probably already know this by now, but if you cover up the top of half of a bikini with a belt, it looks like they lines connect underneath. Your imagination connects the lines for you.
Pretty neat? This one could have potential too.
I'll post more gimmicks as I find them again. Some I haven't used in a long time, but they'll come back to me.
In the meantime, enjoy.
fun with full masks.
Same technique I used for this costume. I liked the results. Never thought I would.
The eye masks lines can match up with the head details pretty well by matching the base color.
used it on this one too.
Love it or hate it, I still think it's worth mentioning.
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That's some good tips. I disagree on using more than 3 colors. 2 should be considered the standard, 3 only with the third color used very sparingly, and using more than 3 colors only in very special circumstances where the creator knows exactly what he's doing.
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Well, I disagree with that. And see, that's what I mean about other guides that give those simple rules: "Use contrasting colors." "Don't use more than two colors."
Those rules sound like they will provide a safe path that will keep people from making horrible costumes, but they don't. Because players will use those rules and create a costume with two *clashing* colors (contrasting colors of equal hue and saturation clash) that's an eyesore.
So, rules of using one, two, three, or four or more colors is really a useless rule unless you talk about *how* to make one, two, three, four or more colors work together.
Soulie described how to add extra colors as accents or neutrals to buffer contrasting colors, which are excellent design tips.
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Great guide
Great ideas, coupled with great explanation on how to use the same techniques on our own costumes *****
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Friends don't let friends use the "Random" button.
That's the purpose of this thread
To give people some ideas, who have no creative ability whatsoever.
What I'm also saying, is people are welcome to copy my costumes. I used to get bent outa shape when I'd see someone appear in Atlas, where I'd been standing, with a replica of my character. Now it's more of a form of flattery to me.
Took me 3 years.. but you know... people change
Today I'll be living out Auto Assault's last hours until midnight tonight. R.I.P Auto Assault http://www.gamingfascist.com/aa-rip.divx
But tomorrow, I'll go back to digging into the costume creator, finding more gimmicks and styles I haven't listed yet.
Cool, nice guide
I gave it some thought and applied some of your rules to my own characters. I especially remade one villain costume.
While the Heroes are far more forgivable on flashy costumes, villains are not. Keeping that sense of darkness/villainous with the right colors is difficult.
Why do Villains need dark, somber colors? just a facial expression or a tweak can turn a 'hero looking' costume into a 'villain looking' costume with no problems.
Look at classic flashy supervillains.
Loki, Boom-Boom, The white queen, the green goblin, Bizzaro, mysterio (1st costume) the shocker, Firefly, Pyro, The Blob, and just about any villain from spider-man, batman, the green lantern, or superman before 1980.
often there's nothing to set them apart from heroic (and rather stupid or color blind heroes at that) costumes.... and if there is something, it's often a single item like a skull on the belt or a creepy face...or even a facial expression.
Heck, look at the Carnies, the goldbrickers, or the sky raiders. Villains to the core garbed in bright, recognizeable colors.
I get so SICK of hanging out in the rogue isles and seeing yet ANOTHER dead-black garbed stalker, yet another all-red demonic brute, or another in a long line of steel-clad robotic masterminds. Hmm... I wonder how many gun corrupters wear a black or dark brown trenchcoat and fedora? (most of them)
I will go ahead and take some screenshots of costumes when the servers come back up of how to make bright, enticing villain outfits. The primary ways to make the costumes look 'villainous' without retreating into black or almost-black hues is to do almost exactly opposite of what the thread Originator suggested for most hero costumes. Garish and clashing colors look evil. So do non-symmetrical outfits, nasty facial expressions, and strange glows. Use blacks sparingly, but you can also (if you are careful) use them to make areas look shadowed or unpleasant.
I've got some pics of Dread in my siggie (you'll have to traverse the virtueVerse to get there though :P). Other than that, my 50, is your standard golden-age-hero. However, i only use two colours, perhaps i will try using more.
Anyways, great guide, great costumes.
hehe, nice guide, soulie... and again... sorry about Auto Assault.
Pretty much all my costumes are built around symmetry, which is a weakness of mine. It's hard for me to make a somewhat abstract costume and actually keep it. But if you like symmetry, costumes that flow and contrast, I have some ideas you can all copy.
Now aside from symmetry, I'm a very unorganized person, so I'm just going to list my ideas and schemes in bullet points.
Soulie's mental limits of making a costume. (some of you may not like my style, but I hope you like my observations anyhow).
These are methods I use to create unique costumes.
- Use 3 or more colors. They don't have to be balanced. Subtlety is best in my opinion. Even if the third color is just black, white or gray, I must end up with at least 3 colors.
- Contrast and complimentary colors. When making your color scheme, make sure your colors look good next to each other and as a whole. This costume uses about 5 colors. Red and Blue are good contrasting colors and dark gold seems to match up as well.
- Focal points. Sometimes it's good to only have 1 point on your costume that has a lot of contrast, making it stand out. This costume's focal point is obviously it's visor. Your costume could also have more than one focal point like here . The blue and red areas are separated by white, which almost divides the focal points into 4 areas.
- Symmetry in colors. Personally, I don't like to see colors bleed into each other, so I separate them with a contrasting color. Take this costume for example. Notice that I have gold keeping the dark orange away from the blue and white. It's a very simple design, yet flows well when you look at it.
Here's another example.
And now on to the random stuff.
- Themes are good, whether you like pointy , schoolgirls , outlaws , military , bugs , or uhhh... you're just bored.
- Here's my try at being Asymmetrical and Abstract.
Minor Tips and Gimmicks
- Some stripe patterns blend with textures
- Some things can look like they fit if you cover them up with say... an earpiece
- Overlapping. This celtic chest detail can be used to overlap the chest pattern to make it look unique. I used the dark parts and patterns on this costume to make a giant X on his torso.
- I always enjoy when new costume pieces come out, because theres a chance they look great mixed with other parts. here's a good example. The vanguard visor works great with the samurai mandible. The glowing eye aura really gives it an attitude as well. Glowing eyes also look good with this visor. Gotta love the things you can do with Vanguard hats.
- The Cover Up. Can't get the colors to match up on your boots and gloves ? You can try making them folded and the color matches just fine.
You're all welcome to check out all my costume ideas I have uploaded. Feel free to steal and copy anything you see here.