I'm pretty heavy into cosplay myself (I'm going to A-Kon this year as Lucca from Chrono Trigger) and lemme tell you - the VERY VERY best cosplay (most of them by Yaya, who I've met and is a great person too) is the stuff that people make by themselves. Sometimes you can tell when people order the costume ready made for like $300, but it's REALLY insane when you see the people who studied the costume, created a pattern, bought the materials, put it together, attached all the accessories, most of them handmade, and did all the embroidery and stuff themselves. That, my friends, is why I love cosplay. There are people who make a living off selling their costumes and patterns.