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Mei is one of my favorite Overwatch cosplay since it is so recognizable. Everyone who is vaguely aware of the franchise is going to recognize this video game cosplay outfit. If you have cosplayed before, you know how satisfying it is if someone knows right away who you are supposed to be.
Mei is known for her awesome personality, strong-willed character, her kind heart, and she is also known for her awesome blaster. This blaster is also one of the essential parts of a Mei cosplay, as you might have guessed.
In this Mei Cosplay Ideas guide, I am going to tell you all there is to know about her, allowing you to create a great cosplay. I am going to start off by discussing who she is and what her background is. I am going to talk a bit about her personality because I think that is a very important aspect of doing good cosplay.
I am also going to discuss her look in-depth and then talk about what you need to look like her. I will discuss the accessories and tell you what I think about making them yourself. I am also going to talk a bit about why you should – or should not – get a premade costume. At the end of the article, I am going to answer some of the most asked questions about this Overwatch character.
Who is Mei: Personality and Background
I always like to take a look at whom the character is before I discuss how you can dress up like him or her. Mei has a cool personality, and she is known for a couple of quirks she has. One is being apologetic whenever she defeats an enemy.
I think that it is necessary to have some insight into the character to do the perfect cosplay. You should learn some catchphrases and understand how the character acts in certain situations to have an amazing cosplay.
Background
Mei – or Mei-Ling Zhou – is an overwatch character that is mainly known for her skills with the blaster. However, not a lot of people know about her background. She was a member of the Ecopoint initiative, which was founded by Overwatch. As a scientist, she often did ecological studies in Asia with the Overwatch technology. Mei and her team had a Special mission and were assigned to Antarctica.
One day when they were carrying out their operations, a disastrous storm damaged the facility where they worked. Unfortunately, they were stranded without any connection to the world. When their resources were about to run out, they had no choice but to go into a cryostasis state and wait for their rescue.
After nine years of being in this state, no help had come. Mei woke up and realized that she was the only one on her team that survived the whole ordeal. Not just that, Overwatch had also dissolved in the meantime. Mei, stranded and alone, was feeling at the end of her rope. However, when Winston announced to recreate Overwatch, this gave her hope and motivation to start again in the Overwatch organization.
Now she travels the world alone with her blaster in hand, examining Eco-watchpoints that have been abandoned.
Personality
Mei can be described as a very kindhearted girl who always looks at the positive side of things. She has a lot of compassion for others and hates bullies. She will always try and come to the aid of those who need it.
Mei has one major goal in life; she wants to preserve the earth and all living things that are part of it for the generations to come. Thanks to her scientific background, she is great at analytics and is a very curious person.
Her kindhearted nature also causes her to feel guilty when she defeats an enemy. She often says sorry! Whenever she defeats one.
What You Need If You Want To Cosplay As Mei From Overwatch
If you are already familiar with Mei in Overwatch, you know that she has two distinct looks. I am going to discuss her classic white winter jacket look and her honeydew skin. I do think the classic skin (the winter jacket) is the best pick for this cosplay, as it is the most recognizable of the two.
Option 1: Classic Mei look
This is her most iconic look; she wears a white winter jacket with a fur hood. The winter jacket is light blue and white. She also wears blue gloves with some decoration that resembles a heart. To finish it off, she has dark blue pants and gray winter boots with a fur finish. You can not make this outfit yourself unless you are a very experienced tailor.
You will probably need to buy this part of the costume. This is a high-quality costume that is surely going to last long if you take good care of it. Thanks to Mei being so popular, the accuracy of a costume like this is very high.
Option 2: Her alternative look
It is not worn as often, but it looks pretty cool, in my opinion. Here Mei has her hair styled in a ponytail. She also has a green tie with an orange ribbon to keep it all together. She has her black round glasses and a green blouse with a yellow color and white frills. This outfit also has white gloves.
Apart from that, she also wears a yellow apron and white socks with orange polka dots. This outfit is even harder to make if you want to do it yourself. I would recommend you pick the classic Mei to look at if you are going to cosplay her. The reason for that is that the look with the winter jacket is just more well-known.
Shin-length boots
May wears brown winter boots that are finished with a line of fur. You can use regular winter boots for these if you have them. You can also buy a Mei-specific pair of boots. I do not think it is worth it to try and make these yourself. The time and effort spent on doing this are going to be very disproportional to the result.
Short black wig
If you like cosplaying, I would advise you to invest in one short hair wig and one long hair wig. These should be of good enough quality that you can dye the hair without ruining the wig. The reason for this is simple. If you are cosplaying a lot, you will notice a lot of crazy hairstyles.
Always buying a cheap new wig is going to be more expensive in the long run. The best color wig to get – in my opinion, at least – is black. A lot more cosplays have black hair. It is also better suited for being dyed by hair dye.
Fake glasses
Well, they do not have to be fake, of course. If you already have a similar pair of real glasses, you can easily use that too. These are very cheap to get since there are no expensive lenses in them. You should get a large pair that seem pretty nerdy. Mei is quite a nerdy scientist, after all.
Endothermic Blaster
Mei her gun is the most recognizable part of this entire costume. Getting it right is important. Unless you have a very high-quality industrial-grade 3D printer, you are not going to be able to make this at home. I would not skimp out on this if you are planning on doing more Mei cosplays. Here Endothermic blaster is a very fun item to bring when you are cosplaying, so you make sure you get a nice-looking one that is as much like the original as possible.
Mei cosplaying tip
This is a great winter cosplay, but it is not suited for a summer cosplay at all! You will have a horrible time if you are wearing this costume in the summer or a non-ventilated room. So make sure you check the temperature of the day when you are planning on cosplaying as Mei.
Her outfit is pretty similar to that of an Eskimo and is as warm as one too. She was stationed at a base in Antarctica, so you are going to be way too hot when you wear this in the summer.
The Mei overwatch cosplay costume – pros and cons of getting it premade
Pros of getting a premade Mei costume
- Easy: This costume is very detailed and uses a lot of fabric and fillings. Making this yourself is going to be close to impossible unless you have a lot of professional equipment at home. While you might be able to make some of her clothing yourself, it is going to be near impossible to make her blaster from scratch. If you do want to do this, you will need an industrial-grade 3D printer.
- Much cheaper: If you have ever bought the raw materials for your cosplay yourself, you surely have noticed it. DIY is expensive, much more than buying premade. Since you are buying small quantities of fabric, the price you are paying per square meter is high. Very popular costumes – like Mei her costume – are made at scale. So this means the supplier can drive down the price quite a lot.
- More accurate: Producers of cosplay costumes try their hardest to make the costumes as accurate as possible. A costume that isn’t accurate isn’t going to sell very well since cosplayers are not going to buy a costume of their favorite character if they are not similar to what he or she is wearing.
Cons of getting a premade Mei costume
- Not perfectly fitted: A problem with buying premade is that it might not be perfectly fitted to your body. You might be able to fix this if you have some sewing skills yourself. That way, you can make the costume more suitable for your body and make it fit better.
- Not unique: Often, the costume you have bought has been bought by many other cosplayers. That means the odds are pretty big that you are going to run into a lot of people that have the same costume if you go to an overwatch cosplaying convention. Of course, nobody is stopping you from adding little details and accessories yourself to the costume to make sure you do have some unique parts no one else has!
- Less connection to the character: If you make a costume as the one Mei wears, you are going to think about cosplaying her for hours on end when making it. If you buy a premade costume, it often feels a lot less satisfactory than wearing one you have made yourself from scratch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Do I need a blaster like Mei?
Answer: You do not need it, but it is going to help a lot. It is one of the most recognizable (and most awesome) parts of the costume. So bringing a blaster is a great idea, and it will make your cosplay a lot cooler. I recommend you buy a premade one.
Question: Is Mei a child or an adult?
Answer: Mei is – depending on the timeline you are using – 31 or 40 years old. So she is an adult. However, she can easily be played by younger people, too, due to her youthful looks. That is the great thing about cosplay; there are no real rules!
Question: When should I not do a Mei cosplay?
Answer: I would strongly advise you not to do a Mei cosplay in the summer or on a hot day. She is dressed to do science in Antarctica. The cosplay is thus extremely warm and will surely make you sweat a lot if you are doing this on a hot day. You should also make sure that the place where you are cosplaying is not too crowded and well ventilated. That way, you are not going to overheat.
Final thoughts about cosplaying as Mei from Overwatch
Cosplaying Overwatch characters can be a lot of fun; however if you want people to recognize who you are cosplaying as you should get yourself a costume that has some unique aspects to it.
Mei is a very good choice in that regard. Her classic skin is very recognizable, and the cool blaster she has is a great accessory to make sure people know who you are cosplaying as.
You do not need a lot of items to make this costume work; however, making them yourself is going to be close to impossible. The costume is a lot more complex than one might think at first glance. So I would recommend you buy a good quality premade one.
Have we missed something, or do you have a great tip for people who are planning to do a Mei cosplay? Let us know in the comments!