[Sponsored] Cosgeeker review: Musical Alexander Hamilton red uniform cosplay costume!

 Hello people of all genders!

 

I'm back with another online costume store review to share with y'all! :D This time I got contacted by a spokesperson from Cosgeeker, a newcomer in the cosplay market that is also a sister store to the much more known Cosplayflying, which means that Cosgeeker is a safe and scam-free shop as the people behind the company are already established and with years of experience under their belt. So I was offered a sponsorship opportunity and I of course agreed, as I've said before I love spreading awareness of reliable online stores for all kinds of costuming needs.

It took me a while to decide what costume I wanted to review but I eventually came to the conclusion that I could use the red uniform costume of Alexander Hamilton (from the popular Hamilton musical) to cosplay America from Hetalia, more specifically the Revolutionary War outfit as that's what the red uniform is portraying. For those not in the know Hetalia is a long-running, history-based comedy anime series about the relations between the world's countries and each country is represented by a human character. I am not personally familiar with the Hamilton musical (I'm from northern Europe, don't blame me xD) although I've understood it tells the story of Hamilton, who was one of America's "founding fathers".

My reviews are always 100% my genuine opinion, no matter if the items were sponsored or bought with my own money. I never compromise my honesty and true thoughts to my readers. 

What's coming down below is a complete, super detailed and brutally honest review of Cosgeeker! If you, just like me, don't trust those bloggers and influencers who do 5/5 ratings on everything they review then I'm your guy cuz I won't shy from even admitting the not-so-pretty things. So yeah, I hope you will find this post helpful and feel free to leave a comment at the end if you have any questions after you're done reading.

  Now let's do this!

 

~ "Forewords" ~ 

I'd like to mention that I have experience from approximately a year and a half of professional sewing and fashion studies. I'm also a perfectionist by nature and possess "eagle eyes" when I browse cosplay shops online, meaning that I do look at even the smallest details and try to figure out how accurate it is to the character or outfit in question. I do admit though, that in this particular case, that I'm not very knowledgeable about what is essentially modelled after a historical military uniform. I am not in my field of expertise here, alhtough I am interested in history as a whole, including historical re-enacting, live-action roleplaying and such. 

But the thing to note in this kind of cases when you're looking for accuracy is to also keep your expectations realistic compared to the price level – you can't possibly get something that's 100% accurate, well-made and with high-end quality fabrics for cheap. "You get what you pay for" will always be a golden rule to keep in mind. Keep your expectations realistic. :)

 

 

  ~ Packaging and shipping ~

Based on the email exchange dates I had with the contact person I know the package was shipped somewhere around 9th January with Yun Express and arrived on 18th January in Sweden, which is fast considering it came all the way from China! It should be noted here though that this was express shipping. Normal shipping usually takes anywhere between 1-3 months from China on average, possibly longer with the current corona virus situation. I don't know how long it took to produce the costume but I was told that it's generally within 7-15 working days and that seems reasonable considering the time stamps on my emails.

Costume package when it arrived.

 

This is what the package looked like straight out of the mailbox. Yes, it fit in my box so I did not have to go pick it up from the nearest postal office, which is always nice. As you can see it's basically just a plastic bag, it's lightweight and lacks any kind of protection but as the costume is only fabric it's sufficient and quite safe. The odds of fabric goods getting damaged in transit are rare. There were no visible signs of damage either and that's great!

 

I opened the bag and pulled the contents out. I've come to expect a ziplock bag that the costume pieces are in but this time there was none. Three out of four pieces were naked in the bag but the uniform jacket, the nicest piece, was in its own plastic bag for protection. It would in my opinion have been excessive if the other pieces had been individually wrapped too but like this it's nice as it saves some potential plastic waste.

 

All costume parts straight out of the bag, laid out.

 

~ Costume thoughts, fabrics and sewing quality ~

First off, checking the costume page over at Cosgeeker states only that the cosplay is made out of "uniform cloth". This wouldn't tell your average person much at all but, as I've done my research and been in this hobby for years, I can safely say that this mysterious uniform cloth appears to be an umbrella term that especially Asia-based costume stores use liberally to refer to the most commonly used costume fabrics: polyester and polycotton (aka polyester and cotton blend). This should come as no surprise as synthetic fabrics are so easily available and less expensive than natural fabrics.

I scrunched up some fabric to show what it's like.

 

In the case of my received costume it rings true that the label of uniform cloth is, once again, the typical polyester or polycotton I've come to expect from online costume stores. It's always the same no matter where you buy from – it's the standardized fabric, basically. It's not a bad fabric by any means and it definitely is good enough for a majority of all potential customers (save for those looking for screen-accurate movie costumes), even more so considering the price you pay for a full costume online, which is very affordable and frankly cheap – especially if you know what it would cost you to commission the same costume from a professional seamstress/tailor. Spoiler alert: the price would be up in the hundreds for even a simple costume!

 

I want to mention that sewing quality is generally nice and clean, straight seams and so on. There are loose threads here and there but that's normal and you can just cut them off with scissors if you see any. There is no strong chemical smells or anything, just the usual new costume smell that is quite pleasant. All visible seams are serged and hemmed properly. But there's a caveat, and even though I've run into this phenomenon with other cosplay shops too, it still baffles me why anyone would cut corners like this. What I mean is that if your cosplay is lined or has otherwise hidden or non-visible edges you will notice (assuming you are an observant person) that any hidden fabric edges are left completely raw. No serging, no zigzag or other treatments to keep it from fraying. None. Nada. 

It takes so little effort to seal the edges that it's mindboggling to me, as someone who sews, why anyone would skip this phase. The only motivation or gains seem to be to either save a miniscule amount of time, laziness, carelessness or assuming the customer is dumb enough to not notice and, trust me, it's easy to notice on basically any fabric color that isn't black because it either shines through enough to show up (especially if there's a light-colored lining) or you can hold the hidden edge (you can figure out where it is by simple logical thinking and/or having a basic understanding of clothing construction) towards a light source and see the fraying edges beneath.

 

Raw, untreated edges hidden underneath the lining.

 

I'm not angry about it, I've seen it before and almost come to expect it as a norm of practice. It just makes me sad, or maybe I should say disappointed, because everything visible is sewn so nicely and then there's that monster under the bed hoping to go undetected. I want to stress that this is NOT only a thing that Cosgeeker does but likely every other online store as well; I literally have a costume from Cosplaysky, likely the most well-known of this kind of stores and it has the raw, "hidden" edges as well. 

There's some points of comfort and meager justification to be had here though – even if some edges are untreated they are the ones covered by some other fabric/piece, meaning they can't usually unravel that easily on their own. At least not by the amount of wear that a costume usually is exposed to during its average lifespan. It will eventually start fraying up more though (especially if you wear it a lot, wash it frequently, strain it in harsh conditions etc) but most people don't wear a single costume so many times that the potential unraveling would become a problem that needs to be corrected. So if you plan to use the costume anywhere between like 3-10 times and maybe wash it once or twice it should be fine. And if you plan to use it more than that, or you feel paranoid, you can just undo the seam of whatever is hiding the raw edges, treat the edges yourself and then sew it back up. This is honestly not a dealbreaker, it's just me being picky.

 

Sewing quality. Sleeve cuff turned inside out.

 

So I was told custom sizing was not available for my chosen costume, which made me nervous as I do not fit into standard sizes and, as a person who has never even been remotely close to having an "ideal body", it's a topic of anguish lol. My contact person insisted S would be okay for me at first but I had to firmly say that I never wear S, not even on casual day-to-day clothes. I wear M or more commonly L, even on loose-fitting t-shirts because I happen to be chubby and, quite frankly, qualify for plus size territory. For reals. In particular I usually have a lot of trouble with pants and button-up shirts not fitting.

Once I got my costume I tried everything on and, much to my relief, everything fits nicely. Except the pants were leagues too big! I was so surprised because the pants are usually exactly the costume piece that will often be either so small I can't wear it or wearable but tight and uncomfortable. But these pants were, no joke, so huge I literally couldn't take a step without them falling to the floor in a second! I couldn't even use a belt as there was so much excess fabric at the waist that it just didn't work to cinch it in. 

But here's the thing, I was prepared for this. It's always better to have a size too big than a size too small, as a big one you can modify smaller easily but a too small one is much harder to salvage. And yes, that's totally why I was so adamant about wanting an L size to have that additional safety, just in case some funny shit happens.
Moral of the story: if you are unsure of what size to get then always take the bigger one.

Pants in their original size, before modifications.
An absolute unit.

 

It's a miracle I managed to keep the pants staying up, on their own, for that one second it took to snap the very unflattering photo above. :D The elastic on each side makes the pants balloon out at the sides, making my hips look huge lol (and yes, that blue shirt is very oversized). 

I had to take in the waist by 12 centimeters and each leg by 12 centimeters as well as I wanted the fit to be closer to how the pants fit on the images of soldiers back then, while still allowing bagginess, ease of movement and comfort. The pants have a dress zipper in the front that is inserted in a way so that it's not visible from the front, aside from the part you pull on. There's some elastics on each side to allow for more leeway when it comes to fit and there's a sizable pocket on each side. At the end of each pant leg is a strip with five metallic buttons per side. These are real buttons with buttonholes, not fake buttons. It gives a nice structure and I'm impressed because they could just as well have gone the easy route and do fake, decorative buttons. I also like how the buttons are metallic and not plastic, makes them look more valuable. You can open up all buttons so that the strip opens up, should the need arise.

There's belt loops and the pants are off-white in color, like a cream color. This is me nitpicking but I feel like the pockets of the pants could be a bit smaller, yeah pockets are super good and you're probably thinking "why would anyone ever complain about big pockets", right? Well, the pocket pouches are very visible (they have a square cut, not rounded like you usually see) through the fabric and it bothers me. Thankfully you can remedy it somewhat by wearing white stockings/leggings underneath, which helps quite a bunch. I totally did.

 

The vest is also an off-white, creamish color. It's lined on the inside and has the same metallic buttons to match with the pants. It has a tiny, stand-up collar and fake pockets, meaning that there's only the pocket flap to imitate the look of a pocket being there. It's a roomy and comfortable boxy fit, I had no problems closing all the buttons, which is a huuuuuge relief! When I say "boxy fit" I mean that it's cut very simply, there's no darts anywhere – for those clueless about sewing lingo that means that it's not form-fitting at all but more like how a t-shirt would fit.

Shirt and vest combo on a hangar, front view.

Shirt and vest combo on a hangar, back view.

 

The shirt is made of this lightweight, airy white fabric. It's not see-through. It has a scrunchy stand-up collar that is buttoned in the back with two buttons that are treaded through an elastic loop, on the opposite side, to secure them. There's an attempt at a "neck ruffle"  in the front just below the collar, basically a piece of fabric ruffled and sewn in place at the collar seam. To wear the shirt you pull it over your head as there's no buttons in front. Length is down to my mid thighs so I tuck the rest under the pants. The sleeves are super baggy (as in really wide and flowy) and the fabric is gathered at the cuffs. The sleeve openings are ruffled and flare out, edges are serged and not folded. Gives some structure so it's pretty cool. I should note that this shirt does a good job at mimicking an old style shirt and could easily be used for a pirate shirt (just make it more gritty and worn) or anything of a similar time period!

Sleeve cuff view. Photo by Sacchan.

 

And last I want to talk a bit about the crown piece of this costume, the red uniform jacket. It's made of the same synthetic fabric like the other pieces (the shirt has a different fabric feel though) which is kind of a light- to medium weight polyester or polycotton, I can't say for sure which one it is as they can feel very similar depending on quality and procedure. A burn test could maybe tell but it didn't cross my mind when I had scrap fabric from the pants and now it's too late to try, d'oh! x) The jacket is fully lined with a white lining, which gives it some weight and structure. It would feel too floppy without, if that makes sense. 

The main body color is a dark blue and the collar and lapels are a vivid red, making a very eye-catching and appealing contrast! There's a slight matte sheen to all fabrics except the shirt. All buttons are metallic and same in style as on the pant legs and the vest, except bigger in diameter. The buttons on the lapels are only attached to the red lapel itself, meaning it's essentially fake buttons, or decorative buttons. There are visible buttonholes though but they aren't open. Only the buttons on each edge of the collar are real and can be removed. Cuff buttons are also purely decorational. Pockets are fake just like on the vest, there's just a flap to imitate a pocket and the three buttons below are decorational as well. There's no interfacing on the collars, lapels and cuffs but they still feel decently rigid as-is and keep their shape.

There's a long slit running down the middle back of the jacket, it moves and flares nicely when you walk and even blows in the wind, which is delightful when you're trying to get dynamic photos! I gotta admit I feel important when I wear this. xD

What is included:

• Shirt

• Vest

• Pants
• Uniform jacket

What is NOT included:

• Wig
• Stockings
• Shoes

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Detail photos ahead!

All photos taken by Sacchan.

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Collars close-up. Yes that's accidental makeup smudge on the tips. It was pristine.

Close-up of frontside, basically buttons galore.

Showing the collar's closure system. That's Sacchan's fingers. xD

Vest fake pockets, aka pocket flap only.

Back of the jacket has a deep slit down the middle.

Jacket sleeve details.

Button details of the pants. (after modification)

Uniform jacket lining. Red marks are button fastenings.

 

This cosplay is about 80% accurate to the stock photos on the site, which is solid. I can only speak for this particular costume from Cosgeeker. The differences are that stock photos of the vest show darts in the front and back (my received vest has no darts) and the shirt sleeves look different. On stock photos of the red uniform the sleeves look narrower and appear to have an ordinary dress shirt cuff with no ruffles at all.  I honestly much prefer the shirt version I got, flamboyant dandy ruffles ftw!

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Full cosplay photos below!

Photos taken by Sacchan.
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Front view.

Side view.

Back view.

Want to get your own Hamilton (or Hetalia Revolutionary War America) cosplay? Check links below!

Link to Cosgeeker main page: Cosgeeker Online Cosplay Store

Costume link: Cosgeeker Alexander Hamilton Red Uniform Cosplay Costume

White costume version: Cosgeeker Alexander Hamilton Uniform Cosplay Costume

BONUS: USE DISCOUNT CODE CGSS129 TO GET 12% OFF~ 

 

 

Cosgeeker store & Alexander Hamilton costume rundown – Pros and cons:

+ Fabrics are nice for the price
+ Mostly accurate to store's stock photos
+ Jacket is so much fun to wear

+ Shirt doubles as a pirate shirt
+ Sewing quality is generally fine
+ Flat metallic buttons, lots of 'em
+ Standard size L actually fit me (omg?!)
+ Express shipping time as expected
+ Decent packaging
+ Very affordable prices, high value
+ Customer service speaks great English 

 
+/- Pants were too big (but super easy to fix!)

- Hidden edges are left raw and untreated

 

~ Sizing ~

 

I already dabbled into it earlier but I usually go for custom size as I don't reliably fit into standard sizes most of the time. I am quite confident to say though that I believe that "custom size" in online cosplay stores actually refers to them mixing and matching costume parts from the default sizes, according to what is the closest match to your measurements. But in this case I had no choice but to go with a standard size and I went with L. I'm always super hesitant because the standard sizes are usually very petite around the waist and usually even smaller on Asia-based shops. I've had several shirts and stuff bought from Chinese sellers on eBay over the years that I just can't wear because even though I picked the largest size it's still too small. 

But in the case of this Hamilton suit it was a huge relief when I tried it on for the first time and everything fit aside from the pants, which were easy enough to modify as they weren't lined anyway.

I want to make it clear that I felt confident and comfortable in the Hamilton uniform, I could easily move around in it, sit down etc and it wasn't pulling or straining anywhere. And the sizes go up to XL so that's comforting seeing how generous in size my received costume was. I was legit worried that it would be tight and restricting to move around in, being an uniform and all, but it's super roomy without looking sloppy and shapeless!

References for Revolutionary War America (Hetalia) and Hamilton musical.

~ Conclusion and final thoughts ~

I am overall very pleased with Cosgeeker and the cosplay I received for this review. I'm thrilled I got this opportunity to work with them! ;u; The Hamilton costume is great value for the price asked, at the time of writing it's only 70 dollars. Apart from using this outfit for dressing up as Alexander Hamilton from the musical (as is advertised) you can also use it either as-is or as a base for any character that wears a Revolutionary War era inspired uniform, like Hetalia's America does at one point in the anime. If you aren't picky about historically correct fabric choices etc and just want a budget-friendly, entry-level outfit for LARPing, theater, hobby filmmaking or such then Cosgeeker got you covered. You can even use this costume to dress up as a generic soldier of the era for themed parties, halloween, school plays, events, anime conventions, renaissance fairs and more!

 

Cosgeeker's website is quite easy to navigate, there's a decent amount of the currently popular series along with some older fan favorites (and more is being added) and the prices are very competetive and fair for what you get. Though I feel a bit like the site might, due to its relative newness, not quite be out of the "work in progress" phase yet as some things are a bit crude and could be polished. But it did not affect me as I was navigating through the store and I never had problems finding what I was looking for.

Cosgeeker's turn-around times are in line with other Asia-based online shops, at least in terms of producing the costume. I have no experience about the ordinary shipping as I was treated to express shipping, but I can say that express shipping worked flawlessly even though we're in the midst of a pandemic. But if you need a costume in a rush you should still try to order at least a month prior to the event you need it for, just to increase odds that it will arrive on time. 

 

Cosgeeker's costume quality seems similar to their competitors and accuracy on stock photos versus actual costume is very high. I did notice that the shirt I received is actually portrayed on the stock photo of the white lapel version of Hamilton's costume, which makes me think that the red version I got has an outdated version of the shirt still pictured on the stock photo and they've forgot, or missed, to update it to match the current shirt. I definitely trust Cosgeeker to deliver a costume that looks almost exactly as advertised and, if for some reason any problem would arise you can rest assured that their contact person understands as the level of English spoken is much higher than one might initially expect from a company based in Shanghai, China. 

My only negative feedback is actually the hidden raw edges that I've detailed earlier, but as I also said it's far from a dealbreaker and it's definitely something that can be amended with some basic sewing skills. 

This is a very affordable costume that looks good, feels good and looks flattering on a bigger-than-average body too. It's very convenient and stress-free to sometimes order a cosplay straight into your mailbox instead of sewing it yourself, even if you could theoretically do it but lack the energy to follow through. I would sincerely recommend Cosgeeker.

Final Grade (from A-F): A-

Recommend to others: Yes

 

 

That's everything I had to say for now. I hope you found this review helpful and hey, if you are new here and like what you see do hit that "follower" button!

A huge thank you to Cosgeeker for making this review possible and to you for reading this! ♡
~  Shiro Samurai out.