Captain Hook/Killian Jones from Procosplay

Character: Once Upon A Time's Captain Hook/Killian Jones

Costume Purchased: Once Upon a Time Killian Jones Captain Hook Cosplay Costume

Site Purchased From: Procosplay

Sizing: Custom

Special Requests: None

Price: $139.00

This was the first costume I ordered from Procosplay, and as such, I was anxious about the product they would deliver. As many know, the quality, and legitimacy, of some of cosplay sites can be called in to question, so using any for the first time can be a nerve racking experience.

However, I found some people who had ordered from them before, and they offered this costume, which was, at the time, unavailable anywhere else. (Since ordering, Cosplaysky have begun to offer a more expensive version, but I'll touch on that later).

As this is my first article about Procosplay, I'll touch on the service. Custom sizing is offered and available for an additional six dollars on any order. This is, in my experience, an absolute bargain, particularly over other sites like Cosplaysky that can charge up to $25.00 extra for custom sizing. Delivery was excellent also, three weeks on the dot from ordering, which including costume construction and being sent from China to England was very promising. The only negative I have about the ordering process was that I actually never got e-mail confirmation that the costume had been dispatched, and had to contact the sellers to confirm it had been as I wanted it by a certain date. Fortunately, it had been already posted and simply there is no automated system to inform you of this.

As for the costume itself, here it is:

 

The costume did not include the boots, the hook, the sword, or any of the jewellery. While it did include a belt, in this shot, I'm using my own as I found it to be a very cheap and unconvincing pleather.

 



What was included, however, was the coat, waistcoat (or vest), the black undershirt, and the trousers. This, to me, was actually a very good deal, as all of these items are hard to find specifically as how they should be for this costume, and assembling them separately would have required custom orders and considerably more cost.

Before going in to further detail, I'd say overall I was very pleased with the costume for the cost. The quality is high enough that I feel it transcends being a simple costume and has the appearance of something that could be genuine clothes, something that could be worn on screen, and that's something I always look for in my costumes. It's instantly recognisable as Hook, and remains my favourite version available. As mentioned earlier, Cosplaysky now offer their own take, and while from the images I suspect their coat is superior, the version they offer is a jet black version on the inside also, with a leather waistcoat; accurate to  certain scenes in the series, but I've always preferred the red fabric waistcoat (actually belonging to Hook in series flashbacks). It brings some colour and makes the costume look more like genuine clothes to me, and not an article of designed costuming.

Sizing wise, I found it fitted very well, bar the trousers, which were lose. Fortunately, they have belt loops and therefore could be worn with a belt, and this wasn't an issue. Everything was very comfortable, the fake leather was convincing as the real thing, and felt very soft and genuine. The trousers lacked pockets, which was somewhat disappointing as it made storing things difficult, but they were comfortable and looked the part. The shirt and waistcoat I was very impressed by, the black shirt in particular seemed perfect to me, and the waistcoat felt very much like a genuine article of clothing, with solid metal buttons, lining, and a good pattern that felt accurate to the series. It's not perfect, the buttons really needed to be darker (at some point I plan to touch them up with black paint), as did the under pattern, but for the price, it essentially served its purpose and was a good item.

The coat, however, is the key part to Hook's look, and it's here that the costume isn't quite 100% screen accurate. While I'm going to criticise slightly now, I'd like to say I was actually overall pleased with the coat, it looks the part, is instantly recognisable, feels comfortable, is made of a good material and is nice and light to be both comfortable and suitably dramatic (what's the point of a long coat if you can't make it dramatically swish behind you, after all?). However, there were a few drawbacks.

Firstly, the coat is not functional. By that, I mean the buttons do not work as buttons and the pockets are simply pocket flaps. Not an issue if you're using the coat purely as a costume piece, as I was, but I know a lot of people out there desire this coat as a clothing item, and as such, it's not appropriate for that.

Secondly, there is an issue with the sleeves. They're huge, and lengthy, which is reasonably accurate, but are slightly too long. This causes a minor issue in the look of the costume. Hook in the TV show always has the flared sleeves of his pirate shirt visible, sticking out of the coat sleeves. Due to the coat length here, it swallows them up, and they can't easily be seen.

 

Visible here by my sword hand, and slightly by the hook itself

 

 

The biggest flaw, however, rests in the turned up sleeves and collar, as well as the pocket flaps. As you can see in the above image, these are decorated with a zig-zag stitching pattern that is actually screen accurate, but on the real costume, is actually on fabric. The coat is leather, but the turned over collar, the sleeves and the pocket flaps are fabric.

 

Here's an image of the actual costume to best demonstrate this:

 

 

 

This image also highlights the final flaw with the coat, in my opinion, and that's that the collar doesn't sit correctly when popped up. As you can see in the above image, the collar should sit flared backwards, away from the neck, but the Procosplay costume's collar sits around your neck, which ruins something of the essential look of how the coat sits.

 

Overall, these flaws prevent the costume from being perfect. For the price, what you get is very good, and I would certainly recommend it if you're attempting to achieve a Captain Hook costume without wanting to spend literally hundreds of dollars. However, don't expect screen accuracy for what you're paying. From the images, Cosplaysky's Hook costume appears to have a more accurate coat, but I much prefer the underneath of the costume here, not just based on personal preference, but on the fact that I feel this version pulls off the costume it is attempting better than the Cosplaysky one. There is also a significant price difference, even with its current discount Cosplaysky's costume runs at considerably steeper than Procosplay's, although I would love to one day see one of their coats in person and see what it's like in comparison.

Overall, I recommend Procosplay, as long as you're aware what you're getting isn't screen perfect. They provide solid quality quickly, and offer an unusual selection of costumes you can't find elsewhere. Just be prepared for some flaws and accept what you're getting is at a bargain price compared to elsewhere, so it might not be as perfect as it could be.