[2B Cosplay] How to Forge a Wasteland-Style Look for NieR:Automata

Once you put this gear on, the visual texture and the physical feel are completely two different things. A huge amount of black ruffled sheer fabric is stacked on the arms and shoulders, paired with a form-fitting bodysuit. Although it looks lightweight overall, actually wearing it takes quite some time to adjust the layering.

The most eye-catching part is undoubtedly the short white hair and the black blindfold on my head. The contrast with the red lips makes the entire makeup look cold and highly recognizable. In terms of materials, the sheer black stockings paired with lace trim on the legs, along with the pointed high heels, create a very subtle contrast against the rough texture of the ruins, which is also the part I wanted to emphasize when setting my poses for this 2B cosplay.

Another major highlight of the styling is this long sword prop. The blade is slender with a metallic reflection, and the grip texture fits the palm perfectly. During the shoot, I tried various poses such as standing with a single hand leaning on the sword, crouching, and sitting on the rubble. When holding the sword, it is crucial to keep your balance, especially in the standing pose (which is the photo you see); the tip of the blade touching the ground combined with the slightly turned silhouette does a better job of showing the overall tension.

Regarding the shooting environment, location scouting took a lot of thought. The overall background is a site where abandoned factory buildings and industrial pipelines interweave, with large ventilation fans on the walls and eye-catching yellow-and-black safety barriers. To create that post-apocalyptic wasteland feeling, a massive amount of smoke tablets were used on-site. The mist drifting around the metal pipes perfectly matched the cool color tone of this styling.

The detailed arrangement of the scene also added a lot of playability to the frames. For example, the glowing vending machine in the background or the huge red-and-white 'No Entry' sign intentionally placed in the foreground (with 'Closed to Traffic' written on it) gave the images a stronger sense of narrative. Especially those tiny white flowers bursting through the cracks in the ground, they formed a stark visual contrast with the black skirt. In post-production, we deliberately preserved a large area of cool, gray tones, making these little flowers a soft highlight in the frame.

Walking on rubble and muddy ruins in high heels and stockings was not easy. Many movements required repeatedly adjusting the bend of my knees, both to prevent the stockings from getting snagged and to keep the leg lines looking smooth and elegant on camera. Fortunately, the final results exceeded expectations. We didn't rely too heavily on post-production soft-focus filters; instead, the lighting and smoke at the time laid the foundation for this Ruins photo shoot.

The entire process was actually a busy and fulfilling experience. From transporting props to positioning on-site, every step required everyone's coordination. Characters in black dresses easily look visually dull, so this time we used light and shadow carving to enhance the clothing layers, especially strengthening the shadow contrast of the legs and the upper body's cutout details to make the overall look more three-dimensional.

When shooting a Dark style character like this, atmosphere creation truly comes first. Without the texture of industrial ruins and cool-toned ambient light, it would be extremely hard to convey that cool, aloof vibe relying solely on the outfit itself. Fortunately, the on-site setup was highly genuine—not just empty factory floors, but also some broken concrete structures. Looking back at these photos, the clothing details—such as the ruffles on the collar, the pleats on the sleeve covers, and the cutout patterns on the chest—were beautifully restored under specific angles of light.

Although the overall style is on the darker side, I didn't want to capture it in a completely lifeless way. So in some shots, I intentionally chose relatively casual poses or movements that created a contrast with the cold, hard ruins, making this entire share look like more than just pure cosplay—it has a touch of documenting daily life in it. This quality of being alone in the ruins without appearing frantic is exactly what I wanted to convey the most.