http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/19/Evangelion-Cosplay/880/#p848282
Bagheera wrote:The big mistake people make when cosplaying Asuka is trying to give her red or orange hair. Forget DC/EoE, and forget the merchandise -- that girl has brown/auburn hair throughout most of the show, and most cosplayers seem to lose sight of that by focusing too much on the odd color shifts seen toward the end of the show. The reason Jersey works is because she used her natural hair with that outfit, and it matches what we see in a good chunk of the show (and particularly the bulk of the scenes we see of Asuka in her school uniform). Her hair also has some red in it, so when you see her in a plugsuit the hair still looks like a good fit.
You don't need hair the color of Asuka's to do a good Asuka cosplay, but you should at least pick a wig that looks natural as opposed to one that's a freakish orange abomination. There are lots and lots of wigs out there using ordinary human hair, so finding one that suits one's complexion and is still a good sell for some iteration of Asuka shouldn't be all that difficult. Combine that with a well-fitting outfit and the rest should fall into place naturally.
Could you explain? For my Asuka cosplay, I definitely wanted to use a red/orange shade, but went for an Arda wig since they had a very specific copper/orange/auburn color that looks vaguely natural (I didn't want to use a shade of pure bright orange).
EDIT: Added link