I made my Rinoa ballroom dress out of satin bedsheets from Ross. It was a good deal for a ton of fabric, perfect color, very nice weight to it, and then made the other layer out of chiffon. The chiffon was actually the biggest pain in the butt, but the dress turned out well enough since I figured I was mostly going to be in the dark anyways and wear it for like two hours at the most. Doesn't mean my mom and I didn't work hard on it since we were going mostly without a pattern, but we didn't kill ourselves on the price.
My sister and I are kind of the go all the way or don't do it for our main costumes, but we understand if other people don't. Some people are just there to have fun and some people just did their best with limited knowledge or money. And, yes, some people just do it for the lulz. We also cosplay characters that our bodies are suited for.
Either way, I have to say that reading the back of the pattern for fabric ideas is a very good thing for anyone.