Ⓒosplay Ⓕemmes

People about cosplay...

For me, cosplay is the art of bringing a fictional character to life using yourself as a medium. As people have already mentioned, cosplayers put a lot of money, time, and energy into their craft. Some will go to extremes to lose weight or learn a technique outside their skill level just to try and cosplay that character.

I really love cosplay and I find it is a mirror of how you will treat a lot of things in life, whether that is your job, your relationships, etc. The typical time and project management questions always appear (“Can I finish this in time for this convention?”, “Do I have the resources?”, etc.) but also some that you may not expect (“Should I just stitch this poorly to save time?”, “Will cutting a corner here affect the project later on?”, “Should I invest the time in learning this new technique and apply it to the costume?”). The way you answer these questions are exactly the same way you will answer these questions in real life.

That’s why cosplay is such a great way to make friends than other activities. Not only do you have a great excuse to geek out to like-minded people about your passions, you also can see whether or not they do as they say. You really get to know the people and can truly bond with them.

There are three ways you can go with this:

• Buy a Halloween costume: This is easy and cheap, but “kit” costumes tend to be poorly made, only available for the most mainstream characters, and pale replicas.
• Buy a cosplay costume: These are usually higher quality and are available for more obscure characters, but tend to be expensive. You’re looking to spend a couple hundred dollars at least.
• Make your own costume: This takes more work, but allows greater creativity. Not only can you make a costume for any character that comes to mind, but you can do fun twists like gender bending (female version of male character, vice versa) or mashups (Darth Batman). The cost can vary depending on how far you go with it.

I recommend starting with the DIY route. There are a plenty of costumes that don’t take much work and can be made by combining everyday items, which are great for beginners. And at the end of the day, it’s your own creation.

Fandom.
It’s a way of expressing your love for a particular anime/manga/video game series. You enjoy the world the author created so much that you feel like dressing up as one of the characters. It’s a tribute of sorts.

Escapism.
It’s fun to take a break from your real life and escape into an anime/manga/video game world, even if just for a day at an anime convention. You get to be someone else for a bit.

Attention.
Great cosplayers draw crowds of convention-goers, get their picture taken by lots of photographers and receive lots of compliments. It’s flattering.

Belonging.
When you walk through a convention and see other cosplayers, there’s a sense of belonging to a community of people with shared interests. People make eye contact, smile when they recognize your character, ask to take pictures and are generally pretty friendly.

Craftsmanship.
Some people really enjoy the process of planning and creating the costume. Making armor, sewing, and building weapons can be a fun and rewarding hobby.