People about Cosplay...

Coming from a movie production background, you put on the parts of your costume that would interfere with makeup – possibly rubbing on your face when donning the apparel – before you put on makeup. None of the rest of your costume should be worn until it is just before “showtime”.

And costumers (both hobbyists and professionals) should be planning for makeup application and making a costume that can be put on without having to go over the head like a T-shirt does. Aside from the fact that this is easy to make, there really isn’t a good excuse for designing a costume that ruins makeup, or alternately, has to be worn while makeup is being applied.

To answer your main questions, No and No. Cosplay is supposed to be about inclusiveness, fun, and showing your love for a character.

That being said, as with any group of people, there will be jerks on both sides. There will be those that make their costumes and look down on those that buy them, and vice versa. Jerks can be found at all levels of cosplay, just like regular society. And just like regular society, you have the choice to ignore the jerks and go your own way.

If you are happy with your cosplay, not competing in a 100% bought cosplay and are having fun, that really is all that matters.

People who make their cosplays receive just as many nasty comments and critiques as those that buy them by the way.

Costuming has been around a long time: we find artifacts from tens of thousands of years ago where they were used to portray a being or spirit. Often those who played the parts in costume were held in high regard.

A little time with kids or a parade group reminds us all how much fun people have – let alone when there is a formal play being staged. Costuming is fun; it’s fun for people to pretend, but it should be understood by all that it’s to be pretend. Problems come when the “role” gets mixed up with one’s being; the role defines the person instead of the person defining the role.

As Jack Nicholson famously said to Michael Keaton as they were suiting up for their roles in Batman (1989): “Time to let the costumes do the acting.”

When the role is more than the person, that causes psych problems.