By Coral Brown, Student CLE Davie
I first got into cosplay because a friend was talking about it. I was just going with the crowd in the beginning. My first costume had to be from a comic called ‘Homestuck’. I then went into anime, making plans for cosplays that I could do. I wasn’t at first planning on sewing my own cosplay. I bought the first three. My first convention was a small con in New Jersey called ‘Katori-con’. I fell in love with the con scene. The people I have met and friends I have made are all amazing. You feel like a family with your friends. I have found that so many different people from different genres of the nerd community can just be one at these conventions.
Some might ask, what is the draw to a convention?
To most it’s the art you can see or the wonderful cosplays! But there is some more to the con scene than just walking around in intense outfits and makeup. There’s the artist alley, where artists come to sell prints they have drawn themselves or figures made of different mediums. You can find almost anything in the artist alley, and it’s a great way to support the different artists.
But the main thing to do when there’s no events going on at the main stage, like cosplay contests, you can go to panels! Basically a panel is where people submit different themes for certain activities. I have personally done many Q&A’s in character. You can ask questions depending on the type of panel being run. Q&A is a popular one that most people do, but some people do karaoke, body positivity, dance, and all kinds of different interest groups.
Now you may not be the best at sewing, so you think that it’s not going to be an official, truly genuine cosplay if it’s not hand sewn. That is not true. Store bought, commissioned, or even thrown together, it’s all a real cosplay. If you feel happy and want to show your love for an anime, video game, comic, or whatever, then just go out and buy, or make your own cosplay! There is no right way to cosplay, only your way.
In all of this, another question that rises is what do you get out of this?
Well, in my experience, I have been able to expand my comfort zone and gain confidence. I have learned that people at cons are mostly a big family. If you ask for help most of the time you will get it. I had a cosplay prosthetic for a character that wouldn’t stay on and I had some people give me some of their spirit gum which helped keep it on long enough for a contest. So basically, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Another thing that I have learned is that if you don’t try you don’t know what will happen. So if you feel nervous about a contest and winning, well, just focus on what poses to do and how you want to show your love for that character without worrying about the judges or what others think. Just have fun and expand on what you usually do.
