Friday, August 23, 2013

On Cons and Cosplay

These last couple of years, it seems, I've been on a bit of a journey to find my nerd zen. This year has and will have some firsts for me.

I've only in recent months come to learn what the term cosplay means on a literal level. I saw the term all over the "Geek" board on Pinterest and never dared look it up. This in fear that it would be a euphemism of some sort. Turns out, it's not.

And cosplay looks like it could be a lot of fun.

It's been a long-time dream of mine to attend San Diego Comic Con. You can imagine my delight when Salt Lake announced its first annual con. The possibilities were endless. I spent days deciding what to do for my first cosplay. (Because if you're going to geek out all over the place you might as well do it in style.)

As I approach my first cosplay, I'm now suffering a giant mix of emotions. I am incredibly excited about it. But at the same time, I'm feeling nervous. I'm the queen of random and obscure sometimes. That's kind of what my cosplay is.

I'm not entering the contest at the comic con I'm attending. This is because I only bought the component pieces of my cosplay rather than make anything from scratch. My sewing skills are not anywhere near good enough to make a cosplay.

I was fine with this, with buying my cosplay, until this week when I watched Sy Fy's "Heroes of Cosplay." Watching these people make their costumes from scratch, with amazing technology and tools, I felt like such a poser.

Now I'm worried that I'll be judged poorly for purchasing the items, for picking something so obscure, for daring to cosplay in the first place. I know it's silly to think these things, but it's a worry.

I think part of my worry stems from the "fake nerd girl" wave that I've tried to stay out of the middle of. And part of it stems from my apple-to-buffalo comparison of sewing/fabricating skills in comparison to the pros who comprise the cast of "Heroes of Cosplay." It's silly, I know, but now instead of being uber-excited for my first con and cosplay, I'm losing confidence.

3 comments:

  1. There is no reason for you to be nervous. Cosplaying is about fun! It's about wearing a costume that shows what you are into, and meeting other people who love the same things you do. You don't have to make your own costume in order to have fun.

    You don't have to worry about being judged. People are only judged when they are competing in a contest (we call them "masquerades"). Although a lot of people enter masquerades for various reasons, most of the cosplayers at a convention do not enter. So don't feel like you need to compete in order to cosplay! If you watch "Heroes Of Cosplay," you will see that I cosplayed as Puss In Boots at ECCC, but did not enter the competition. Because that's not what I'm into. I just like hanging out at cons and meeting other geeks like myself.

    You don't have to worry about being called a "poser." The only people who get called "fake" are people who are cosplaying something they're not into.

    When I cosplayed as Light from "Death Note," it was all clothes I got at a thrift store. I only made my props, and even those were not really necessary.

    Enjoy your first convention, and don't stress out over cosplaying! Soon you will be addicted.

    PS Try to avoid online message boards about cosplay because there is a ton of negativity, judgment, and unpleasantness there. I recommend Cosplay.com, which is moderated, so at least the worst stuff is filtered out.

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    1. You're so sweet to take the time to comment on my blog. Thank you for this. I love what you said about the fun and point of cosplay. (And thanks for correcting me on what the contests are called.) I really want to have fun at my first convention and I'm hoping that a practice run of my cosplay this weekend will help eliminate the negative feelings I talked about.

      I loved your Puss in Boots cosplay, BTW. It was awesome. I'm still trying to find my nerd zen, to know where exactly I belong in the nerd world. I don't think I'll enter a masquerade until I have a better sense of that.

      Thrift stores. Now why didn't I think of that when shopping for this cosplay?

      I haven't dared look for an entre into the cosplay community. Though I did buy my wig from cosplay.com's store. I just need to get it styled.

      Thanks again. This was really nice of you to take the time.

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  2. Steph you are going to be great! Now if only you will tell me your character!!! ACK!!
    If you actually see my steps of sewing my stays, you will feel far better about yourself. Heck. AFTER I cut out my pieces, I decided to dye and eventually wash the pieces, which they then shrank slightly and frayed. So I had to alter the lining pieces to patch the wonky top layers. Yeah, I'm smart. I knew washing it wouldn't be a good idea, but I decided to try it anyway. Low and behold the color was awful. So I decided to add a smidgen bit of bleach to lighten it. So now my stays are a pea green color. Thankfully, the only people that will see the stays are the peeps that I decide to show them too. :D
    No fear love. Your cosplay will be freakin' awesome.

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