Blah: A Tale of Cosplay

It has been difficult to keep this blog updated, despite the posts that are all swimming around in my head. The problem is that I feel BLAH about the entire cosplay world.

I feel blah about the politics of it.
I feel blah about everyone's competitive nature.
I feel blah about the drama.

I'm all blahed out.

I love this hobby so much and it is one of those hobbies where you can not allow others to ruin it for you. Therefore I am currently constructing a plan - mad scientist style [nah, just kidding] - of how to keep my love for this hobby without worrying about the community of it.

BE SAFE!

There is something incredibly odd about conventions and the affect they have on people. A lot of con goers - no matter the con - feel safe amongst people of their “own kind”. There inhibitions are lowered as they learn they’re not the “only one”. They let their guard down a great deal.

But a convention should be a place to put your guard up even more. No matter the fact you are all fans of something, conventions can still be a dangerous place. There can be theft. Violence. Etc. After the recent stabbing at Comic Con and the fire alarm being pulled at Otakon, it is definitely time to talk about something most people DO NOT think about when they are away for a weekend of fun: Safety.

Budgeting your MONEY at Conventions

Costumes are not the only thing a person has to budget for. Where else will you wear those costumes, but the vast amount of conventions and events throughout the year!

Money is always a touchy subject. Some have more. Some have less.
What is fact, however, is that money is needed when planning to go anywhere…especially conventions. Cons can be as cheap as you make them or as expensive as you would like them to be.

There are lots of ways to budget for conventions, but the best thing to note while planning is how much you are able to spend. This can be a base cost (I.e. you are able to spend $300) or a combination of costs by adding up what the costs may be (I.e. gas+hotel+food+misc=X amount of money).

Here are a few tips when it comes to planning for conventions:

I dont WEAR makeup

This is more of a rant then helpful. I'm sure I could be helpful and tell you ALL to wear makeup when you cosplay because it looks better in photos and blah blah blah.

But i'm not.

Because i DONT wear makeup and, honestly, I dont really see the point at times.
Recently someone said they did not "understand" people that did not wear makeup. Well, let me help them out...

Rest of 2010

I have not been in a very cosplay mood lately. After having been at this for nearly a decade, I am wanting to progress in the hobby further then I think that i have. I have seen people that have only started a couple years ago progress quickly while i have been at a slow pace. It is mainly because I have been a student my entire cosplay career until this summer. So, now, it seems like a world of cosplay possibilites have opened up to me and i am ready to embrace them.

The four images above are probably the last costumes i will do for 2010. I am currently working on two of them. I also will (hopefully) do a Christmas costume this year and I have one comic outfit planned for a comic convention in October.

From L-R
Juri Han - Super Street Fighter 4
Ginga Hagane - Beyblade Metal Fight/Fusion
Rei - Highschool of the Dead
Tsunayoshi Sawada - Katekyo Hitman Reborn

Curious

I oftentime wonder why some people go to conventions. Mainly lolitas or ravers. Perhaps for their own themed events (like loli panels or the raves)? Sometimes they have no interest in anime at all...

Costume List - Anime Weekend Atlanta

Here is a non-tentative list:

Friday:
Morning - Edward Elric.
from Fullmetal
Alchemist

Afternoon - Lolita and
Ginga from Beyblade
Metal Fusion

Night - rave outfit

Saturday:
Morning - Yoko Ritona
from Gurren Lagann and
Perona from One Piece

Afternoon - Juri Han
from Super Street
Fighter 4 and SUPER
NEW SECRET COSTUME

Nightish - Ginga?
Juri? And RAVE OUTFIT

Sunday:
Lolita more then likely

This is all subject to change. I'm commissioning quite a bit of my secret costume and the wig for Ginga...so I'm leaving it in the hands of my commissioners :)

After AWA is Xcon, which is in October. I will be working on Silk Spectre I from the Watchmen movie and maybe two others including A DISNEY BALL GOWN 'O DOOM, which I might commission anyway

HUGE BALL OF STRESS

As my next convention steadily approaches, I have been stressed about cosplay.

I am going to take my friend's advice. My friend is Livvy, owner of www.livvylove.com, a cosplay site. She does some fantastic costumes and typically attends cons in Georgia. We got to talking today and she told me that I need to focus on one costume at a time. She even told me the mental process as to what she does when she decides what ONE costume she will work on.

I'm lucky to have my cosplay mentors that keep my head on straight. Sitting down with a stack of reference pictures, I will definitely be choosing ONE costume at a time.

My 'problem' is that I have too much time in-between costumes so my mind wanders a lot (haha). It is only natural to have so many costumes that you want to do in a short span of time. This is why you must reevaluate the BUDGET and the REASON you want to do each individual costume.

Hopefully, I will figure all this stuff out before Anime Weekend Atlanta gets here in September. It'd be pretty strange cosplaying in my birthday suit *cough*. I think I will focus on Vanille, but I also want two others! I feel bad when I scrap costumes, especially if I'd told people about it -_-

WHO should I cosplay!? - The Art of Choosing a Character

Maybe it's just me and 8 years of this, but it somewhat annoys me when a person asks someone else - especially people that do not personally KNOW them - who they should cosplay. But let's back it up a couple of steps before i get into that...

Choosing who to cosplay is probably one of - if not THE MOST - important steps of cosplaying. Of course it is. You have to be able to CHOOSE something to cosplay before cosplaying - duh. With the thousands of possibilities out there, it is perfectly fine to become overwhelmed at who, what, etc to cosplay. It is intimidating to see many cosplayers choose cosplay after cosplay with (seemingly) no problems.

And even if you consider yourself a pro at choosing costumes, you still might become conflicted about choosing what to cosplay NEXT after a project is completed.

Sticking to yo gunz!

One problem I have in cosplay is becoming so devoted to a costume that you do not think about starting anything else. It gets CRAZY when you have multiple projects at once.

Right now I have two in progress, one that needs to be redone, and several that I want to do (atleast 5 or more)

Its a problem.
I envy those that can stick to their guns and work steadily on one costume.

So, I have attempted to come up with ways that may help cosplayers do that.

1. Work steadily - like maybe every DAY - to finish a costume. That way it gets done quicker and you're able to move on to the next.
2. Motivation! Find something to motivate you, whether it be a song (T.I's Movtivation is mine), rewatching/rereading/replaying the series,
3. Get inspired! I find that looking at people that have already made the costume inspires me to make my own
4. The rule for everything: HAVE FUN! If it becomes too stressful, taking a break works wonders. Its sometimes good to have two projects because one upsets you there's another that wants your attention :)

New discovery!

As I become more frugal, I start looking for more coupons to use at craft stores. As I'm sure you all know, I'm working on Vanille from Final Fantasy 13. Her costume has a large amount of beads that could cost a lot.

After googling, I found this!
http://www.mycraftcoupons.com/

It has printable coupons for A.C. Moore and Michaels! They currently are offering 50% coupons off any 1 item that last till July 10. Last time I was in A.C. Moore I paid $8 for two packs of beads! Now I can get that for $4 (with help from a friend or significant other so we can use more then one coupon) OR I can visit both stores and use coupons at both to further save money.

I'll be looking for coupons to some fabric stores next :)

June 4!

Happy Independence Day!

I have some new posts coming up! Tomorrow I will blog about choosing a costume and also tell you where to find great pictures from Anime Expo.

Soon, I'll devote posts to finding commissioners, places to buy wigs, surviving a convention, and more! If there's a question about cosplay, ask me and I'll answer it!

Spread the word about this blog! I'll start posting more frequently if I get 10 followers by August.

Down in the Dumps - Overcoming Cosplay Slumps

Oh wow, am I unmotivated.

The most difficult part of cosplay would be getting in a slump, where nothing seems to go right and jealously rears its ugly head that everyone else seems to be getting all their stuff done.

I'm experiencing a slump right now.

While I have plenty to work on, I feel that nothing comes out right. I feel like cutting off all my cosplay friends. I feel like quitting.

There is a simple solution to overcoming a slump: take a break. Focus on something else in your life that has nothing to do with cosplay. I have still been doing crafty things by decorating tshirts for a movie premiere, but I have not been thinking about my new cosplay projects.

Half of the reason I'm in a slump is money. Its no secret money is a highly needed requirement in most costumes. Without it, there's not much that can be done...

Love is a fickle thing

After digging through my closet the other day and finding a plethora of old fabric that can be used for NEW costumes, I exclaimed to someone I shall not disclose how excited I was about these new costume projects.

They replied: “But it makes you unhappy. Why do it?”

I was silent - speechless and unable for a rebuttal. This hobby can not make me unhappy? That can not be true! So I begin to examine my track record of various rants and such about cosplay. In just the short time I knew this person they probably would think that my beloved hobby made me unhappy since I am constantly complaining about some aspect of it.

But as much as I might get angry and throw fits about it (and quit every other month only to start back days later), I kind of love this hobby.

And what is any relationship without its ups and downs? Its arguments? It’s trying-not-to-go-to-bed-angry-but-still-do? It’s break-ups and make-ups? Cosplay is one of the few long relationships I’ve had (sorry, boo, you know my other boyfriend Video Games and I have been together a long long long time). I am pretty sure all my ex-boyfriends know they were not the first in my life (<- sad, but probably true). Of course I complain about cosplay. Why wouldn’t I!? Cosplay is my hubby, my life-long partner. Cosplay and I are engaged, but Cosplay is such a pimp that I put the ring on his finger, I keep coming back to him, he’s got me wrapped like a vine around a pole.

I’m whipped.
I’m sprung.
I’m love struck.
I’m hopelessly devoted.

No matter how much he knocks me down or cheats on me by giving other’s better costumes, Cosplay and I are together forever. I just have to share him with thousands of others. Strangely, I’m cool with that.

"When I Grow Up I Wanna Have Groupies..."

“…be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it” - Pussycat Dolls

An interesting topic of conversation came up in my beloved Black Cosplayers thread on Cosplay.Com. Just a quick note on the thread, it has been going on for nearly eight years so we recycle topics a lot, but since there are always new posters there are always some fresh perspective. I like to think we’re cool. Cause we are.

Anyway, the topic came up about famous cosplayers. Even now it kind of escapes me how we came on the subject, but I proceeded to rant…then went back and edited my post because it is not fair for me to rant in the thread. But, I can rant in this blog, cant I?

I will preface by saying that I have nothing against these “famous” cosplayers. I do, however, take a problem with the word famous being used. How exactly are they famous? Sure the basic definition of famous is “well known by many people”. I would rather use the word “popular” when talking about a single subculture of people. Famous tends to put these people on this whole ‘nother, untouchable level. Which pretty much leads into my next point:

SO WHAT if these people are popular? Popular at what, being geeks? Maybe even a bigger geek then me as they have perfected a skill to make geeky costumes? I don’t know, its all geek to me. It’s like high school all over again where the popular people have the best clothes.

I think I would find it so difficult if I received thousands of good comments and - oh forbid - fans. How would I ever get the true appreciative comments that surprise me so much at conventions if I’m forever receiving them just because I’m some cosplay household name.

An example would be the girl at Momocon that was excited to see me in person and my costume, a girl that exclaimed “I look at your costumes all the time! You’re awesome!” and wanted my picture. And her rude little friend that said, “If you don’t want pictures taken then don’t wear a good costume.” Err, thanks? Even still, this was one of those shining moments where it felt good for someone to appreciate my costume.

Maybe when you are cosplay famous, you get your kicks by just being proud of your work. Sometimes, I still need that little validation from the outsider since the devil on my shoulder likes to tell me that I suck. The angel, well, she likes to take days off. A lot.

So, maybe I don’t have a wall full of geeky awards. Maybe I don’t have a dozen or so closets devoted to geeky costumes. Perhaps I don’t go to geeky conventions every geeky weekend. Heck, that all costs too much money. Even still, I do love this hobby and have loved it for eight years. And counting.

Excuse me now. Going to go run and pose around my room in my newest costume.

Crossplay - why i do it

I will write a series of entires on crossplay, some with tips on how to crossplay as a female!

My first crossplay was Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist) back in 2007, but I did not truly know the joys of crossplay until I did my Allen Walker from D Gray Man costume in the later half of 2007. There are several reasons why i crossplay:

1.) The easiest reason, I love the characters. There are only three female characters that i absolutely love beyond reason and I plan to cosplay them all. (Aisha Clan Clan, Yoko Ritona, and Faye Valentine). My favorite characters are males. I'm sure some women shun crossplaying any guy at all. That is fine - considering this hobby is all about choice and everyone is different.

2.) There is not much emphasis on being "pretty" or "hot" when you are a female crossplaying. Some women have scarily (or awesomely - however you want to put it) succeeded in becoming a hot guy. For now, i will just settle for interpeting the guys as i see fit. I'm a D cup. I can only bind so much O_O

3.) This is where my honesty comes in. People can disagree if they want. I find the cosplay community (i.e. cosplaying your own gender) as being highly competative in a negative way. I find some women seek the attention of everyone by dressing skimpy or trying to be sexy or only choosing skimpy outfits. I have heard women say they do not get enough attention when they wear costumes that are covered up. Even without skimpy costumes, there is this certain cattiness to choosing costumes in the cosplay community. People tend to get possessive, and then defensive, when it comes to who they are cosplaying. Strangely, I do not find that when i crossplay. As someone who both cos and cross plays, I feel like i have more fun being a guy then trying to be pretty as a girl.

Not that I do not think I'm attractive, but the standard body type in the cosplay community is not what I am.

In short, I do whatever I want: crossplay or cosplay. Just like i do not allow my race to hold me back, i do not allow my gendar to do that either.

Cosplaying on a Budget!

*Too long? scroll to the bottom of the article to find the tips from the article!

When I first started cosplaying, I was a very young girl, thirteen to be exact. It took me years to make my first costume because I was so young. I even remember rolling up spare change to buy my first wig, a blue bob cut wig for my Ni-Na (DDR) costume. Since then, I have aged and learned how to create a budget before I start any of my costumes.

I think creating a budget is key to getting the most out of money when it comes to cosplay. Choosing when to splurge and when to save is a way to get the costumes you desire.

The first thing I do when I decide to start a costume is sit down with a reference image. The image is usually one picture that showcases the entire costume - from head to toe. Let’s use Vanille as an example. Vanille is from the recently released Final Fantasy 13 and a character that I am working on.

Nice Cosplayers are amazing!

When cosplayers are actually nice and helpful, it definitely makes the hobby worth while. I'm currently working on Vanille from Final Fantasy 13 and I don't have many questions to ask as I've found so many tutorials and reference images other cosplayers have already posted on Cosplay.com and Deviantart.

A lot of them perfaced their helpful tutorials with somewhat disclaimers that they'll just direct people to said tutorials. I can understand it be annoying to always get questions and I hope that I have not been an annoyance to any fellow cosplayers (I don't ask many questions though)

As for my own progress:
Blue Spirit: Avatar TLA - I just need pants, gloves, and two broadswords for this costume. I don't think the theatre will allow the broadswords, but I might whip up some cheaply.

Juri: Super Street Fighter 4 - I'll resume working on this costume after Blue Spirit is complete.

Vanille: FF13 - I have my orange skirt, pink fabric, and about 2000 white beads. I'm super excited for this costume because I think people don't think I can do it

Geeks are cool

Seriously. We're cool and crafty people.

My name is Jessi and I've been a cosplayer for so many years I've stopped counting (8 I think?) What is cosplay you ask? It is an art form, an artistic expression of a persons love of their respective fandoms. We create these outfits, these costumes, with pure love and dedication. We take this fabric, craft foam, and whatever other supplies and make our costumes to proudly show them at conventions and on the internet. We put ourselves out there in ways I do not think normal people do because we become something extraordinary.

So, yeah, we're geeks that wear costumes on days that aren't Halloween. But we're cool geeks.

I created this blog so that I would be able to talk about cosplay, including my own costumes. I'm currently working on two costumes: Juri Han from Super Street Fighter 4 and a surprise costume from Avatar The Last Airbender. After that, I will endure something that makes cosplay all worthwhile - something incredibly detailed and fun: Vanille from Final Fantasy XIII.