Now cosplay is an extremely personal and individual creation. I won't claim to be an expert, but I've been around, done my own costumes, and generally enjoyed the experience. Cosplay can be a lot of fun and a lot of hard work, and it's up to you how you balance the two. I've seen costumes that took a year to make and costumes that were created over the week beforehand (or the night before).
Some of my advice might seem obvious, some might make the reader go "duh" in retrospect. In writing the column to be helpful for the general reader, it's necessary to start at the beginning. If you already enjoy cosplay a lot, I suggest you check out cosplay.com , where there seems to be an expert in every aspect of costuming, from making your eyes look Japanese to the intricacies of how to sew with different materials. And never underestimate the help of a crafty family member. Sure, they might look at you funny, but plenty of parents, grandparents, and others are happy to help out.
The History of Making Excuses to Wear Costumes when It's Not Halloween
As anime cons made their way into America back in the 80s, cosplay was immediately a popular event. Cosplay is the name used by otakus to distinguish it from that of a Masquerade, which is the typical term for the costume events at a science-fiction or comic con.
Masquerades often served as the only event where people were in costume, and the rest of the weekend would be filled with "normal" clothing. This difference in costuming attitudes is one of the reasons for the name distinction. Cosplayers at an anime convention often also hold themselves to a higher standard of acting in character, a trait that was brought over from Japanese counterparts.
So in other words, the term cosplay only refers to costumes related to Japanese medias, or at least that's how the most serious cosplayers define it. I've seen long debates break out on message boards about what exactly is allowed as part of cosplay. Some people will go so far as to say that video games, even when based on games from Japan like Zelda or Super Mario Brothers, are not permitted in the cosplay events. The term cosplay is beginning to creep into the general lexicon as a word that just means dressing in costume, and every year I see more and more cosplayers at anime conventions dressed as American creations.
Most actual cosplay events do place standards on the costumes, meaning they have to have something to do with anime. While it might be fun to wear your Harry Potter costume around the con (and I saw a wonderful Harry Potter cosplay group at Anime Expo once), those wouldn't be acceptable entries in the actual cosplay events. We may see a lessening in the stringency of these rules over the coming years as arguments for shows like Avatar are made. It will also depend on the focus of the event—some are more focused on anime in America, while others keep to a more traditional "anime is only from Japan" approach.
By Nightambre
Get ready, get set… start sewing all night long!
Okay, next I'm going to go into some of the basics of different steps used to put together your costume, from tackling a pattern to thrift store scavenging (my personal favorite--almost all my costumes are recreated from thrift store clothes). I would love to read extra advice in the comments; I know plenty of knowledgeable people hang out on theOtaku. If you want to post more detailed cosplay advice on your theOtaku Worlds or myOtaku, please let me know, and I'd be happy to link to you.
