A Look Behind Cosplaying at a Con

While it may not show, cosplaying at a convention isn’t the most pleasant experience. While it is amazingly fun, it is a lot of work – the whole blood, sweat and tears bit. Plus cramped muscles, sore feet, restricted movement, constant repairs. You put yourself, your work and your artistry on display. You experience the glory with the distress. You gain praise and ridicule. And don’t forget that dreaded walk outside of the con with the “normal people”. If you are thinking of cosplaying – or just interested in the art – the world of costuming has its own social structure, ettiquette and quirks.

The journey of a costume begins long before you even by your tickets to the show. You need to plan, buy supplies, start crafting, allow time for the emotional breakdown where you decide to scrap the project because it’s “terrible”, and that final push to complete your masterpiece. You need to acknowledge how comfortable everything will be. Can you sit down? Can you bend all of your joints? If you have weapons and armor, are they too heavy? There are fittings, multiple versions, racking your brain for the best way to make that ridiculous video game armor and trying to decide how to transport everything to another state. 

Packing for the convention then includes all of your equipment for hotel fixes, final touches, a pack for the con to make quick fixes, as well as any casual clothes and accessories. A weekend trip is not longer a single suitcase. It gets even crazier if you plan to wear multiple costumes.

The morning of the show, you need to wake up far earlier than usual. Getting dressed isn’t always a one person job. Then there is the wig, make-up, accessories, weaponry . . . and then pray that you didn’t forget to put on your shoes while it was still easy to bend over!

At the con, the insanity finally begins. Pictures and posing allow you to show off everything you slaved on for the past year. Then you get jostled and shoved, stepped on and bumped. Your armor gets chipped, a seam tears, your wig slides down. You’re hot, your shoulders hurt, your feet are still sore from the day before. You turn a corner to the next aisle and all you see is a wall of people. Then you realize you can only fit through the bathroom stall door sideways. You meet some of the nicest people in the world, but then you meet one person who is so rude that you forget all the smiling faces and polite conversation. If you are a very attractive young lady, no matter how revealing your costume is: prepare yourself for oogling, inappropriate touching and photos that do not even include your face. 

And after the hustle and bustle of the weekend, you go home to find that a website made fun of you. Another cosplayer is “dissing” you. In the end, this is your hobby. This is your passion. You need to muscle through and ignore the bad, enjoy the good and start working on making your next costume one hundred times better than the last. Keep learning, keep improving and give the finger to the nay-sayers!