There is alot of dispute whether certain cosplayers are better then others because they make their own costumes. Sadly at times when people learn that a cosplayer didn't make their own costume or somebody else had made their costume or they bought it, people tend to......think alittle less of them.
As I encourage people to cosplay because they never know what they can achieve, skills their may encounter and friends their could make yet in the sad reality there will always be people out there to knock you.
In this blog I focus on my own experiences, I am going to talk abit how I see myself as a cosplayer. On the internet we see fabulous images of well known cosplayers such as Yaya Han and the like who make their own costumes and get high recognition for it. I don't make my own costumes, Nora Fox makes them and does an amazing job! I originally was attracted to cosplaying because of the acting and really like the way cosplay gave you the chance to act as an Anime character. I have done drama and was involved with a musical society for sometime in my mid to late teens but didn't stick at them long. I really began cosplaying in my early 20s and knew this was the perfect interest for me.
I always loved roleplaying and the performing element of cosplaying and that is why I love it. I personally don't cosplay for the costume but really admire costume and prop makers. I decide to cosplay as a character I would like to act out, relate, to project a message or recreate the scene from that series. I cosplay for art, to express my passion in anime, to recreate the 2D world into photography and film.
What I am trying to say is being a cosplayer I am focusing on my strengths which are the acting and modelling. My weakness is the costume making and I can't make costumes but why should I let that stop me from cosplaying or getting stressed out? There are cosplayers who come up with innovative ideas being a character in a different outfit which the character wouldn't wear from the series and this can look very effective! You don't need alot of money and you do not need to be putting your cosplays off because you are stressing over finding someone to help you make a very striking costume, casual cosplays can be just as good! There are cosplayers who are amazing at make -up and should put great emphasis on their make-up art as that is their strong point. It is like age and height, it doesn't matter how tall/short you are, how old you are ect it is about pulling off the character and how to achieve the look of the character suiting you.
It is like looking for a job, we can waste our time applying for thousands of jobs that no way suit us or we can focus all our energy on the jobs we are good at, demonstrating our skills that suit the job and this all can be applied to cosplaying.
Cosplay is very broad and will take you a long time to learn everything, there are the acting/performance, wig styling presentation, make-up art and the costume and more. I have been cosplaying for 7 years, done a little make-up course so I can better my make-up with cosplaying, I have yet to do a dressmaking course, but I am still learning. In the meantime I am focusing on my strengths being;
- The Roleplaying/Acting
- Modelling
- Coming up with interesting ideas in my photos for the viewer to enjoy
- My eye make-up
- Online presense
- Costume making
- Prop making
- Public speaking
- No website
You will be swayed by others, be pressured thinking you are not good enough in comparison to other cosplayers (which I fell into in the past), people may tell you or most likely talk behind your back, nitpicking how terrible your cosplays but take this as an opportunity to become stronger and become more successful. Believe in yourself and remain positive and stay away from negative communities as they will just drag you down. Cosplay is all attention to detail and this is where you need to impress people by focusing on your strengths as a cosplayer, show off your inner voice.
Your strengths could also be your online presence eg how you interact with people at conventions, do people warm up to you? In the end of the day you cosplay for yourself and for self-expression. You will find people who follow your cosplays will be very supportive and like you for you, be yourself and be unique! As a wise cosplay friend says, over time you will grow and your cosplays will grow too.
