We attended the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo last weekend where we had the opportunity to speak to a variety of Cosplayers of all age’s why they Cosplay and what they love about Cosplaying.
We asked everyone we spoke to why they decide to cosplay and the main consensus was that it allows people to express their creativity in a new way. They get to Cosplay as one of their favourite characters with hundreds of others and form meaningful relationships with those who share the interest.
“I do it because it’s just another way to be creative and have a creative output” Autumn said, who was Cosplaying as a character from the mobile game Summoner’s War. “You get to be someone else for a day; its a lot of fun being a different personality than you usually are every day.”
Erica, who Cosplayed as Gaius from Fire Emblem: Awakening says “I like to Cosplay because I really like to act and be in character. It’s a great way to meet people who are into the same thing as you.”
Of course, with cosplaying, there are a lot of challenges that come with the hobby. From making sure your clothes fit to figuring out how to make complex pieces, it can be quite taxing on the individuals attempting to make the ‘perfect costume’. Some people have even gone through multiple revisions of the same costume just to make sure everything fits as it should and holds together through a whole day. Now, having the right set of skills such as sewing, putting pieces together and all around creativity were necessary for creating a complex Cosplay. It really isn’t about your skill’s as much as it is about the time and effort you want to put into creating your piece.
However, don’t let that be a deterrent. Everyone has to start somewhere and even if you don’t get it right the first time, it’s the experience of making Cosplay that is the real value in the craft. For those just getting into Cosplaying, you have to break out of your comfort zone and jump into it. Everyone started somewhere and it will be up to you to experiment with different materials to see how you can make the best design.
Julia, who also Cosplayed as someone from Summoner’s War states “Start easy, work with different materials and see what they can do, how they prime, how they paint and how they rip, everything. It gives you a different handle on how to make certain things and how to detail it the way you want to so you are able to move forward and experience different things”
A lot about Cosplaying though is choosing the right character to go as. While a lot of inspiration stands on the personal views of particular movies, anime and video games, it all depends on what type of personality you want to act out for the weekend. For the majority of Cosplayers, picking the right character in which you can represent was a major piece in deciding their characters.
A big shoutout to @superzacattack, @nerdgirl1618, @believe96_Char, @Soatsugumadoka, @a_yellow_dress, @1wholeperson @cheesemonkey119 and @werewolfprincev for their comments in our article!
