Monday, January 13, 2014

All the cosplays!

A question I often hear people ask is do you think it is better to cosplay a lot of characters or just one very rarely cosplayed character?

Since this is such a good question I couldn't help but to want to write a post about it. I am quite torn on this question. We normally cosplay at least two-three cosplays per con. This way we have a cosplay for everyday. Since we rarely cosplay on day zero (The day before the con starts.) we will wear one cosplay one day then a new one the next. Again, we do not cosplay on day three as we have to check out hotels and drive home. So two is normally enough.

Last con we brought three outfits. It was fun but very bothersome.  One of them we wore for a total of thirty minutes and tore it off as soon as we got in our room. Although it was fun it was a ton of work and we found ourselves in our hotel room more than around the con. It wasn't very fun. Of course we didn't have a connection to the characters like we normally do.

Our very first con we only had one cosplay. Break and Sharon from Pandora Hearts. We had such a great time. Having only one character to cosplay meant we had more focus to put into getting into the role of being that character. We don't have to worry about changing into another cosplay. That means one make-up look, one wig, one set of accessories and one pair of shoes to get used to.

Here is a short list of good and bad things I've noticed about cosplaying numerous characters and just one. These are based off of my experiences and may not be the same for you.

One, unique character to cosplay.

Pros


  • There is a few or none cosplaying the same character as you. (You literary feel like you ARE that character.)
  • You stand out
  • Makes group shoots a lot more fun
  • Less to pack
  • Makes taking a break easier (Will discuss below.)
  • More picture taken of you

Cons

  • Sweat (You will sweat and sometimes it shows. If you have one costume, you can't change and wash it out without having to wait hours for the fabric to dry. This happened to me the first time I cosplayed.)
  • Your costume may become dirty/stained or damaged.
  • No one may know your character (Been there, done that. Not much fun.)

The pros are very easy. And they over rule the cons. When I talk about taking a break I mean going into your hotel room to eat or just wind down and rest your feet for an hour or two. For my fiance, friend and I we like to remove our wigs, kick off our shoes and costumes and lounge for a bit. When you have only one costume it's very easy to remove our outer pieces and relax. We don't have to worry about changing our make-up or contacts. 

Now for the bad side. Our first time cosplaying we had to walk quite a while from our hotel to the con site and I wore a long ballgown that came un-stitched so it dragged on the ground. It became so dirty I was really upset. I spent the entire evening scrubbing dust and grim off the pink trim. I did get most of it off and somehow managed to get the fabric dry (this fabric is horrible to get dry.) But when I found myself in the hot summer heat and started to sweat I found hiding that very hard. We didn't stop at the hotel often because of how far away it was so I just kept my arms down but it was horrible and I felt very gross. The fabric is not breathable.

When I cosplayed more than one character I found it easier to avoid all that but didn't feel as connected to the character. We wound up changing from character to character a lot because we were bored. It wasn't much fun. Sakura-con we only bringing one cosplay for each of us. And at first I was nervous. The train of the dress is white. What if it gets dirty? I decided I'll just sew on a clear strip of elastic or plastic and use that to wrap around my wrist so the fabric is lifted while I walk outside or in a crowded room like the dealer's hall. Of course we'll be bringing along some Tide pens too. Instead of wearing the cosplay when we are in our hotel room I'll remove it so there is less of a chance of it getting dirty.

I have to say I am very excited to cosplay only one character. Now if only I could hurry up and finish Abel so I can start on Seth and get everything done on time so we can cosplay. I have quite a lot of time so I'm pretty sure we'll be able to get everything done. We're going fabric shopping for the white fabric for Seth later this week. I might look at trim too and see what they have for Seth.

In the end I don't it matters if you cosplay a lot of characters or one. As long as you are having fun and enjoying your time, I don't see how it would matter. Some people can only afford one cosplay per con. So what. Enjoy your cosplay to the fullest. I hope you have fun.


Thanks for reading.





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