What is cosplay to you?
Using my main account and reading list I stumbled over this entry.
I’ve seen the user make many costume related entries in that comm and very often asked myself why she didn’t use dw_cosplay for the entries but the general doctor who community...
Anyway. That’s not what made really perplexed me.
Following different costuming related entries in some of my Sci-Fi comms made me wonder: Is it actually a higher percentage of people that commission their costumes in other countries than around where I live? Or has that changed here, too, and I just haven't gotten the memo? In the beginning stage of cosplay (over here at least) nearly everyone made their costumes themselves. Now their is more of the eBay-bought and commissioned stuff around, but still a fair amount of people make their costumes themselves. Or is this just my experience? I’d really like to know what other people think about this. As there is no costuming statistic and no global survey I could rely on, I can only go with what I see around me.
It’s interesting because obviously the interest in costuming is different for different people and it’s getting more obvious for me since the possibility of commissions arose over here.
My main interest is the craft and the “coming as close as possible to the original” and presentation of costumes through well done photography work. Buying stuff that is finished and looks the part is okay obviously, but then there is the search - like the “thrill of the hunt”. Sometimes the bought costume are even harder to assemble then the stuff you can actually sew. (In my experience at least...)
I actually started dropping out of wearing stuff on conventions for “fun” because that isn’t the main part of the “craft” for me personally. My very personal take is: costuming is about the craft and the presentation. LARPing and all other things are separate for me at least.
Obviously it's a fun hobby for me, too. I have fun crafting, sewing and assembling.
But I get that a lot of people have different reasons for costuming: like having fun, roleplaying, getting noticed and get accepted by other fans. Some even do it for getting more self-esteem, I guess, and that's okay, too.
It’s interesting how many people can come together for different reasons and then find common ground - or as it sometimes happens not find common ground at all...
That is an interesting point for me at least, so just ignore my rambling.
But because today I saw this article on ifanboy I was asking myself. Is cosplay = dressing up?
Because it isn’t for me. It’s craft. It’s trying to get so close to the original as possible.
Dressing up was what I did when I was five and dressed up as vampire with a shabby black sheet as a cloak or all the stuff I did for carinval time...
And that is exactly why I do NOT think the 10th Doctor Cosplay is possible as a closet Cosplay. I’ve seen it done more than enough. But the colours and the cut of the suit doesn’t make it easy to just take “a pinstriped suit” and do it. Dressing up would be much cheaper and less work obviously.
So: How is it for you? Do you “dress up” or do you see cosplay and costuming as something else? Like an outlet? Role play? Fancy-dress? Am I just obsessed with details?
I’ve seen the user make many costume related entries in that comm and very often asked myself why she didn’t use dw_cosplay for the entries but the general doctor who community...
Anyway. That’s not what made really perplexed me.
Following different costuming related entries in some of my Sci-Fi comms made me wonder: Is it actually a higher percentage of people that commission their costumes in other countries than around where I live? Or has that changed here, too, and I just haven't gotten the memo? In the beginning stage of cosplay (over here at least) nearly everyone made their costumes themselves. Now their is more of the eBay-bought and commissioned stuff around, but still a fair amount of people make their costumes themselves. Or is this just my experience? I’d really like to know what other people think about this. As there is no costuming statistic and no global survey I could rely on, I can only go with what I see around me.
It’s interesting because obviously the interest in costuming is different for different people and it’s getting more obvious for me since the possibility of commissions arose over here.
My main interest is the craft and the “coming as close as possible to the original” and presentation of costumes through well done photography work. Buying stuff that is finished and looks the part is okay obviously, but then there is the search - like the “thrill of the hunt”. Sometimes the bought costume are even harder to assemble then the stuff you can actually sew. (In my experience at least...)
I actually started dropping out of wearing stuff on conventions for “fun” because that isn’t the main part of the “craft” for me personally. My very personal take is: costuming is about the craft and the presentation. LARPing and all other things are separate for me at least.
Obviously it's a fun hobby for me, too. I have fun crafting, sewing and assembling.
But I get that a lot of people have different reasons for costuming: like having fun, roleplaying, getting noticed and get accepted by other fans. Some even do it for getting more self-esteem, I guess, and that's okay, too.
It’s interesting how many people can come together for different reasons and then find common ground - or as it sometimes happens not find common ground at all...
That is an interesting point for me at least, so just ignore my rambling.
But because today I saw this article on ifanboy I was asking myself. Is cosplay = dressing up?
Because it isn’t for me. It’s craft. It’s trying to get so close to the original as possible.
Dressing up was what I did when I was five and dressed up as vampire with a shabby black sheet as a cloak or all the stuff I did for carinval time...
And that is exactly why I do NOT think the 10th Doctor Cosplay is possible as a closet Cosplay. I’ve seen it done more than enough. But the colours and the cut of the suit doesn’t make it easy to just take “a pinstriped suit” and do it. Dressing up would be much cheaper and less work obviously.
So: How is it for you? Do you “dress up” or do you see cosplay and costuming as something else? Like an outlet? Role play? Fancy-dress? Am I just obsessed with details?