Everybody likes to get dressed up now and then, and even as a tom-boy type, I am no exception. The feeling of getting ready for a special occasion is a rare pleasure that I indulge in only a few times a year. However, the kind of dressing up that I do isn’t your run of the mill put-on-a-pretty-dress routine. What I like to do is something called “cosplay”. A combination of the words “costume” and “play”, cosplay is a type of role-playing activity most commonly associated with Japanese culture, particularly anime. While cosplay is an action, it should also be noted that the word can refer to the physical costume itself.
I used to be ashamed of the fact that I dress up like my favourite characters and go to conventions, but in recent years I’ve discovered that it is something that I need to be proud of and should share. While I know that some people look at the cosplay culture and think “Why are these weird nerds dressing up in those stupid costumes?”, things are changing slowly and it is becoming more well-known and accepted. Even people who have no interest in doing what I find fun are intrigued by my devotion to this hobby.
There are many types of “cosplayers”, or people who cosplay, and while they may seem very different from one another, we are all essentially doing the same thing, and loving it. There are people who buy their costumes and people who make their costumes. People who strive for accuracy and people who just want to do enough to be recognized. People who try to challenge themselves with a particularly difficult or daring piece of costumery and those who prefer to stay within a certain level of comfort. As cosplayers, we are constantly crossing these bounds with each and every costume. Everyone sits on different places of the spectrum, and every cosplayer and cosplay is different. But this is what makes the culture so unique. The fact that while we are all doing something similar, every costume that you see came about in a different way and will look different for every person.
One of the joys for me is in making my own costumes. Over break, I spent almost every moment working on a new cosplay for a convention two weeks ago. My mom was helping me with it, showing me proper sewing techniques and the like, and just lending a hand whenever I got frustrated or stuck. At times, I’d hear her in the other room, on the phone with a friend, telling them about this costume I was making and saying how interesting it was. Times like those remind me that even though people don’t necessarily understand my hobbies, they are still appreciated. The praise I heard kept me sewing until 2 or 3 a.m. as the deadline for my convention drew near.
Knowing that even people who would never want to do what I love still appreciate and admire the time and effort I put in, reminds me that cosplay is something special. It brings together people of similar interests, whether it be an anime, a video game, or even a regular movie or TV show. It gives artistic fans a way to show their support and love through the costumes we wear. The self-esteem boost I get when a photographer asks me to do a photoshoot reminds me that I do look damn fine in my Hatsune Miku[1] wig. But most of all, for me cosplay is something fun that I like to do with my friends. Some of the cosplayers I have come to know have become my best friends, and I find that I’m always looking forward to seeing them, and whatever new costume they’re wearing, at the next convention.
If you’d like to know more, feel free to contact me to ask more, or consider attending a meeting of OSU’s very own Cosplay Club!
[1] Hatsune Miku – a popular Japanese singer, who is in fact a vocal-synthesizing program; “she” is one of several “Vocaloid” singers