 Costuming
is the most accessible part of anime conventions. It's the most colorful
aspect of these events (and the costuming pictures of this site draw more
attention than the panel reports). Costumers (left to right) David Ramsay,
Heather and Tikki were on hand on Friday to talk about their passion for
amazing outfits. |
 Ramsay, who
makes costumes for sale along with Kimberly Johnson (pictured), noted that
the big challenge for costumers is trying to translate the proportions
of anime characters to the proportions of real humans. "A lot of people
don't have legs that start at their sternum," he said. When he judges costume
contests, he looks for the fine details of the costume, to make sure it
fits the wearer and if the costumer seems comfortable with the outfit -
and acts in character. |
 Where do all
of those costumes come from? Some of the material is found in fabric stores,
and other parts come from odd thrift shops. The parts and pieces can be
gathered from out-of-the-way stores, and others come from items laying
around the house and garage. Assembling the parts into a costume does take
work and some skill. These Cheshire Cat and Naga costumes have been built
and rebuilt several times by their owners, and were new for Otakon. Tikki
recommends finding a place that offers sewing classes - and getting a durable
sewing machine that will hold up under those long costume-creation sessions. |
 Some people
in anime fandom are bugged that fans dress up in costumes just to draw
attention to themselves at conventions (and even Steve Bennett of Studio
Ironcat noted at the panel that some Japanese guests are confounded by
what they see). Ramsay said that costuming should be done well, but it
should always be fun for the person wearing the costume. Anyone who goes
to a convention who is too intent on winning a masquerade award won't get
all of the enjoyment they can get from the cosplay experience, he said. |
