If
anime costumers were proportioned exactly like the drawn characters,
they'd probably look like the starting lineups for the NBA all-star
game. While the characters are vividly drawn, they're not usually
shaped like real humans, especially Americans. That was a point raised
when costumers Ceres Maxwell (left) and Itari held a Katsucon panel on
plus-size cosplay. The women said that the ideal female body size and
shape has varied from generation to generation, and anime characters
mirror a late 20th-century interest in thinness as an ideal. "For what
ever reason you're plus sized, you have to deal with that," Maxwell
said, referring to Peter Paul Rubens paintings as an example of how
women once were supposed to look. "Standards have changed and that
stigma translates to the cosplay world very much. I have heard
criticism of plus sized cosplayers more than in street clothes. It's
like if you're plus sized, no matter how meticulous your costumes are
the world, is going to pass you by."
So
for plus sized costumers, the goal is to portray characters of the same
size and shape, or adapt other characters to match larger proportions.
"In some anime there are larger women like Milly in Trigun and Yumi in
Perfect Blue," Ikari said. Ikari brought up the old "spandex is a
right, not a privilege" joke, but she noted that it applies to just
about any typically sized and shaped American. "I would not recommend
it for even the thinnest people," she said. Ceres said the same can be
said about shiny satin, which she doesn't like, saying "Every bump that
you do not like is going to show." A preferred plus size material would
be cotton, which "...does everything you want it to do." Ceres also
likes corsets, saying they are "...magical, just make sure that you
don't lace it up so tight that you can't breathe. Corsets are more
complimentary to larger bodies."
If
anime costumers were proportioned exactly like the drawn characters,
they'd probably look like the starting lineups for the NBA all-star
game. While the characters are vividly drawn, they're not usually
shaped like real humans, especially Americans. That was a point raised
when costumers Ceres Maxwell (left) and Itari held a Katsucon panel on
plus-size cosplay. The women said that the ideal female body size and
shape has varied from generation to generation, and anime characters
mirror a late 20th-century interest in thinness as an ideal. "For what
ever reason you're plus sized, you have to deal with that," Maxwell
said, referring to Peter Paul Rubens paintings as an example of how
women once were supposed to look. "Standards have changed and that
stigma translates to the cosplay world very much. I have heard
criticism of plus sized cosplayers more than in street clothes. It's
like if you're plus sized, no matter how meticulous your costumes are
the world, is going to pass you by."
So
for plus sized costumers, the goal is to portray characters of the same
size and shape, or adapt other characters to match larger proportions.
"In some anime there are larger women like Milly in Trigun and Yumi in
Perfect Blue," Ikari said. Ikari brought up the old "spandex is a
right, not a privilege" joke, but she noted that it applies to just
about any typically sized and shaped American. "I would not recommend
it for even the thinnest people," she said. Ceres said the same can be
said about shiny satin, which she doesn't like, saying "Every bump that
you do not like is going to show." A preferred plus size material would
be cotton, which "...does everything you want it to do." Ceres also
likes corsets, saying they are "...magical, just make sure that you
don't lace it up so tight that you can't breathe. Corsets are more
complimentary to larger bodies."
