Your Con, Your Cosplay, Your Rules

by Brooke

I am not a natural born cosplayer. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the thrill of dressing up and becoming a character I admire. Make-believe roleplaying is my favorite hobby. But when it comes to building elaborate fan costumes for myself, the idea just makes me… le tired.

For my first Dragon Con cosplay experience, I had the help of several very talented friends in creating a River Song costume. These friends showed me the ways of thrifting to find pieces on the cheap. They lent me perfect accessories from their dedicated costume closets. One gifted costumer made me a replica of River’s gun out of upcycled bottles, dollar store toys and spray paint, and a holster out of belts and a leather jacket pocket. Their passion inspired me to up my cosplay game for the next Dragon Con.

The following year, things turned ambitious. My friends and I fueled each other’s costuming fire, and those of us with little costume creativity pushed ourselves to keep up with the fashion show frenzy. One costume for the weekend wasn't going to cut it – we each needed at least one full embodiment of our character of choice for every day of the con. 

We had a blast. And we were exhausted. The people in the thick of it had been pulling all-nighters to finish their costumes and sew outfits for others the week before Dragon Con. Many costumers were running on caffeine, adrenaline and Dairy Queen and ended up getting the con crud halfway through the weekend. 

I think we learned from the mad rush. This year we still have big group costume plans, but most of us started thrifting and eBaying and hot gluing months ago. I’ll have a couple of simple and very imperfect costumes. I now know my “constume” limits.

Being comfortable is my first priority. My feet revolt after walking in heels for 20 minutes. No matter how much I tease it, swirl it, spray it, gel it, my hair falls into frizzy curls after an hour in the crowds. Being a hot, sweaty mess for 16 hours a day just doesn't tickle my fancy. I want to enjoy the rush of being surrounded by 50,000 amazing and creative people without worrying about getting backne.

And you know what? That’s okay. If I've learned anything in four years attending Dragon Con, it’s that nobody actually cares what you wear. They are all too worried about how THEY look.

Wear exactly what you want to the con. Rock that fanny pack. Wear sneakers. Wear your glasses. Hell, wear a fanny pack, sneakers, glasses and a Princess Leia gold bikini. That wouldn't be the weirdest look at the con. Want to show your love for a character, but don’t have the time/money/motivation to transform yourself into the perfect facsimile? Use what you've got and wear it with pride. Above all, have fun and don’t compare yourself to the cosplay queens and kings.

So to kick off two weeks of Geek Girls, Inc.’s crazy con stories, here is my advice to you, gentle Con-goer:

Stay calm and don’t stress about your costume.

Enjoy the Con on your terms, and you’ll be able to say…