I Cosplay Because...

Some might wonder when and why I got into cosplay.

 

My first cosplay was in 2008, but in a way, I have always been a cosplayer. As a child, I would dress up as my favourite pop stars or pretend to be a Disney princess. I would make ‘clothes’ out of scraps of fabric. My mom taught me to make new things out of old things, something I use a lot in making my costumes. I have always loved dressing up and making things.

 

People often think one needs a lot of confidence to cosplay. I'm not a particularly confident person – in fact, I am very shy in person.

 

Cosplaying helps me become more confident. Although still shy in cosplay, I push myself. I enter the cosplay comps which means being singled out and walking around with everyone’s eyes on me. For someone like me, this is incredibly nerve-wracking but each time I do, I feel a little more confident about doing it. I certainly don’t do the best or most accurate cosplays but I love cosplaying.

 

I cosplay because I love dressing up and because I love the characters I cosplay as. I am the type of person that doesn’t just watch or play something and really enjoy it and then just move on. I fall in love. I take a little bit of my favourite characters with me. I draw inspiration from them. I think the design and costume of a character is important, but I don’t cosplay them solely because of that.  Whether it is something that I can learn from (such as confidence, strength, intelligence or kindness) or something that I find interesting or beautiful (such as those stubborn, crazy, tormented or twisted characters), I choose these characters because there is something about them that I admire or love.

 

I cosplay because I'm not just a fan – I am passionate about characters.