I recently watched a TedTalk by Adam Savage (yes, the MythBusters guy) entitled My Love Letter to Cosplay. In it, he talks about how his love to play pretend as a child lead to his obsession with making costumes. He describes the magical experience that was his first ComicCon and the joy he found in meeting people who not only dressed as characters but became them. His talk inspired me to write my own love letter.
I have always found wonder in costuming. As a big part of the costume committee for my high school drama club, I knew the importance costumes have in setting a scene. When I would see shows my eyes would be drawn straight to the costumes and I would start to see in my head how one would put them together. I loved looking through the room of old costumes backstage and finding just the right pieces, and I got so much satisfaction when my alterations made it so they fit the actor perfectly. But despite my obsession, I had never actually made a costume from scratch.
I made my first real cosplay my senior year of high school. I needed a Halloween costume, and since Frozen had come out the year before, I really wanted to be Elsa. It had always been a dream of mine to be a princess at a Disney park, and I figured this was my chance to sort of make that come true. But come to find out, they don't make a lot of Disney princess dresses for anyone over the age of 10. So I decided to make my own. Having never made such an elaborate costume before, and with no formal sewing training, it was a daunting task. But it ended up being one of the best things I have ever done.
Nothing is more exhilarating than a fabric store. You're surrounded by colors, and every piece of fabric has so much possibility. I spent forever looking around to make sure I got the perfect colors and textures. Instead of making the dress completely from scratch, I found a blue dress at Goodwill and took it apart. I changed things, added things, and removed things until it went from a plain old dress to a gown fit for a princess. There was a lot of trial and error; a lot of times I had to completely re-do things that I had spent hours on. But every error taught me something I could use for future projects. And when I was done, it was well worth the effort.
As much enjoyment as I got from making the costume and showing it off at Halloween parties, I didn't experience the true magic of cosplay until much after Halloween. At the end of every school year, my town had a parade and the drama club would walk in it dressed up to match the theme of the event. That year the theme was fairy tale, and we knew right away we wanted to dress as Disney characters. I was so excited to have a chance to reuse the costume I had worked so hard on. The parade itself was miserable; walking in the hot summer sun made me wish my dress was actually made of ice. But afterwards, little girls came flocking towards me. They wanted pictures and hugs and to show me their own Elsa or Anna dresses. One even asked me if I was the real Elsa (I of course said yes). It brought me so much joy to see the excitement on the kids faces, and I felt as if I was finally a real princess. After that, I was hooked on cosplay.
Since then, I have cosplayed as Rapunzel and Sheik, as well as made costumes for others. When I was finally able to attend my first ComicCon, I was filled with pride and joy whenever someone complimented my costume or asked to take a picture. Not to mention the fact that I got to see tons of other amazing costumes that left me awe-struck and inspired. To this day, the costumes I have made are some of my proudest achievements, and nothing will ever match the magic of dressing up and becoming someone else for a day.
