https://vimeo.com/89557372

By Lauren Barbour

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Cosplay. Most people think of it as simply dressing up as characters from manga or anime, if they think of anything at all. A dictionary would give a similar definition. However, to some students, it’s more than that – it’s an assertion of their creativity and individuality.

“You can express yourself (in) different ways. It’s more of a telling people, ‘I’m here, this is what I do,’ kind of thing more than ‘Oh, I’m just putting a mask on,’” said Junior Kayla Hayes. Freshman Glenndalyn Onitsuka believes, “It’s different from anything you’d ever see. It’s something new, you won’t match with anyone else.”

Hayes, Onitsuka and Sophomore Tammy Sourivong are all regular cosplayers and attendees of conventions such as Kawaii Kon, which is coming up in April, although they don’t limit themselves to that one event. They also dress up when the mood strikes them. Sourivong said, “Me and my friends normally go out and cosplay mainly because it’s fun.”

When it comes to cosplay, things like the amount of time available to prepare and the type of costume determine the level of difficulty, but the result is always satisfactory. Hayes said, “(People are) like, ‘Oh, that looks really nice,’ or, ‘That’s really cool.’ That’s also very rewarding. But I think my favorite part is putting it together, working hard for it.”

Even before beginning to put things together, the cosplayers research the characters and other information. “I usually start with my own measurements,” said Onitsuka, “For men, I have to make it a little bit more baggy since (the cosplay is) for guys. So I have to double my own size for that.” Sourivong explained, “First I pick a character and then I decide if it’s appropriate and then I do massive research for at least a week or so and see if I can afford it or not.”

After mapping out what each cosplayer needed, they started to gather material. “Then I start building little by little or just sit down and force myself to sew or construct that outfit for at least two to three days,” said Sourivong. Hayes said, “I go with the simplest stuff or depending on how much money I have at the time, I go out to thrift shops and buy what I need. Sometimes if I have more money, I’ll buy the more expensive stuff first and then go down.”

Money is one of the more difficult things to work around when cosplaying. “If you don’t have enough you can’t get the right materials, (if) you don’t have enough you can’t get the right item. It’s hard,” Hayes said. For her next project, an original wolf cosplay she’s collaborating with a friend on, she said, “I actually had to go out and buy five rolls of ribbons and that came out to like, $15. The ribbons are kind of expensive.” Other things like makeup also increase expenses.

Despite the difficulties, cosplay is a labor of love and one that is appreciated by many. “(The best part is) probably enjoying the final product and wearing it. Like, seeing how it came out, all this hard work got put into this one project and it finally came out,” Hayes expressed, “Other people are, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you pulled this one off. Oh, this looks really nice.’” When cosplaying at conventions, many of those attending approach the cosplayers and ask for pictures. “Like, when I cosplayed Axel and Reno, these really kind of big, scary guys pulled me to the side and asked, ‘Oh, can we take a picture?’ It’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, okay,’” Hayes recalled.

Being approached for pictures is a common occurrence for cosplayers. Sourivong recalled, “Last year, I cosplayed Riku and my friend cosplayed Sora and it was lunchtime. We decided to leave all our stuff at our tables so when we’re walking down, a bunch of people (asked) us for pictures so we had to run back, grab our props and this happened at least five times. We didn’t make it down to the escalators until 10 to five minutes later so we decided to just grab all our stuff, just in case.”

Wanting to share those experiences, Sourivong also takes commissions, offering to build costumes for others who may not have the time or resources on their own. “I normally post it on Facebook that I’m asking for commissions (or) I’m doing this and this. There’s one cosplay that everyone does – Attack on Titan or Shingeki no Kyojin. So basically their uniforms are all the same and so I was opening up commissions for their little hoodie cape thing.”

Kawaii Kon, the next time the girls will be seriously cosplaying, is at the beginning of April. Sourivong plans to compete with her Goddess Madoka cosplay, from the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, while Hayes will be featuring two different costumes. Besides the collaboration with her friend, she will also be cosplaying as Matryoshka’s Gumi. Onitsuka is currently working on Maka Albarn, from Soul Eater. Despite the range of costumes, they all continue to express their love of both their favorite media and characters.