Confessions of a Cosplay Girl: Ask Victoria Part One

A few weeks ago, we gave Major Spoilers readers a chance to ask Cosplay Girl Victoria questions about the world of cosplay and her part in it.  After many costume changes and public appearances, Cosplay Girl has the answers to your questions.

After the jump, that is.

John Morales AKA Uglyhooker asks: How is the best way to ask you’re partner to try this with you?? I’m going make my own Blue Lantern costume for Halloween, what’s the best way to get her involved??

Victoria: I would say the best way to get her involved is to start with main stream characters such as Wonder Woman or Catwoman. Don’t go for someone obscure that your partner isn’t familiar with; you want this to be a fun experience for her as well and she most likely won’t enjoy dressing up as a character she knows nothing about.

If this becomes something she likes and is interested in, you can slowly introduce her to other heroines by showing her a comic, movie or a DCU/Marvel animated movie!

Navarre: Let’s say I want to portray my favorite hero, Captain America (Steve, not Bucky).  His costume isn’t just spandex like, say, Spider-Man.

We have a chain mail shirt incorporated into the uniform, fold-over boots, finned gloves, the shield of course, and the perfect human physique beneath all of that. It isn’t enough to merely suggest such a look, imo. One would want the suit to show the weight of the mail while at the same time displaying the muscles beneath in a way that doesn’t look hokey. So what sort of thing would go into the actual costume design? Are there commercial pieces one can (and should) buy or could someone like yourself design the right look at home?

My second question is concerning comic book females. With few exceptions, comic book females are lean, athletic, shapely, beautiful, capable, and confident. Like the males, they are usually the epitome of what we imagine heroes to be. That being said, do you find it redundant to portray the same type of women and, if so, do you look for women with something different about them? Is your interest in achieving the character’s look or are you drawn to certain personalities, as portrayed in the comic?

In convention photos I see a lot of females portraying Black Cat or Emma Frost or one of the more provocative females. However, I don’t really see anyone portraying Kitty Pryde, for example, even though she is brilliant and capable.

I was wondering if that is because the costume itself is not interesting and iconic enough or if you, as a female, feel more interested in larger-than-life females in the same way I might prefer Captain America over, say, Cyclops.

Victoria: In regards to your first question, you can do both actually. You can purchase ready made costumes and accessories and add your own personal touches weither it be something homemade or something you purchased separately. I often do that; I purchase an official costume then buy separate things to achieve the look I want and throw it all together.

You have a good point about Kitty Pryde. I personally like the character but I don’t like her costume design. I just don’t think it’s pretty and I don’t like the colors. Perhaps if they gave her a new uniform, something more flattering (and by “flattering”, I don’t mean “revealing”) I would consider her. I’m drawn to many different characters, all involving their look, personalities and storylines. I don’t have a “type” and have portrayed women who are different. Slave Princess Leia is a pop cuture icon, Lara Croft is arguably the most kick ass female in video games, Calie Liddle is haunted and tortured and yet Belle is a prefect Disney Princess. I enjoy all sorts of characters and I suppose the one thing they have in common is an inner strength.

Nick asks: Is there a cosplay you would love to do but is too daring or embarrassing? Has there been a moment when your cosplay has put you in danger? Like wild fans. Which cosplay do you do that feels the most natural? The one at is easiest for you to get into role for.

I can’t really think of a character I wouldn’t want to cosplay because it’s too risqué. I’m in pretty good shape and fortunately have a body that can pull off a revealing costume. I don’t have body issues and am very comfortable in my own skin.

Victoria: At an Anime’ convention there was a group of Sailor Moon cosplayers who went absolutely nuts when they saw me in my Aerith Gainsborough cosplay. They screamed, hugged me and said how much they loved me. It wasn’t life threatening but really sweet they reacted with such passion.

A few years later however at the same convention, an older man who was crossplaying Alice (from Alice in Wonderland) was quite rude. He wanted to take a photo with me and I was happy to oblige but I was in the middle of talking with a photographer and cosplayer, whom I had just done a shoot with. I asked if he could wait and he literally hovered over me and asked if I was ready every 10 seconds, interrupting my conversation. Then he complained to my boyfriend that I wouldn’t take a picture with him. I finally did it just to get it over with. I felt his behavior was quite rude. Later in the day he was following me around and watching me which was really creepy. Everytime my boyfriend and I caught him staring, we left the room.

The cosplay I feel most comfortable with is Calie Liddle. It’s the easiest character to portray for some weird reason. I’ve never been to Wonderland and I don’t come from a defunctional family *laughs*.  But something about her makes me feel the most connected and she’s so easy for me to get into character. Perhaps it’s my immense love for the comic series or the fact that Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite books. I feel that the Calie pictures are some of my best and once I have that costume on and we turn on the camera, everything naturally falls into place and it’s so easy.

Crash asks: I recently tried to put together a Black Lantern Kal-L costume but I’m having some issues. I bought a superman costume and all my attempts to dye it black have met with failure.  I tried Black Rit dye but the only thing it did was make the blue a darker blue. I finally found what worked at all was a can of cloth spray paint but a single only did the chest and stomach (which needs to be retouched with more of the cloth spray paint) and it cost $5.

Do you know of a cheap and easy way to die a costume Lantern Black?

Victoria: Some material can’t be dyed using Rit dye or anything else; you have to know what the material the costume is made out of and check the dye bottle to see if the dye is capable of coloring it. Shop around and read the labels of different brands. If the spray works, that’s probably what you should stick with but in all honestly, your best bet will probably be to order a men’s black leotard and either sew the ‘S’ crest on or use fabric glue. I understand you’re looking to do this on the cheaper side because you’re on a budget but with cosplay, that’s almost never an option. This hobby costs money especially if you’re looking to do something unique.

Bob asks: I am interested in making costumes for myself and my kids (sadly, the wife is not interested). My mother-in-law is a former seamstress so I’m good there, but I’m having trouble tracking down actual patterns. I’m also interested in the best and easiest materials to work with. I’d sure welcome any suggestions!

Victoria: It depends on what exactly you want to make and then you have to look for that specific pattern. McCalls offers Superhero patterns on their site: http://www.mccallpattern.com/item/M4951.htm?tab=costumes&page=3

The following links also offer Superhero patterns: http://www.simplicity.com/p-1526-costumes.aspx http://www.simplicity.com/p-1524-costumes.aspx

Websites like http://www.mccall.com/ http://www.sewingpatterns.com/ and  http://www.kwiksew.com/ offer basic patterns and you should also check your local craft store.

Thanks to everyone for your questions! Happy cosplaying!