Today I participated in my very first Cosplay competition. My local comic book store, appropriately named “The Nerd Store”, hosted it’s second annual cosplay competition. I’ve slowly been getting more and more into cosplay, I enjoy seeing how much effort other people put into their costumes and seeing how they take certain items to make an awesome costume.
When I signed up for it the other day I went in not wanting to “win” just wanting to see what the experience was like. What the people were like. And boy was my opinion changed. At first I was really nervous to go by myself. I knew that if I asked my cousin or something she would come with me, but I thought it’d be good to try and do it by myself so I could branch out a bit. This turned out the be really good for me.
I went dressed as a Lakitu. For those who don’t know (a lot of people didn’t at the competition) this is what a Lakitu is:
Isn’t he cute? I came up with the idea first when I was trying to come with something to wear to my video game themed 5k at the beginning of October. And when I think of racing video games, I think of Mario Kart. I had to narrow down what I wanted to wear and since I didn’t want to carry a huge kart with me everywhere, I went with the Lakitus. Immediately I knew I wanted the cloud the he swoops in on, to be a tutu. It just seemed like the easiest (and cutest) way to do it.
After purchasing an INSANE amount of tulle (I still have a ton left over) I sat down on my couch with a season of Psych and just tied it to a satin ribbon. I took it to work and tied it during lunch, I was tying this almost 3 days straight before it was done and looked full enough.
The rest of the costume was pretty simple. I bought some Aviator goggles as well as a Ninja Turtle shell from Amazon. Then bought a dowl, some plywood and twine to make the “Final Lap” sign.
Overall the best part about this wasn’t the competition itself, but meeting people who were just as into stuff as I was. After the winners were announced we went back to the store and just talked. A handful of us wanted to keep talking, so we went to Chili’s for lunch. In our costumes. A Lakitu, Ariel, Captain America, Starlord, Black Widow, Green Lantern and the Joker just bonding over chips and dressing up.
I wasn’t expecting to win, and I didn’t. But that was okay. I really just wanted to experience it, and now I’m hooked.
Items:
Ninja Turtle Shell : Amazon
Aviator Goggles: Amazon
Tutu: made by me
Sign: made by me
As a newbie to cosplay I would love any pointers on how to become better. Pattern suggestions and so forth are welcome!
