In Cosplay We Trust #001
Cosplay: A History / Cosplay Universe / World Cosplay Summit exhibition
Howdy, I’m trying something new, bi-monthly emails of cosplay interviews and other interest of note related to cosplay. If you got this email this means we had interacted in some manner wherever I photographed you or I interviewed you in the past but I understand this might not be your cup of tea so feel free to unsubscribed at the bottom.
Tangela from Pokemon: jnguyen816
Cosplaying as Tangela was so much fun. I didn’t expect con goers to love it as much they did. Moving around in it was a struggle. I was only able to see straight forward, good thing I had my companion, Nurse Joy to maneuver me around (shout out to @boomskies17 !)
I’ve always thought of Tangela as my spirit Pokémon. I’ve always wanted to do it in the past but pool noodles were always out of season at the time of the con.
This year I planned ahead and depleted stores of their supply well in advance, lolPutting this cosplay together was a lot of trial and error, it seemed easier and simpler in my head. I learned that packaging tape really does go a long way, lol
Author Andrew Liptak on his new book Cosplay; A History
I had originally outlined the book in three parts: When We Cosplay, Why We Cosplay, and House We Cosplay, which has been reorganized a bit for this final version (it’s much stronger now). There were also some interesting topics that I came across while researching: a picture of a reenactment in the 1800s led me down the path of living history and military reenactments, which I included. A chance encounter with a book about Jules Verne led me to track down details about a costume party he threw, and things like that: every new revelation brought with it new details to uncover, and every new interviewee brought me new fidelity to the history.
A good example here is a woman named Astrid Bear, who was heavily involved in the science fiction fan community. She was party to a lot of those early developments from an early age, and she outlined something really interesting to me in my interview with her: Star Trek had a huge impact on the cosplay community, because the costumes were relatively comfortable. When the show arrived, costuming at cons was largely restricted to designated times for specific events. When Star Trek arrived, it brought in new fans, but also new attitudes: fans started wearing the costumes in the halls (there was some friction from long-term con goers about this!) and that change in culture helped to bring about the con environment that we see these days.
Cosplay : A History is available at 20% off on Amazon
Cosplay Universe (2022)
The filmmakers behind the new cosplay documentary Cosplay Universe spent 7 years working on this project and finally it is done. You might have seen co-director Jordan Rennert hopping from Anime Expo to New York Comic Con to DragonCon. The movie was released in select theaters over the summer and is available right now to rent or buy on Amazon, Apple, YouTube, Xbox and Vudu.
Check their website for details
Finally those in Washington DC have a week left to catch the Crafting Global Friendships: Celebrating 20 Years of the World Cosplay Summit exhibit at the JICC/Embassy of Japan before this Thursday Nov. 3, 2022.
In partnership with the Japan Foundation of New York and the World Cosplay Summit, Inc., the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan proudly presents Crafting Global Friendships: Celebrating 20 Years of the World Cosplay Summit! This exhibit highlights the many international connections that are built through costuming and more specifically, through the world of cosplay.
Here is your chance to see WCS Team USA’s cosplays from the past twenty years.
Oh one more thing, Cosplay Wonder Walk at Holiday Matsuri has open submissions for this year. Cosplay Wonder Walk is a cosplay exhibition hosted at Holmat, a convention held in Orlando in December.
Till next time,
ejen
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