My Dragon Con 2014 coverage starts winding down with my view on costumes this year. Don't worry, I've saved the best for last. I'll be wrapping it up with my Timothy Zahn interview tomorrow.
I'm not a costumer, but checking out
everyone's costumes has always been one of my favorite parts of
Dragon Con. I don't have a real camera, and my phone doesn't always
get the best shots so I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I
wanted. It was just too tough to pull my phone out of my bag, chaeck
the lens for cleanliness, and try and get the setting right when you
don't want to be the asshole who holds up traffic. Luckily Sharron
Von Hoene and her camera were on hand, and did a great job getting
lots of pictures that she has kindly allowed me to swipe. Lack of
pictures aside I'm really envious of the great cosplayers and costume
aficionados out there. I've always wanted to get into it myself, but
I'm inherently lazy. Another part of the problem is that I can't
think of anything truly unique to do. I don't want to be just
another Lara Croft, Rogue, or (god forbid) Slave Leia. And to get
truly unique you need to really put some thought and work into you
costume. I would totally go as my character from Skyrim, Mass Effect,
or any of the other games I have where I've got something so
customized that there's no chance any one else will have anything
like it. That is also going to require a place to put all your cool
weapons and armor and junk when it gets to be too much. I refuse to
get over my objection to shelling out hundreds of dollars for a hotel
room in the city I live in, and if I can't change when needed I have
a hard time committing to a costume for 12 or so hours a day. Let's
face it I'm also just a little too out of shape to pull of a Slave
Leia without upsetting the children. Until I get my ass back to the
gym the best I could do would be a Mon Mothma mu mu, but maybe that's not
such a bad idea. I am just too conscious (although accepting) of my body type and it's costuming limitations. I've always wanted to do a Psylocke since she's been one of my favorite X-Men for many years. But I don't have the skill to pull it off accurately, and there aren't enough Spanx and dance tights in the world to suck all my business in properly. This
is a weekend about fantasy, and cellulite hanging out of an
assless unitard is not part of any fantasy I have. But as usual, I digress.
Costumes this year ran the gamut from Business Deadpool to Pirate Deadpool every taste and style was covered. If I had a nickel for every Deadpool I saw this year I could sit at the slots in Vegas for years. I didn't manage to find out where all the Deadpools were meeting up, but I found this picture of a group from last year. Image the below picture times 10, and with many alternate goofy versions thrown in.
To quote Ryan Schweck (the most
interesting man at Dragon Con. You wouldn't believe the crazy shit
that happens to him. Just follow him around one night. I guarantee
that you'll come away with a good story) “If all the people that
wear Deadpool actually read Deadpool Marvel wouldn't have to publish
anything else”. He makes a valid point. I personally love Deadpool,
but it's hard to believe that so very many people are really that
into him. Maybe it's true, but it's somehow a tough pill to swallow.
And if all the Deadpools hooked up with all the Harley Quinns the
world would be completely overrun with psychotic black and red
babies. Sobering thought, huh? There were really plenty of other
costumes out there, but I just got an overwhelmingly Deadpool-ish
theme from the weekend. Anybody else want chimichangas right now?
I watch a lot of Face Off, and have
even got into Heroes of Cosplay a little bit. I've always been
interested in the fabrication and making of neat nerdy stuff (because
really Face Off has become so much more about fabrication than it is
about makeup). So this year I decided to check out the costume
contest for the first time. It was kind of disappointing. It was
hosted by Roy and R.J. From Face Off, and they are talented and funny
guys (they were even dressed in costumes as each other), but they are
maybe not the best hosts for this. It did seem kind of hastily thrown
together though so that may not be entirely their fault. We were
sitting too far back for any of us to get any good pictures, but
there wasn't really much to take pictures of anyway. As pro-costumer
Sara Pope put it “I think there should be seperate fabrication and
sewing contests, because they are completely different skill sets and
watching a contest with both competing is useless and impossible to
compare. Also, "hipster" versions of costumes, for that
matter, random "versions" of existing characters, people
are terrified to just straight up design an original costume that
isn't a funky twist on a pop icon. grow some balls costumers! also,
the word cosplay....as a verb AND a noun....both make me want to
vomit”. There was really maybe one costume that was in any way
impressive, and even that one was more fabricated than sewn.
Articulated wings are a great idea, but it's hard to put them against
a girl who spent time sewing and crafting an original character
costume. Needless to say the contest did not hold my interest for
long so I went back to wandering feeling like I maybe should have
stayed for DCW wrestling instead. Live and learn.
I saw way better costumes in my
rambling than I did at the contest, and I have to say that I do feel
kind of bad for the people who were standing in the hotel lobbies
clearly looking for people to come by and take photos of them. They
put time and effort into those things, and deserve a little
recognition, but they might be more likely to get it if they didn't
look so desperate for attention. My brief feeling of pity was quickly
replaced by annoyance after continually getting stuck behind some
jerk stopping to take a picture in the middle of a walkway. I also
don't believe that every single person who wears a costume at Dragon
Con is looking for attention. We almost lost Lori Lori Saturday night
due to people constantly stopping her for a shot of her great Effie
Trinket costume. She's too nice to say no, and I was too caught up in
the press of the crowd to slip out and wait for her. Thank god there
was enough phone reception to get a text through. Lori could have
been lost to us forever, and that would indeed be sad.
Just like with everything else about
Dragon Con the costuming gets bigger and better every year. One of
these days I'll work up the energy to wear something besides nerdy
t-shirts. Maybe I'll be one of those people doing a random made up
version of a costume. Aging Out of Shape Lara Croft anyone?
What follows is a random gallery
comprised of photos taken by both Sharron and myself. If anyone knows
what this Legend Of Zelda gundam looking armor thing is please let me
know. It's badass, but I just have no idea what it is.
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