I’ve
said it many times and I’m going to say it again now - the costume
community is the single most important fan group at Dragon Con. And
I’ll say it again next year, too.
Obviously
every aspect of Dragon Con is important – the fan Tracks, the
celebrity Guests, the gaming, the artists. The biggest event of the
year would be critically lessened by the absence of any of these. But
for me the true magic of Dragon Con comes from the immersion in a
world of like-minded people. And different scenery – people walking
around in costumes – is the best and easiest way for that to
happen.
For
a few days, anyway.
I
had a fantastic conversation about costuming and cosplay on Episode
67 of the Needless Things Podcast,
but now I want to get specifically into what we’ll see this year at
Con. Every year I predict what will be the biggest costume trends at
Con and every single year I absolutely nail it.
With,
like, one of them.
While
I like to the think of myself as a pop culture commentator (and
occasionally a wrestling one), I tend to stick to what I know and
like. It turns out that is but a small portion of the massive
universe of genres and geek interests that are happening today. Also
I am an old, old man and I have no idea what these kids today are
into. Pokémon, right? Isn’t that what the girl in the shorts is
from?
Anyway,
here are my picks for some of the biggest costuming trends this year,
as well as some stuff I’d just like to see. If you’ve got your
own thoughts on the matter, you can comment below or, even better,
join the Needless
Things Podcast Facebook Group
and get in on the conversation! Let us know what you
think!
Mad
Max/Post-Apocalyptic Stuff
Thanks
to the Apocalypse
Rising Track
we already see a good amount of spiked assless chaps and metal bras
every year, as well as a massive presence in the not-to-be-missed
Dragon Con Parade. But with the runaway success of Mad
Max: Fury Road
I think this genre is going to take the prize for the best
represented. Not only is this style visually striking, there are vast
possibilities for costumes and original creations beyond any familiar
characters. Not only does this allow for more creativity and freedom,
it means that you can basically choose your budget. This is a style
that utilizes clothing and items from the world we live in and has
many tiers of skill level and intricacy as far as building costumes
goes.
To
sum up, Fury
Road
was huge and pretty much anyone can make a decent-looking
post-apocalyptic costume. We’re going to see a ton
of this stuff.
80s
Wrestlers
Wrestling
seems to be on a bit of a mainstream upswing right now thanks to
Brock Lesnar’s high profile and Stardust’s current feud with
Arrow
star Stephen Amell. And, unfortunately, we have lost two of the
biggest names in the history of the business in recent months –
Rowdy Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes. I think the spotlight is on my
favorite sport right now more than it has been in the last decade.
Every
year I am delighted to see more and more guys dressed up like Macho
Man, Jesse Ventura, Ric Flair, and more and I think this year is
going to be bigger than ever. Heck, the DCW wrestlers themselves
might have to work extra hard just to match the pomp and circumstance
of these guys!
The
Last Man on Earth
I
would love
to see some couples dressed as Phil and Carol. They’d be easy
costumes that would only need a few subtle but specific items to be
recognizable.
Fant4stic
HA!
Just kidding.
I’m
sorry, FF fans. I know it hurts.
Galavant
Surely
this has to happen. While I’m honestly not sure I would recognize
any of the characters if I just saw them out at the Hyatt or
somewhere, this show was so amazing and fun that I can’t believe
there wouldn’t be a contingent of folks representing. At the very
least the most handsome man at Dragon Con should be dressed as Jean
Hamm.
Arkham
Knight
I
know for a fact that people do costumes from the Arkham
games because I’ve seen them online. But only online. I don’t
believe I’ve ever seen any in person and I want to. I was going to
bring my Hugo Strange costume this year, but now I think I have
another villain I’d rather do…
Daredevil
You
guys – we are going to see so
many
black Daredevils. Not black guys dressed up like Daredevil, but guys
in the black costume from the Netflix show. This might be the easiest
possible superhero costume ever made. Granted, if you want a
screen-accurate one you have a lot of work to do, but I guarantee
we’re going to see tons of guys in black cargo pants and Under
Armor shirts with doo-rags on their heads.
Hopefully
there will be a few red suits, as well. Not just from the show, but
from the comics. I’d really like to see Matt Murdock in his actual
red suit from the current comic (which is a must-read comic book, by
the way).
Back
to the Future
There
are always a few Martys and Docs running around, but 2015 is
thirtieth anniversary of one of the best time travel movies ever. I
think there are going to be a lot of orange vests this year. Not only
that, but 2015 is the year that Marty traveled to in the sequel, so
I’d bet money we’ll see a lot of those wacky fashions.
The
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
This
may not seem like an obvious choice, but anytime you put a cute,
charismatic redhead with a striking wardrobe on TV or in a movie,
girls are going to want to dress up as her. It doesn’t hurt that
the show was pretty great, too. I bet we see more than a few Kimmys
and probably a Titus or two, as well.
Actually,
this show is rife with costume possibilities for the larger black
man:
Star
Wars
Why
would I even mention Star Wars? It is massively represented – some
might even say overrepresented
– every single year. But this year we have a new movie coming out.
And it’s not just that there’s a new movie, it’s that all of us
are so desperate for the dawn of this new era to be good and to
rekindle our passion for the franchise that inspired so much of our
fandom that there’s almost a sort of fever for Star Wars.
Additionally,
the few bits of costuming and design that have made their way to the
public have been very
exciting. From Captain Phasma to the Sith guy to the new Stormtrooper
costumes, it is all so new and interesting and yet familiar. I can
only imagine the inspired glee with which the costuming community
attacked every bit of visual information about these new characters.
Final
Thoughts
Those
are just a few costume types that I think we’ll see. Obviously I’m
not even taking into account all of the standards – Star Trek, Game
of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, the DC television universe, and all of the other places and
franchises we draw inspiration from.
Here’s
my advice to you – wear a costume. Maybe you’re already doing
that. If so, good for you. But if you don’t think of yourself as a
costume person, do it anyway. Find something you’re comfortable
with. Go buy a mask or a cape or maybe even just find a character you
like whose garb isn’t terribly outlandish. But dress up in a way
that is different from your normal routine. Even if you just wear a
suit and a funny hat – get away from yourself for a night and have
fun. You’ll be surprised at how freeing it can be just to put on a
different pair of pants.
If you’re here checking out Dragon Con stuff and haven’t visited Needless Things before, thanks for coming by. Me and my writers post five times a week about toys, movies, music, and all manner of pop culture dorkery. I do the Needless Things Podcast once a week. And definitely come back in October for our 31 Days of Halloween! It lasts all month long and everything on the site is thoroughly Halloweeny! Each weekday post also includes a rundown of SyFy’s programming.
Sleeper pick: the nun from the season finale of Game of Thrones that follows Cersei through King's Landing, ringing a bell and constantly saying "Shame!"
ReplyDeleteThis is obviously brilliant and we here at Needless Things endorse it 100%.
DeleteDefinitely agree with so many of these! Mad Max cosplays are the new Frozen IMO. haha
ReplyDeleteHope to see you at Dragon Con!
Definitely! The Needless Things Meet-up is Sunday at 8 PM at the Hilton pool. We're just going to hang out for a little while and say hi to everyone.
Delete