Help with cosplay

[BlueMermaid]

I often hear people talk about complying, but I don't understand it. My son love wearing costumes, so I'd like to find out more about it to see if this is something he would enjoy doing. But, I don't know what cos layers actually do. can anyone guide me?

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I am a cosplayer of a few years. What exactly do you have question wise?

[BlueMermaid]

Thank u for helping me Lorelei! So, after you put on a costume, what do u do? What activities do cosplayers do?

[Sephina]

I know I"m not Lorelei, but I also cosplay. Generally people who cosplay go to conventions, take part in costume contests, local meets/picnics/photoshoots and just hang out and be silly dressed as their favorite character.

[Moonflower]

Yeah, it's pretty much "get dressed up on a day that's not Halloween and not get looked at funny 'cause all your friends are doing it too". Been cosplaying since 1998.

You (typically) go to a convention, pose for pictures, go to the dealer's room, act silly, pose for more pictures, think about entering the costume contest, run into others dressed as someone else from your series/movie/video game, make new friends with said people, occasionally make new enemies with said people, pose for more pictures, enter the costume contest, go back to the dealer's room, forget to eat, pose for a group photo, compete in the costume contest, possibly win an award, then go back to your room to change 'cause your costume is hot/itchy/uncomfortable and you relax for a while. Then you remember you haven't eaten all day, but go to the dance/rave anyway.

[Odette]

haha! i am a big cosplayer and sew for my nerdy friends. you get to dress up as your favorite character and walk around cons in it and enter the masquerades and/or cosplay contests. http://www.cosplay.com/ has a great look at what it looks like ans some of them give you tips on how to make it. im pretty sure he will love it! there are conventions for anime, comic books, scifi,fantasy, and many other things.how old is he?some panels may need an adult present. some people will sell costume things at the conventions in the vendor hall.conventions can cost $20-50 bucks depending on the con and how many days you attend. they also will have a "rave"(dance with lights) every con has staff and security and we have police assigned to each con.there is a craft panel we did at taiyou where you draw your own pokemon and if he likes card games or video games, they have competitions and free time to play those.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Well. I think you guys just about covered it. XD

[BlueMermaid]

Ahh ok so basically just hanging out in costumes with other people who like to do it, and entering costume contests. I think he'd like that.

My son is 16. He is mentally disabled due to a condition called PMG, as well as autism. So as you can imagine, he has a hard time making friends. People love him because he's so sweet and funny, but making a close friendship is hard for him. I'm his closest friend so I hang out with him as much as I can trying to find activities for us to do together. Since he loves wearing costumes, I try to find places for us to dress up and go, like pirate and ren fests. I got him a jedi costume for the upcoming star wars celebration at disney world, and he wears it every day. lol

Some of his biggest interests are star wars, sonic the hedgehog, anything disney, & my little pony....lol We also watch that new show together, once upon a time. He loves that stuff. (gee, wonder where he got that from? lol) And yes, he also likes being a merman!

So would any of those fit in good at a con? Do they have open cons or are they usually related to a theme, like a certain game or show? Is cosplay.com a good place to find cons? What is a dealers room?

Thanks so much for all the help!

[Mermaid Sirena]

Cosplay is dress up for grown ups (and everyone else) I worked Youmacon this last year and saw people dressed as everything. EVERYTHING. Comic book super heros/villains, manga/anime, movie characters, TV people, celebrities, Pokemon, Video Games, My Little Ponies was popular this year, really being anything other then yourself. Heck I even saw someone make an entire Mad scientist with Franken Chicken from Robot Chicken. So yes all of those would fit at a con.

There are some themed conventions, like World Steam Expo is SteamPunk themed. Some cons are bigger then others and each can have it's own personality of what the majority of people dress like though really it's free creative reign. Cosplay.com is sort of a place for cosplayers like the mernetwork is for us. You will be able to find just about anything on there, to find them in your area just try googling it. I know there are several sites that list upcoming events and what not.

The Dealers room is where people sell things. There actually are two different places to buy stuff in general there is the dealers room which is more of the mass produced cut and paste stuff (statues, t-shirts, things from japan, etc.) and Artist Alley which is where you will find hand crafted or work from artist (online comic artist, painters, photographers, etc.). They can be called different things but in my experience thats what there usually is (they might be combined).

Lorelei what have you cosplayed? I'm looking on making a Princess Mononoke soon as I can afford it (I refuse to make it out of cheap fabric).

[BlueMermaid]

Thank you Sirena, that all sounds fun! I can't wait to try one! I'll keep you all posted on how he likes it.

[Odette]

theyhave these at cons! absolutely. last rave was a my little pony gala.there is always a bunch of star troopers from star wars at the cons and they love to take photos with people. they sometimes have jedi training events at the cons.and they have remote-controlled R2D2's here.
1846 this one guy in AZ dresses up as domo and there was a guy who came to a few who dressed as sonic.
there are a bunch of "furries" who attend.they make animal costumes like you see in disneyland but its their own design
and there are guests that come and talk. for the big one in Arizona, we got Patrick stewart!!! stan lee usually comes every year too.
1847
1848

.where do you live? i can help you find cons all over the US. even the small ones that are just starting and are much cheaper. my friends are staff for these conventions thats how i know so much.definitely go with him.you will have fun too!

[BlueMermaid]

Ahhh Odette that sounds awesome! My son would just love it if he got to do a jedi training event! When he was 13 he got to go on stage and do jedi training at disney world, and battle darth vader. He loved it so much he watches the video all the time. But he's sad now cause they only chose 12 and under now. haha So he would love that.

We are in SW Florida. Also spend a few months in SE Michigan during the summer.

[Odette]

ok i got a few of them. i will try to find more later:
youmacon- detroit,MI nov1st-4th
mega con- orlando,FL feb 17-19th
metro con- tampa,FL june 15- 17th
some of these are probably out of your way but im sure i can find the right one. you can look these up on google for more info if they work for you. im going to try and find some more once my friend tells me all of the ones in florida that he goes to.

[Mermaid Sirena]

I'll vouch that Youmacon is awesome!

[BlueMermaid]

You are too sweet Odette! Unfortunatly we won't be able to go to any of those. In November we will be in Florida. We missed the orlando one, but maybe next year. We will be in Michigan end of May - early July.