By now you may have noticed that I shed my slovenly suburban white kid attire of a t-shirt and old cargo shorts for a more risque outfit. "Getting in the Game" is by no means necessary to have a good time interacting with convention goers but it is absolutely a game changer.
You may be thinking that cosplay is not for you. I didn't think that it was for me either until I witnessed the impact that it made on my interactions with people. My previous year, I noticed that there were tons of Slave Leia's at the convention. There would often be large groups of them standing together, never getting a chance to move as people snapped picture after picture. What I didn't see that year were any dudes dressed as Leia.
Benefit 1: You already have a family
One of the first things that I realized was that by dressing as a character, you immediately get a family. By dressing like Leia, I was already a part of the Star Wars family. Anyone else in Star Wars garb gave me the nod of approval. I was one of them. Once you dress up as a character the first steps of approaching people are out the window. Now people need to ask you for permission. And getting a picture with another person in a Star Wars outfit merely requires a nod of agreement. I wasn't the only one gender bending my outfit that year. I met a female Han, Darth Vadar, Boba Fett and Chewbacca. I even met a few dudes in various Leia outfits.
You may be thinking that cosplay is not for you. I didn't think that it was for me either until I witnessed the impact that it made on my interactions with people. My previous year, I noticed that there were tons of Slave Leia's at the convention. There would often be large groups of them standing together, never getting a chance to move as people snapped picture after picture. What I didn't see that year were any dudes dressed as Leia.
Benefit 1: You already have a family
One of the first things that I realized was that by dressing as a character, you immediately get a family. By dressing like Leia, I was already a part of the Star Wars family. Anyone else in Star Wars garb gave me the nod of approval. I was one of them. Once you dress up as a character the first steps of approaching people are out the window. Now people need to ask you for permission. And getting a picture with another person in a Star Wars outfit merely requires a nod of agreement. I wasn't the only one gender bending my outfit that year. I met a female Han, Darth Vadar, Boba Fett and Chewbacca. I even met a few dudes in various Leia outfits.
Benefit 2: Fame?
As your average Joe or Jane, you can go to a convention see cool stuff, meet cool people and have a great time. When you go to a convention and you are ready to have fun and dressed in a great costume, you can do more than that. The year that I dressed as Leia, I had all kinds of people asking me to have my picture taken. I met TV stars, wrestling stars, models etc. As I was leaving the main hall a TV crew from Adult Swim pulled me aside asked if I would mind being filmed for their show and handed me a waiver. I breezed through it, signed the thing and did a few scenes where a creepy bald guy crawled out from under my dress. The point is that you get a few more advantages then the regular attendee when you dress in costume.
As your average Joe or Jane, you can go to a convention see cool stuff, meet cool people and have a great time. When you go to a convention and you are ready to have fun and dressed in a great costume, you can do more than that. The year that I dressed as Leia, I had all kinds of people asking me to have my picture taken. I met TV stars, wrestling stars, models etc. As I was leaving the main hall a TV crew from Adult Swim pulled me aside asked if I would mind being filmed for their show and handed me a waiver. I breezed through it, signed the thing and did a few scenes where a creepy bald guy crawled out from under my dress. The point is that you get a few more advantages then the regular attendee when you dress in costume.
The great thing about conventions, is that most people are friendly. The other great thing is that there are tons of other people in costumes as well. The only time that I felt, awkward was when I was leaving the hotel that we booked in the shady part of town. The walk to the train was a million times more uncomfortable than anything that happened at the convention. So if you wanna get in on the really good stuff, muster up some courage and buy/make a costume.
CONVENTION BOOBS #5: HANDLING
CONVENTION BOOBS #5: HANDLING
RSS Feed
