Spotlight
Cosplay cuz she has to Connie Morgan Ashley Pinn is so much more than a sophomore wildcat. Her escape from the sea of academia is Cosplay. Where some gamer girls just play video games and imagine their characters from outside of a PC, on any given weekend this girl transforms into the characters she loves.
certain cosplay materials in Japanese, be exact and precise. A last minute that a hot glue gun is one of the best Halloween costume won’t cut it with those dedicated to the craft. cosplay friends you could ever have.”
Blogs are how many enthusiast find inspiration and knowledge on how to construct their next costume — but blogs are just the beginning of online Cosplaying is more than just dress up cosplay mania — Cosplay in America has to fans all around the world like Pinn. Cosplay (short for costume play) is dressing up as a character and acting as that character while in costume. Ashley Pinn studies, sophomore graphic design, dreams of character design in the video games industry. “My very first cosplay was really super bad,” Pinn says. “I used to have no idea what I was doing or how I wanted to make my costumes better. Now I raid thrift stores and buy cool pieces for my characters online.” Pinn’s introduction to cosplay and online friends who already cosplayed got her into the scene. Now Pinn is supporting others in the cosplay world with her own vibrant online presence which includes three YouTube channels, a Twitter and Facebook page. Cosplay is also a hobby that naturally attracts a nerdier crowd, hence the strong online presence and community that exists all over the world. Cosplay.com claims to be the world’s largest cosplay community. The site includes pictures, profiles, events and a forum with thousands of threads. One cosplayer writes in her blog: “Thanks to cosplay, I learned […] how to put in contact lenses, how to sew bust darts, how to do my makeup, the names of
Most of Pinn’s costumes are handgathered and pieced together over time. Pinn sites Goodwill as one of her gotos when it comes to getting a costume together. Picking a character can be almost as hard as finding the costume. Pinn’s list of future characters is too long to list here, but she says she chooses her favorite ones that most fit her body shape and infuses the personalities she most likes. Pinn does evil, goofy and even psychotic characters. She has been as elusive as Waldo as creepy as the Joker and as loveable as Spike from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
“Believe it or not, it has helped me become more confident in my body image,” says Pinn. “I make a damn sexy man, and I make a damn sexy woman.” The over 11,000 followers, and there are cosplaying community is very accepting many more Twitter pages dedicated to of all sexual backgrounds, associations cosplay. and lifestyles. Cosplaying knows no limitation to gender or even species Cosplay evolved from Anime and comic when choosing a character to play. book conventions but has now spread to an even wider audience through the web. Pinn’s dream costume would be The Stig A once-devoted anime fan, Pinn says she from Top Gear (The U.K. Version) but for has outgrown that obsession and no now, she has set her sights on playing longer goes to anime conferences just Vaas from Far Cry 3 and Booker DeWitte because there is an event going on — from Bioshock Infinite. now she goes in character. To some, cosplayers are just weird nerds Pinn and other cosplayers will who will never be understood. As Pinn attend conferences such as Sakura- explains, many parents think cosplaying Con, KuroNekocon or Oki-Con, for the is some sort of “weird sex thing,” which fun of dressing up and interacting just isn’t the case. In fact, many of the with others with the same passion. conferences are family-oriented. Rules True cosplayers are very committed to and regulations on props and weaponry this expensive hobby. Costumes must are extensive. This is because many Pulse - 37