Kaoru Kamiya (Rurouni Kenshin) - Cosplay Write-up

Kaoru was one of those characters from my childhood that resonated in me something strong. I loved how tough she was when you first see her in the anime, but as it goes you see that she has more sides to her. She is a strong fighter, but she’s also really feminine. She’s stubborn to a fault, but stands up for her morals none other. All of the women in this anime are amazing people, but Kaoru will always be my favourite and her training uniform has been on my cosplay list for years.

Cosplay Write-up: Leonardo Da Vinci

This is going to be a bit different from most of my write-ups because my Leonardo cosplay is actually pre-owned. I bought it off a couple of cosplayers who were having a moving sale. It was fairly inexpensive, unused and I always thought Leonardo would make a fun RenFest cosplay. Howeeeeeeever... 

        When I got the cosplay I could see why it was probably never worn. It was….a bit worse for wear. A lot of the seams were fraying, the fabric choice was something to be desired, there were basting stitches that were left in, the clasps holding the front together were falling off…..basically it was a bit of a fixer-upper.

Bombshell Batgirls Uniforms Part 2

I hope everyone feigned some information from my previous entry about the construction of my DC Bombshells Batgirl Uniform. This part will be all about the accessories and where to purchase them as well as provide sources for the designs used on the back.

Bombshell Batgirl Baseball Uniforms Part 1

SO I have been wanting to sit down and do a good, long write up of everything for my DC Bombshell's Batgirl group. This group has been pending for a while and honestly, I feel like I let my girls down. But in hopes of remedying that, I'm doing this now.

So here we go.

Slowly, but surely

So I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this, but I often get what I've begun to call artist/crafter/cosplayer tunnel vision. Especially when it comes to cosplay (which is the focus of this blog entry, but it can be applied to any art field).

The Pros and Cons of Group Cosplays

photo by Angelwing

At PAX South 2016 I had the honor of being part of the biggest group I have ever pulled together. This was definitely a mixture one of the most fun and stressful things I have accomplished as a cosplayer. The group consisted of eight people in total, we originally had more, but drop outs happen because life happens. An important truth to accept when forming a group is that people will drop out. Life happens, things get in the way and sometimes those things more important than cosplay. Do not let things like that ruin friendships. We were cosplaying from Animal Crossing and had a pretty good cast of shopkeepers as well as a villager. This group was such a fun and wonderful experience and it is honestly something I would never trade for the world. However, it was also quite stressful. I personally was in charge of painting almost everyone's faces, with the exception of a couple individuals. We constantly clogged up walkways at the con which I felt terrible about. And herding 8 animals people to the photoshoot location was...well difficult is an understatement. 

The Importance of Embracing our Mistakes

       Growing up, I gained a fear of being wrong. I grew up in an environment that stigmatized the idea of making mistakes. That if you asked questions, you were dumb and messing up meant not being as good as everyone else. If something didn't make sense to you then that's your fault and you're just not smart. If you make the smallest mistake, you'll be mocked and laughed at and it that effects us to where the idea of it happening terrifies us out of trying anything. This is the unfortunate reality of a lot of places and I know lots people likely go through this. When we're kids, we're unafraid of messing up and learning, but as adults we see messing up as a setback and that scares us.

But it really shouldn't be that way.

         This is something extremely important that I've actually learned from being in the cosplay community. Messing up, miscalculating, making mistakes...these help us learn. No one is born perfect. No one bursts from their mother's womb with all the answers to the universe. To get where we are, we have to learn. We need to mess up. We need to ask questions. We need to research and find things. Gaining skill takes time. We live in a society where there is so much demand for instant gratification that when we see others excel at what seems to be a fast pace with no mistakes, then we feel as though there's something wrong with us. And that makes us apprehensive to try new things because we think we'll never meet up to others' standards. However, everyone makes mistakes, even the people that we think never do. Making mistakes is an important part of the learning process. No person who tried anything got it right on the first try. No one is born with a natural ability to do anything perfectly.

         Sometimes it is hard to accept our mistakes for what they are. Especially when we live in an environment that stigmatizes them so harshly. But when we make mistakes we need to step back, look at them and let them know that we're not afraid. Fear is a part of human nature, but so are mistakes. When you look your fears in the eyes and embrace them instead of avoiding them, you grow and learn and move on. Embracing our mistakes is how we learn from them. Seeing how you did something wrong helps to you to figure out how to do it right in the future. And sharing your mistakes can help others to learn and grow with you. People are imperfect. If we all embrace our mistakes, maybe we can erase the widespread fear of fail and we can learn and grow together.

Go with love,

Koopa