Another cosplay convention has passed and I had such a marvelous experience that I’m so excited to share. In my Fan Expo Chicago cosplay recap I get to talk about the cosplays I debuted and even my first time competing. I had a lot of great takeaways to apply to future costumes and also got to meet so many incredible people.
Cosplays Debuted
I got to debut two brand new cosplays. The first day, Friday, was my newly completed Pepa Madrigal cosplay from the movie Encanto. She was a really fun piece to make since I started with a base dress that I ended up heavily modifying to create something new. The costume itself was also comfortable and had pockets.
Saturday was the day of the craftmanship competition, which I created a Starfire cosplay for. I was impressed I didn’t have to con crunch this costume to be done in time. This was the first time this costume was seen besides a preview on my OnlyFans. I am so glad I chose it to compete but I’ll get into the why later.
The last day I really wanted to take it easy. I wore an older cosplay of mine however it had never appeared at a con before. This was my Alan Grant genderbend from Jurassic Park. I love this closet cosplay because it’s hard to damage, one of the first props I ever made is apart of it and it got recognized more than I anticipated.
First Time in a Cosplay Competition
I have never competed in a craftmanship cosplay contest before. Now I had participated in the showcase at C2E2 twice and have done an online contest where I entered just a single prop, but never a full, on stage competition. I really wanted to talk about this the most in my Fan Expo Chicago cosplay recap because I think I learned a lot that I want to share with fellow cosplayers who haven’t competed before and are thinking about trying it.
The first thing I loved about my time competing was the friends. There was a group chat made for the people competing to just chat in. Everyone was cheering for each other, giving advice, being super welcoming and even helping each other out. It was beyond cool to see a group who was technically competing be so friendly. The cosplay community really does make competing fun, win or lose. Even back stage, we were all cheering for each other and just having fun together. No one was a sore loser, everyone was uplifting and it was just a great opportunity to meet fellow crafters.
The other thing I took away was feedback. The judges were such a great group of talented cosplayers who studied my cosplay during my pre judging, looked at my build book and were able to give me constructive feedback. After the contest I went and talked to the judges and they told me about what I did well, things I could do better, what stood out the most and took time to help me improve my crafting skills. There was zero gatekeeping between the people I competed with or the judges who were more than happy to chat about my costume.
The level I competed at was novice and of course I didn’t win. I went into this with zero expectations though and couldn’t have cared less. There was so many amazing things I got out of taking time to compete than a win. I made friends, had a great time and learned about how to be a better crafter.
Final Thoughts
The big thing I want to emphasize is, if you’re looking to compete, just do it. It’s a great experience but don’t go into it expecting to win. Go into it hoping for friends, good feedback and just an overall great time.