What is cosplaying? And why should my child do it for Expo?

[Admin]

Cosplay is the fusion of English words 'Costume' and 'Roleplay' and literally has the same meanings. This means first and foremost, we will be dressing up as characters from animes, and secondly we will be acting out skits.
This is so much fun, and shows your child just how much fun acting can be, if your child doesn't already know that is!
For those of you who have done a West Valley Drama Production, think of this as fun without Bailey snapping at your every move.

The steps to cosplaying:
1.) Pick out a character you can pull off. We don't want to see anyone being out of character really. We want you to be able to be in this character, as you play them.
2.) Make the outfit.
Now, this step is very serious. Sometimes costume construction can take weeks on your own, and other times only a few minuets of being in the store, or hanging out with friends. Either way, you have to know what you're going to do. I've done a few catagories in the past that I can help you guys do:

A) Monster. This one is a ton of fun, at Expo's and Conventions you can hardly get anywhere without being asked to stop for a picture.
Monster involves Chicken Wire, felt/other type of soft looking fabric, and a lot of patience.
1.] you must shape the chicken wire into the right shape, with add on's if need be.
2.] you must find fabric that matches your costume's needed colors, and stitch it onto the monster chicken wire shape.
3.] Make it in three or four parts, with the head very easy to come off. Arms, Legs, torso, tail, and head must each have a different section.

B) Cardboard Costumes.
Yes. I said Cardboard costumes. What these are used for are things like machines, I've only done one in the past and it was a Gun Sniper from Zoids. The red one if you've ever seen it. ;3 For this one, cardboard, paints, packing tape, and a well laid plan are very needed.

C) Human Outfits: This is when we dress as humans. I mean people like Tohru, Yuki, Shuichi, Hiro, and yes, even Ash Ketchem.
This is very basic cosplaying, and I'll help everyone with whatever they choose.

D) Sub-Human: This means humans with add ons; tails, ears, wings, large fake swords, so on and so forth.

I've done all of these and more, and so I'll be more than happy to help your child make them. This is one of the greatest parts of Anime Expo, just walking around, jumping into acting with people you don't know, and making friends through anime.

It's also a lot of fun when we can finally do a group cosplay, like a large group all from the same anime, with not only main characters but back stage characters, and cross overs never hurt either!

One of my favorite memories this year was doing a group skit with not other YYH characters, but Death Note characters!
Botan from the YYH world, meets Light, L, Misa Misa, Watori, and the rest of the squad, oh did the madness ensue. By the end of it, all we could do was laugh.

Anime expo is one of the most memorable parts of my life, and I wouldn't give up going every year for anything. I love Cosplaying, and I love helping others adore it as much as I do. I hope you let your child tag along, I know they'll adore it!