So I met you and your boyfriend at AnimeFest in Texas. I of course had to ask why y’all are cosplaying old school characters ?
Well, it was basically Ryan (Score’s) idea. He kind of grew up on Robotech, and he had quite the crush on Minmei. I had seen a bit of it too, but he’s really the true fan. We both like doing old school characters that we admire and like, versus doing a character just because they have a cool design or whatever. So, Rick and Minmei were an easy pic! And we chose their first outfits from the series because we like doing kindof “default” costumes.
lol ! I had a crush on her too…..anyways, tell me about your outfit – how was it to put together ? Difficult ? Easy ? How did it compare to others you’ve done in the past ?
Well, I used a very simple pattern for the dress, and loved it! Course I had to then go and alter it (neckline, sleeves, length) but I still like how it came out! The stripes were probably the hardest part at where it curved… curving bias tape and not having it bunch up was much harder than I though. The shoes were white that I spray painted, so other than finding the right kind (which was much harder than I thought it would be) so, those were super easy. The wig was just simply curled with little sponge curlers and treated with low heat and some fantastic hair-spray. The hardest thing to do was find a turtle neck in the middle of the summer, but I found a white one and dyed it yellow. I’ve done much harder costumes before, so it was nice to do something not too complicated !
So tell em about yourself – how did you get into cosplaying, when did you start, who else have you cosplay in the past ?
Well, I’ve been cosplaying for around 4 years now. I saw cosplayers in a Nintendo magazine, and thought it was the coolest thing ever! My first costume was mostly bought, because I just couldn’t understand how people could make the crazy designs and hair. But now I’m happy to say I make all my costumes and my twin sister (Hee-Hee) and I have a cosplay group, Twinzik, and we’ve been doing cosplay skits for about 3 years, and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. I’ve done about 30 cosplays these past four years, but my favorites have to have been Timmy Turner from our FairlyOddparents/Kingdom Hearts skit, Judy from Cowboy Bebop, Thief and Berserker Rikku from Final Fantasy X-2, Dorothy from Big O, Rinoa from Final Fantasy VIII, Cassidy from Pokemon, Roll Casket from Megaman Legends, and of course, the beautiful Dr. Finkelstein from Nightmare Before Christmas. ^_~
Tell me abut your experience in doing the skits ! I admit, I have never seen one though. ….well except on YouTube
Oh man, I adore doing skits! The twin and I have loved entertaining people since we were little kids, and once we found out you could enter skits in cosplay competitions, we were in! We’ve competed 11 times and won 10 awards, 3 being Best in Shows and 3 being Best Skits. We like to incorporate different theather elements into our perfomances, which include elaborate sets, background, and props, high quality audio, and we even incorporate puppetry that Hee-Hee and I have been involved in since we were in Jr. High. (We’re 21 now, so that was a long time ago!) If you type in Twinzik into Youtube, you can see some of our stuff!
I’m gonna have to check those out ! So what’s the best part of the whole cosplay experience ? What do you love best of all ? I know, I know, you love every part of it, don’tcha !
Honestly, and I’m not trying to sound cheesy, it’s meeting the people that I have through cosplay. Some of these people I consider my best friends, even though we live hours apart. Cosplay has expanded my mind creatively, and hey… now I can sew my own clothes! Always a perk. =]
Okay, more usual questions : do you prefer group or solo cosplay ? And if you had unlimited time/$$$ and technology, who would you cosplay ?
Oh, definately group! Sometimes it’s fun to do huge groups, but I actually like doing groups of about 3 or 4. That way everyone is kindof showcased, but there’s still that WOW factor of “hey there’s a group of ‘em!” ^_^ And if I had unlimited resources and such, I was without a doubt do Shana in her Dragoon form from Legend of Dragoon. I’d want working wings and everything. That’s the one cosplay I WILL do before I retire.
So do you plan to do something related to cosplay as a job in your future ? For example, I know a few cosplayers who are working towards being designers and one day hope to have a fashion line.
Well, I actually want to be a photographer. I’d love to one day have my own studio and work for myself, but before that I’d like to work in fashion and portrait photography. So, if I’m not cosplaying at a convention, I always have my camera !
How’s the cosplay scene in Texas and what cons are there ?
Hm, good question. Well, I personally love the Texas scene. There’s a ton of conventions here in Texas, so we get to see each other many times a year! I would love to go out of state and check out some of the larger conventions, but for right now, I’m perfectly happy. There are so many wonderful cosplayers here, and it seems like, when you think you know everyone, someone shows up with something amazing and you’re always meeting someone new. The competitive cosplay scene is very very deep here, haha. There are a ton of talented cosplayers who take it very seriously, and are definately passionate about their work.
I think this is in the right order, but I could be wrong: Ikkicon, Kamikazecon, AnimeMatsuri, Akon, San Japan, Animefest, Realmscon, Onicon, Yulecon and I feel like I’m missing smaller ones, but yeah.
Thanks !
