The popularity of cosplay continues to grow across the country and Utah is no exception. Cosplayers from far and wide made the trek last weekend to the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City to attend the Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience. Everyone joined in, from parents and their kids, to couples, to professionals who travel from convention to convention. The costumes ranged from simple, store bought costumes to works of art that represent many hours of hard work and creativity.
What is cosplay and why do people love doing it? At it's most basic, cosplay is buying/creating a costume and playing the role.
For some families, it was a chance to work and play together. One family chose a theme of Guardians of the Galaxy, another The Last Airbender. They worked on their costumes together and once they were at the convention, they played their parts. A job well done was rewarded with great, family fun and minor celebrity status as convention goers were quick to ask for photographs.
For many, cosplay is so much more.
Cosplay is liberating. Most people that cosplay are not models nor are they social butterflies. In fact, there are many who are quite shy. But when they choose a character from their favorite video game or movie or comic book or anywhere else, they can then take on that character's personality. They can be confident. They can be comical. They can be a superhero.
Cosplaying can be creative and competitive. A costume can be as basic or as detailed and complex as desired. With creativity, the sky's the limit. There are even variations of every type. Imagine a steampunk stormtrooper, a female Han Solo or even a cross between two characters. And when the costume is at a high enough level, there is a cosplay contest at most conventions.
Cosplay lets you be part of a community. A community that supports each other in creating costumes, unites for charities and meets for fun and friendship.
Cosplay is wonderful fun but it may seem daunting to get started. Megan Golden, a seasoned cosplayer, gave this advice "Dive in, that's the best way to do it. I know it's intimidating to walk around and see all these amazing costumes but you gotta start somewhere. As long as you love the character and you appreciate that character for who they are, it'll come really, really naturally to you. Everybody can cosplay. Everybody."
So cosplay isn't as geeky as it was once thought to be. And besides, who hasn't pretended at some point in their life to be a princess or a pirate or Spiderman or Supergirl.
Share This Article
