Accessorize Your Inner Geek
Fandom nerds everywhere know that what you wear and what you carry are your keys to power. While wearing your Maleficent cosplay to a Comic Con draws admiring glances, your boss might glare. The next thing you know, you are listening to a boring lecture on proper workplace attire.
Show your fandom support by wearing a belt, cufflinks, earrings or a pair of socks. Blast rays full of curses when you use your Anime character’s image embedded in a keychain holding your car fob. Eyewear is a great way to display your geeky side. Often, characters use glasses as a disguise. You can disguise your inner fan wearing your characters eyewear.
Punk the World
No matter whether you ally yourself with Furry Fandom, Evageeks, Moonies, Winter’s Children, Duelists, Dragons or Fire Breathers, all who inhabit fandom culture use indirect methods to communicate with the fandom universe. For example, DBZ (Dragon Ball Z) fandom has fan comics whose characters names illustrate puns on regular words.
Celebrate and support fandom-themed businesses by wearing their products. If you’re a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z, for example, you could wear a Goku tank top. If you really want to punk others, wear it while munching on carrots. Few people know that all Saiyan (a DBZ race) characters have vegetable names. Goku, the protagonist of the series, actually has a different name: Kakarot. It means “carrot”. So, eating carrot sticks while wearing a Goku-related Dragon Ball Super tank top or some other article of clothing can be your own private joke.
Don’t Be a Mary Sue
Fandom will never be a perfect world. Avoid wearing clothing with outdated clichés. Embrace your Geek-self and don’t try to be a Mary Sue—“an idealized and seemingly perfect fictional character” according to Wikipedia. The pure definition of a hero is someone who has character flaws.
Take Harry Potter, for instance. He’s a fantasy character who is a hero from birth (“The Boy Who Lived”) and ends up ultimately ending Lord Voldemort. Yet, he wasn’t perfect. He often let his prejudices and pride lead to faulty decisions and judgements. Heroes overcome their flaws and struggle to succeed. Mary Sue’s are wannabe heroes doomed to fail because of the plastic, perfect persona.
Be Yourself
A lot of people, especially those who are new to the cosplay world, might find it hard to allow their love for all things fandom be so public—especially in their attire. They might be self-continues about how others perceive them, thinking “They don’t think I’m normal!” In reality, though, we aren’t robots and we aren’t meant to mimic other people. Their style is their own; likewise, your style is yours.
Be unique. Stand out. Be proud of who you are and what you like. Allow your love for fandom be present. Wear unique T-shirts with witty book quotes. Color and style your hair like your favorite anime character. Accessorize yourself with fandom-themed jewelry. In the words of the brand Nike, “Just Do It!”
Overall, wear clothing that reflects who you are and tells how you connect to your fandom genre. Remember, always be yourself and don’t pay anyone any mind who might have different style or genre differences.
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