Oct 24 2015

Yang Xiao Long on the Sulaco- Arkansas Anime Festival T-Minus 19 Days

Ok, folks, here we go- New cosplay project!

Armed with a NEW, heavy duty sewing machine,

Yay! Currently brainstorming names for her. I’m thinking maybe Sulaco.

and we’re ready to take on a new Cosplay for our next convention: The Arkansas Anime Festival (A2F).

Cosplay daughter realizes that much of her cosplay is gaming-based, which is fine, but she wanted an Anime costume for A2F. She’s been wanting to try for Yang cosplay for a while, and we’re going to go for it:

Once again, this is a cosplay from a show (RWBY) that I don’t know, but apparently she’s not only smart, and funny (apparently spouting bad puns like weapons)…..

…..but has awesome fighting skills: super strength in her punch, which is linked to the gauntlets that also fire bullets. When she’s really angry, her hair also flames, and she can take down a whole building with her fists. She’s a huntress, fighting monsters.

I understand why daughter (newly training in Kenpo) loves this character.

So here we go. Armed with a modest budget, we hit JoAnn fabrics yesterday, and then, of course, the thrift stores. Can we make this cosplay for less than $100? Let’s find out.

(Looking at the cosplay.com website for advice yesterday, I saw that one of the member’s mottos was “Nothing is impossible, but some things are very expensive.” So. Very. True.

It’s easy to drop hundreds of dollars on one of these projects in small pieces. We have to avoid that this time- I have to save for us to go to Pax South in January)

Cosplay daughter is an inveterate internet and thrift shopper, though.

We found second hand boots that would work, and by last evening, she had altered them, made the scarves to go on top and the sock/sleeve for her left leg.

Here working, while watching RWBY for inspiration. That’s Yang on the screen.

The boots and scarves.

Today we start tackling the jacket- T Minus 19 days and still under budget.

Wish us luck!

Oct 20 2015

Cat Cosplay: Feline Fine….

So the other day, a friend posted this photo to my Facebook timeline:

Anime fans will quickly recognize this character as “Sailor Mewn”- feline Sailor Moon.

My cats may never forgive her.

It turns out that there is a whole, glorious world of CAT COSPLAY!

How fun is that?

Well, fun for the humans, anyway. (Though I have to say that Sailor Mewn, there, doesn’t look upset.)

We have the two cats: one princess and one street urchin with PTSD.

Cosplay daughter with both kitties. The calico, Abby, and her royal highness, Princess Fluffbucket (aka Pearl).

Cosplay daughter has been dressing them up for years- the princess even once won a pet costume contest for Halloween- (I think because she was the only cat entered).

Turns out that clothes from “Build-a-Bear” fit the cats perfectly.

Until this, though, I don’t know that she had considered actual cosplay for the kitties.

I hadn’t either.

I sure am NOW!

To be fair, our street urchin, Abby, doesn’t really need an actual costume to cosplay. If she weren’t afraid of EVERYTHING (humans walking into a room, humans walking out of a room, saran wrap, the washing machine, etc.) Abby would be a perfect Mochi for our Hiro and Aunt Cass cosplay:

Abby would never make it through a convention, though. As esposo (recently upgraded from novio!) has observed, Abby is sure that EVERYTHING means that the apocalypse is upon us.

That leaves Princess Pearl, Empress of Everything.

I’m thinking Elsa:

Light fur, big blue eyes. Fabulous, high-maintenance, feline-in-charge.

Stay tuned. There may be Elsa cat cosplay!

Update: Cosplay daughter says that while she is totally on board for Cat Cosplay, there is NO WAY she’s dressing Pearl up as a “overrated Drury Princess.” (not a Frozen fan- though I think that’s from the ubiquity of the franchise more than anything else.)

we’ll see. Daughter suggests perhaps Cinderella…..

Jun 20 2015

The “Artistic Temperament” : Dispatches from Cosplacon Part I

Hello, and greetings from Cosplacon in Jefferson City!

One whole big hotel of cosplayers wearing everything from papier-mache anime heads to ghostbuster uniforms (complete with unlicensed nuclear accelerators). This is cosplay daughter’s favorite convention because it’s all about the cosplay. 🙂

The creativity and artistry on display here is amazing (photos soon, I promise!) and that has me thinking this morning about a subject that has occupied my attention of late- “the artistic temprament.”

I’m not an artist myself. I would never claim that title. This modest experiment in creative nonfiction (and the occasional steampunk hat) are but small forays into that landscape. I’m at best a technician and wordsmith.

I know this, because I recognize a true artist in my daughter, and her best friend.

I also recognize it in the amazing folks I’ve met in and through this cosplay adventure, like my friend Sarah in the UK, who built/sewed/fabricated this Rocket Racoon FROM SCRATCH.

I also see it in the amazing creativity on display, the shipping and combinations on view at a convention like this: Hello Kitty Darth Vaders. Master Chief as Master Chef.

I am amazed and impressed by these artists.

But as a Mom (which is a key element of this particular blog) I also see the struggles and challenges of being a member of that tribe.

I’ve written before about cosplay daughter’s strict attention and near-obsession with detail. She sees minute differences and shadings that I simply don’t. She finds variations of color and configuration that I can’t even perceive to be ESSENTIAL to her design. And sometimes, when she can’t realize her vision, she just simply refuses to go on.

(Remember those long fall boots? My first blog post? They’re sill in pieces in the garage. Every once in a while she mentions them, but hasn’t returned to try and make them work.)

I saw that kind of thing again over the last couple of weeks with another artist (who needn’t be identified by name here, it’s not important) a costume and clothing designer. She had invited me, cosplay daughter and cosplay best friend to model in a fashion show here at cosplacon. The theme was to be the ball scene in Labyrinth.

I was going to get to wear a BALL GOWN AND CREEPY MASK. Made by a REAL COSTUME DESIGNER. I was STOKED. The girls were too. How fabulous!

But then- attention to and control of detail. Costume designer communicates that she will need all three of us to commit to showing up for hair/make-up, rehearsals and photos at 11:30, for a 5:00 show that lasts until 6. And during that time we are sequestered so as to not ruin the moment when we appear.

Wow. Ok, that’s a deal breaker for the girls, who aren’t excited enough to give 7 hours of their convention day to realize the vision and promote the business of someone else. It’s a bit much to ask.

But I’m still in! (*chanting*) Ball gown! Ball gown!

and then, just a few days before the convention, the designer reveals that she is simply not happy with the level of detail and scheduling notes that she’s getting from the convention (which like most of these events is volunteer run by young people with day jobs). She won’t compromise her vision or risk the time and control she needs to make her art happen.

So she pulls out and refuses to participate. Rats.

As the girls would say: “sad face.”

So- was this a bit self-important and divaesque? Maybe. The convention organizers apparently thought so.

But here’s my observation- this is the kind of attitude and approach that makes the art fabulous to begin with. That attention to detail and confidence to demand that it be right or not happen at all is what can give us great works.

But it’s also hard and challenging- for the artist and for the fans/supporters. I really was looking forward to that fashion show. I have also spent hundreds of dollars on a pair of boots that are still in pieces in my garage.

Both things are frustrating.

and the artists themselves- when they disappear in Salingeresque fashion, can lose business, or fans and then no one gets to see or appreciate their work.

There’s lots of definitions out on in the internet of the “artistic temperament”- everything from medical dictionary references to mood swings and blasts of creative energy; to centuries-old meditations on originality and self-involved self expression.

But I’m not sure any of these are really important or really capture my new experiences of being a artist groupie.

I do, however, often think of Deborah Harkness’ amazing All Souls trilogy in which all artists (from playwright Kit Marlowe to mathematician and astronomer Thomas Harriot) are actually daemons- brilliant, magical, vague, fickle, creative and destructive all at once.

Do I think my artist friends and family are daemons?

Of course not.

Do I think those artistic folks that surround me have abilities that seem otherworldly in their magic and inscrutability?

Yes.

And how wonderful, challenging, rewarding and frustrating is it that I get to travel alongside of them?

Hamada Family Reunion: Supersuits, Inflatable Robots and Happy Bakers

Wow! Too long since I’ve written a post!

First the end of the university’s academic year, then the run-up to the convention meant that I couldn’t find the time to play in the cosplaymom sandbox.

But now, here we are at the Arkansas Anime Festival (A2F) for the costume competition, to run some panels and for general fun, merriment and binging on pocky.

I had a cosplay parenting panel, and cosplay daughter participated in a Pan-Disney panel that included a diverse array of characters, from Belle to Peter Pan to Hiro and Tadashi. It was a great opportunity for a Hamada “family reunion”

Cosplay daughter, had coplayed Hiro Hamada before as “casual Hiro”

That’s the previous A2F. Now, however, after 6 months of construction, painting, hot glue burns and exacto knife cuts, cosplay daughter was ready to show off the Hiro supersuit….

I’m very proud of this look- she made this entirely herself from scratch, with no help from me. She used EVA foam mats from Lowe’s (the kind you use to put on the floor of a play area or work area), the heat gun that novio gave her for Christmas, and at least three different kinds of adhesive/glue.

(This is where I still have value. In the shopping. As bankroll…)

I loved how proud she was of it, and enjoyed how many small people wanted their photo with her this weekend. The young ‘uns knew EXACTLY who she was and truly appreciated it!)

But I also love this cosplay because it let me participate. As HIro’s Aunt Cass;

It was PERFECT because I could be effervescently enthusiastic, and she didn’t have to fake her exasperation!

and then as a bonus, at cosplay daughter’s Disney panel, the rest of the family was there…

Hiro’s brother Tadashi…

and even Baymax!

Cosplay daughter won the Judge’s Choice award, I got to play with worbla in the cosplay-playroom and I met some great other cosplay parents/uncles/grandparents….as well as Obi-Wan Obama (more about that in another post.)

One summer convention down! Now on to Cosplacon in June!

Mar 26 2015

Problematic Genitalia: The Unknown World of Cosplay Superhero Naughty Parts

NOTE: as you might imagine a post titled “problematic genitalia” would, this post contains a whole bunch of correct terms and euphemisms for the male and female reproductive organs. It’s also full of nerdy scholarly musings. You can decide which is scarier.

A couple of months ago, another member of my Costuming Guild posted a friendly suggested link on cosplay cleavage, with the note that it might be of use to the ladies of the group who were wanting to cosplay superheroes.

Now, like a good feminist, gender-scholar mother, I got all hot and bothered and posted a passive-agressively snide comment in reply- hoping to see a tutorial on how to make men’s genitalia look bigger for cosplay.

And that’s when I learned something fascinating. Guys cosplaying superheroes actually have the OPPOSITE problem.

They have to minimize, reduce and hide all of their business.

The gentleman who runs the guild is a Batman cosplayer who pointed out that this is the challenge for men. I had no idea.

However, any amount of time investigating the subject in online tutorials and message boards reveals a significant amount of angst, anxiety and outright disgust about the visibility of men’s reproductive organs as part of a superhero cosplay.

For example, a favorite site of mine: www.cosplay.com. Has a new thread in a discussion forum, titled “How to Hide Your Junk in Spandex.” in which the user posts:

“looking for advice on how to hide my “Junk” when wearing spiderman suit. Ive seen lots of pictures of guys in superhero spandex, and there is that crotch “thumb”. (and it looks ridiculous).”

Luckily for the cosplayer in question, the internet is also full of instructional descriptions, videos and pictoral representations on how to “tuck and tape.”

Fascinating. (she said, raising a Vulcan eyebrow)

But WHY?

Isn’t it interesting that women are coached and expected to play up their private parts, and men have been trained to hide theirs? That men themselves see the VPL (visible penis line) as “ridiculous?”

Turns out that even in major films, there is a great deal of effort that goes into hiding superhero packages. This article details how Superman was digitally altered in post-production, and the new Spiderman necessitated a “new ‘high tech’ designed costume. A source on the set stated, “One whole day was devoted to make sure there was nothing inappropriate showing in the crotch area of the suit.”

Maybe this is the answer? Men’s genitalia are “inappropriate” for public view, while women’s breasts are fair game for everyone to look at?

Gender scholars will say that the latter is old, and well-trod territory. That women’s bodies have been viewed (and are viewed as public property and since forever. Through the multiplication of images of idealized female bodies in the media, women even learn to see themselves through the eyes of others. (That’s just one link, there’s a whole literature on this for anyone who is interested.)

This study at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln confirmed that men’s visual focus is mainly on the sexual body parts, whereas women generally focus on faces. Surprising…..not at all.

So men, and the media, enjoy looking at breasts. Women learn to conform by making theirs more visible. Ok.

But this isn’t helping me with the issue of hiding male penises. Superheroes are by definition, powerful and strong- almost hyper-masculine in their violence and contribution to the phenomenon of progressive muscularity.

Social psychology researchers used these images in a study on men’s identification with superheroes. It’s also worthwhile to compare the image of Adam West as Batman with that of Christian Bale in the same role.

But if you search for advice on hiding male genitalia, two kinds of returns come up- superheroes and crossdressing (men dressing as women.) Surely the penis is the most masculine of male body parts- since only men have them. Hence the desire to hide the part if dressing as a woman. What’s the link, though, to superheroes?

Much of my thinking on this wonders if the disconnect is a product of specifically U.S., puritanical hang-ups about sex and our easy acceptance of violence.

We don’t seem to care how much violence we surround ourselves with in film (this study found that the amount of gun violence in films rated PG-13 has tripled since 1985), but we would prefer that our kids not even think about sex. (E.g. abstinence-only sex education)

But perhaps more on point is this study that found that in the period from 1950-2006, the roles of men and women in action films were increasingly polarized:

“women are typically portrayed in a sexualized manner. Despite the emergence of violent female action characters in more recent films (e.g., Lara Croft), violent portrayals in movies are overwhelmingly by male characters.”

So maybe that’s it. Women, show your breasts, men, show your muscles.

As a Mom and a human, I don’t think I care for either of those messages- for girls or for boys growing up.

And in the world of superheroes, it makes one speculate about what each character’s “super-powers” really are.

Feb 16 2015

Costuming Philosophy: What Kind of Footwear Does it Take to Kick Ass?

Cosplay daughter and I just completed a shopping juggernaut looking for sensible, Victorian-style boots for an Elizabeth (Bio Shock) cosplay.

This was hardly my first rodeo when it came to trying to buy, borrow, beg or build cosplay footwear.

I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about Cosplay Daughter’s odyssey to construct Chell’s boots from Portal 2:

And when I showed the essay and photos to my writing group it provoked a discussion about the whole “superheroine in heels” thing* that drives Cosplay Daughter (and others) nuts. There are clearly some particular challenges for women in cosplay in this area.

Full disclosure: both my teenage self, and later, Cosplay Daughter as an 8-year old (watching on dvd) loved the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman program.

It was fun, and fantastical and certainly never, never accurate- historically -or in any other way. And I doubt either one of us noticed her boots.

So with those warm, early-childhood memories. Cosplay daughter and I were excited to hear about a reboot of Wonder Woman as a television program: a new Wonder Woman for the twenty-first century. You may have never heard of this show, and that’s because it never got off the ground, in part because of the outfit:

There was a LOT of public criticism of this supersuit- from the rubber pants, to the provocative pose- (there was significant repetition of the words “cheap” and “porno” in the online descriptions).

But for me, it’s the boots. Those look like at least 4 inch heels. How, exactly, does one fight the bad guys whilst standing on tiptoe stilts? (Even if one IS an Amazon).

Suspend disbelief! You say.

It’s a comic book! You say.

Men are represented in equally unlikely and anatomically impossible fashion! You say.

And all of that is true. But all of this makes it much harder to cosplay.

(As an aside, Cosplay Daughter and I had a wonderful conversation in Bed, Bath and Beyond, of all places, with a friendly young sales guy who would love to cosplay Brick, from Borderlands,

but expressed tentative self-consciousness about being buff enough. Obviously, NO ONE is buff enough).

I have to say though, that at least the exaggeration in his muscles makes sense for his character- the physique looks like it was built to kick ass.

So we’re back to the question, which is apparently limited to female characters- What Kind of Footwear Does it Take to Kick Ass?

I cannot say, with a straight face, that Cosplay daughter is in favor of sensible footwear on femme heroes.

(Remember, I have an entire post dedicated to trying to construct the ridiculously elaborate footwear pictured at the beginning of this post).

But she certainly IS in favor of footwear that makes SENSE for fighting, questing and saving the day.

She notes that Harley Quinn sometimes wears high heels- but in that case, the heels are knives that she uses to stab people. The rest of the time, it’s sensible (evil) booties:

Watch out, Superman! (The shoes look comfortable though…)

Katara wears warm leather boots and of course, Chell has the boots that are specifically designed for jumping and falling. Notably, Hit-Girl, in the Kick-Ass universe, wears combat boots.

So why the heels?

Sex appeal, clearly.

In my day job, I research beauty and physical attractiveness for women around the world, and I know that there is ample and compelling research that high heels on women increase their attractiveness to men. (The scholar in me wants to give about 14 footnotes here, but I’ll content myself with this one link).

And that’s fine. More power to anyone who works the (limbic) system to achieve personal or professional success. Succeeding in life or work is a type of kicking ass, certainly.

But for the superheroines, the first-person shooters and the supervillans, for the game characters, and for a young woman like cosplay daughter, who is seeking to achieve her goals and demonstrate artistic, intellectual and skill-based power and effectiveness, I come down in favor of the logical footwear.

What kind of footwear does it take to kick-ass?

The kind that shows your skill and highlights your strengths.

Whatever those are.

*(Many thanks to dear writing friend Katie who asked the question that provoked this essay)

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Adventures in costuming, constructing, cosmetics and cultural observation

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