Elitism in Cosplay

If you’re into any alternative subculture, you’ve most likely heard of cosplay. If you, however, are not much into it, you probably don’t know what it’s like on the other side of the hobby, in the very heart of cosplay community. To do cosplay, before play you will obviously need a costume. To get a costume, you will either need a certain set of handy skills to make it yourself, or money to pay somebody to make it for you. But to go out there in a costume of yours, you’ll also need courage and nerves of steel.

In the community, an ever-present debate is still steaming: are you less of a cosplayer if you buy your costumes instead of making them? A group of so-called cosplay elitists tend to look down on anything bought or commissioned, with main argument being that their time, skill and effort cannot compare to a product you simply gave money for. Which is true to certain extent, but this aspect has its place and time. If you are a newbie, or have no time or skill to make your own costume but would really like to wear one to a convention or cosplay gathering, why would anyone try to deny you this right? Such sort of behavior is considered completely inutile and opposes everything that has to do with the spirit of cosplay. Nobody should be ashamed of wearing bought costumes, because perfectly normal reasons for choosing this path do exist – and not everyone cosplays out of same motives. But – hold on – let’s get back to the right place and time for such a point of view. Throughout the world, many cosplay competitions are being held for the sake of presenting good craftsmanship and performance, and the concept of bought costumes implies that one could lie about the origin of the outfit, which is simply dégoûté and unsportsmanlike. For reasons of either insecurity or blatant boasting, some people resort to the covering of the origin of their costumes and thus even improperly placed shame on commissions comes forth.

Now, considering that both grounds have their points, we come to see the bigger picture in which everyone should just pace down and try to enjoy their work a bit more than they judge others’. A judges do exists in a place where one should be. It has been noted that people who are persistent enough to invest blood, sweat and tears into their own costumes do gather bigger audience around their cosplay artistry. But what happens when it comes to online popularity? Here comes another issue straight from the community oven – the question of public figures of cosplay.

The majority of people who follow popular cosplayers are not cosplayers themselves. Therefore, it’s less likely they will be amazed over cosplayers’ perfect seams or craftsmanship. For the bigger audience, what’s most important is that a character is well known, with an authentic, super complex, gravity defying, and preferably revealing costume. Which also happens to be a shortcut if you’re interested in getting instant popularity. And because at least nowadays, girls are predominant on the cosplay scene, one could easily conclude that they used and abused especially “revealing” factor many times over. Countless screams have been heard from the community regarding this issue but again, what for? Some people chose to market themselves this way, so they are perfectly aware of all the good and bad sides of doing so, and they will be the only ones to sow the results of it. If it’s not their kind of fun, someone should just look away and let everyone else define theirs. Sometimes it just seems like “Live and let live” is all forgotten. Plus, has nobody ever thought that such an attractive cosplayer and cosplay model could bring popularity to the hobby of cosplay itself? Perhaps someone will gain interest in the arts and crafts of costuming seeing the idea of getting into a character’s shoes presented by a sexy cosplayer. It could also be one of the keys for promoting cosplay and pushing it into the mainstream. For a true hobby enthusiast, this sort of popularity is not something important in a way in which it can affect their love for what they do. Many of them don’t even care about popularity at all.

Even though, as in every round up society with all its in and outsiders, issues do exist here as well, most people try to overcome occasional hate in the community, or set things right in a peaceful way. Or just try to mind their own business. Choices are different. In the end, the most important thing is that one who cosplays has fun doing it and feels good about it, while being friendly and tolerant towards others, never forgetting that for most people this is only a hobby.