Natasha Westlake spends most of her time working as a business analyst for the Financial Times, but two times a year, and after months and months of preparation, she transforms into her favourite fantasy character like Galadriel from Lord of the Rings and descends of Comic Con, the UK’s largest comic book convention held at the Royal Victoria Dock. Now 25, Natasha went to her first convention in 2007 dressed as a character from the first manga comic she ever bought and has been going twice a year ever since. Here’s what she’s learnt.
It’s not dressing up as you know it
‘When you see people dressing up as their favourite characters at Comic Con it isn’t standard fancy dress, it’s called ‘cosplay’ which stands for costume play. There’s a whole community of people who connect online and then dress up as their favourite comic book, fantasy or sci-film film or cartoon characters and we all take it incredibly seriously. There are even subcategories of cosplayers. I only dress up for particular events, but there also ‘live action role players’ who totally immerse themselves in character – so they might go into a wood and act out the battle of Helm’s Deep from Lord of the Rings – and also ‘furries’ who like to dress up as animals. Different types of cosplaying might seem strange – even to those of us who cosplay ourselves – but there’s no in-fighting and everyone gets on with each other because we respect how much time and effort goes into what we do.’
Cosplay starts young
‘When I was ten years old, I was obsessively into cartoons. The power rangers were my favourite – what kid doesn’t run around the playground wanting to be the pink power ranger? I went to bookshops trying to find books about cartoons and I stumbled across a manga title called ‘Fruits Basket’, which I fell in love with and which grew into an obsession with comic books from Marvel and DC. When I went to my first Comic Con, I dressed up as a character from ‘Fruits Basket’ as a way of showing where it all began for me. A lot cosplayers seem to naturally start dressing up at around 16 – I think because it’s a time when you’re experimenting anyway and you naturally want to branch out from the norm and discover your individuality. Cosplay really welcomes that exploration.’
**Comic Con isn’t so niche anymore **
‘When I first started going to Comic Con, it was still relatively small community of only die-hard fans, but anime and manga is now so readily available online and in stores that the conventions are now completely rammed. It’s all over TV and pop culture, magazines – so much esier to get your hands on compared to when I was younger. There’s even adverts for Comic Con On buses! That would have been unheard of when I was younger. I think it’s down to the fact that cosplay is now all over the media – it was on This Morning a couple of months ago – and social media helps connect people who are into that kind of thing. I’m happy that people are getting involved – it was nice when it was small, I admit – but I love that it’s becoming more mainstream and people are enjoying something I’ve enjoyed for such a long time.’
Cosplaying takes months of planning (and some serious money)
‘When I dressed up as Galadriel from Lord of The Rings, the outfit cost at least £400. It was custom made by a fantasy wedding dress-maker, who I found on eBay, and it took her two months to make. The outfit included eight inch heals, which I had to practise walking in for weeks before I could make it out my house for Comic Con. I’ve made a couple of the outfits myself, but that takes months as well because you have to have to source all the individual components yourself and sew them all together. It takes real dedication and a lot of financing just for one day. I haven’t worn any of the outfits more than once, but I have to some day – otherwise it would be such a waste.’
It’s not all about sex
This year I’m dressing up as Bulmer from Dragon Ball when she’s wearing a bunny outfit. It’s kind of skimpy, but it’s not about sex – I chose her because it’s from a very specific episode which I love and when people recognise I’m wearing an outfit from a obscure episode it makes me feel amazing because people understand what a fan you are. It makes you feel part of the club. People assume that the girls who wear skimpy outfits are in some way getting taken advantage of because the guys don’t tend to show too much skin, but I think that’s silly - it’s not really about how hot I look, it’s about the character I’m trying to emulate. Yeah some of the component parts of the outfits might have been bought at Ann Summers, but if a girl chooses to wear a skimpy outfit it’s their prerogative and no one should judge her for it. Unfortunately, there aren’t many skimpy outfits for men but if there were I’d encourage people to wear them to redress the balance!
It’s true that people do say some inappropriate stuff to cosplay girls. I’ve had the odd comment on Facebook where total strangers have taken it upon themselves to tell me I’m sexy - it just comes with the territory. That’s not to say that it should be allowed. You can’t let it affect you and you can’t not dress up as your favourite character because some guys are idiots – don’t give them that power. I just block anyone who comments like that and ignore them – they’re only looking for a reaction.’
Cosplay can be pretty impractical
‘Whenever you go to the toilets at Comic Con, you’ll see a whole bunch of girls helping each other out with the – let’s face it – most impractical outfits in the world. I can’t count how many girls I’ve had to help with their wigs and going to the toilet is a nightmare. You need to take a bag of essentials, with magic cool for when it gets unbareably hot (which it inevitably does), a tiny fan, a bottle of water, makeup for top ups, safety pins (which can fix anything) a spare pair of tights and a pair of flat folded shoes. No one wants to go for a burger at lunch wearing eight inch heals.’
Not everyone understands
‘People at work think what I do is pretty weird and always say they’d ‘never go out like that’ and that it’s ‘crazy’. I guess they’ve never really experienced it and everyone is entitled to their own opinion – I just love to dress up and maybe they don’t. People at school were the same, they just couldn’t imagine doing it themselves, probably because they’re not brave enough. I’ve never had anyone been that harsh to me though. My boyfriend has always liked comics, but didn’t really get why I wanted to dress up until this year when I’ve finanlly broken him in and he’s agreed to do cosplay as well. There’s a lot of coupled up cosplayers out there. There’s even whole families with babies dressed up in tiny Captain America outfits. I admit that some people assume that everyone who’s into cosplay is a total geek and it gets pretty tiresome. It’s mostly a hang up from TV programmes that are ten years old now – with kids wearing massive glasses getting obsessed with comic books. But shows like Big Bang theory have turned that on its head. Comic books are now such a big part of society and everyone’s life, that that stereotype doesn’t really make sense anymore. Marvel movies, The DC Movies with Batman, Captain America – you can’t escape these references in popular culture and these films grossed millions. Anyway, geekiness is a good thing. Where would we be without geeks like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates? Embrace it.’
Women have an important role to play in fantasy
‘There are so many strong female roles in comics. Wonder Woman is a ridiculously strong female. People who say that she’s not because she’s wears skimpy clothes but I don’t know why a costume that shows off you’re femininity as sexuality automatically makes you weak. She beats the bad guys at the end of the day – there’s probably more strong women in fantasy than there are in most Hollywood blockbusters. When I was younger, it was mostly men at the conventions, but now it’s definitely more 50/50 split and I think that’s mainly due to social media connecting women who want to take part and making them feel more included. There’s also less stigma attached to cosplay and people don’t think it’s as geeky as they once did, so girls feel more welcome. Women are taking over and it’s great – I don’t buy the idea that it’s a predominantly male world, there’s so much on offer for girls.’
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophiecullinane
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.