Crafting a Community

STORY BY TOMMY CALDERON

Jemaica Murphy walks the 2014 Vancouver Anirevo convention floor dressed as a burlesque version of Elsa from Disney’s Frozen. Murphy’s light blue dress sewn to a bejeweled corset glides along the ground. As Murphy walks, a young girl dressed as the same character clutching a stuffed toy Olaf, the snowman from Frozen, apprehensively approaches her. Murphy is overtaken with joy as the young girl embraces her. It’s moments like this that make the experience of cosplay so important to her.

Murphy is what’s known as a cosplayer. She expresses her creativity through creating and wearing costumes — an art form known simply as cosplay.

Cosplay is a term that was created by Takahashi Noboyuki in the 1980’s and is a combination of the words, costume and play, according to an article by Kinko Ito and Paul A. Crutcher. The costumes that people create are typically of characters from comics, anime, movies, video games and many more entertainment platforms. Cosplayers predominantly wear their costumes at conventions dealing with comics, video games and other forms of similar media. Some fully portray and act like the character they are emulating, while others stick to only dressing as the characters they love.

Not only is cosplay important to Murphy, but also to a vast community of cosplayers that spreads beyond the United States.

For some, cosplay goes beyond the scope of simply creating a costume…there is a community that revolves around it.

Out of a love for dressing up since her childhood, 20-year-old Murphy has been cosplaying for the past three years. When she first started she created a Facebook page for her cosplay called “Jemocha Cosplay,” she says. She started one because her friend had created one as well and now she has 9,721 people who follow her page, she says.

“I’m really excited about it,” she says. “I was not expecting it.”

Along with Murphy, cosplayer Morgan Masse has gained a following of 859 people on Facebook. While the following is appreciated, cosplay is about the friends, community and building of self-confidence, she says.

In the vast community of cosplayers, everyone has to start somewhere at different skill levels and abilities, Masse says. “Even if you don’t really know what you’re doing, the best way to learn is to just get started and try,” she says.

THE SPARK

It all begins with an idea. A spark of inspiration that brings about the driving will to create something and sometimes the opportunity to take a step out of ones own life and into the persona of someone different.

Loving the character is the biggest step in creating costumes, Murphy says. Once she has made a decision on who to cosplay, she starts to gather reference material on that character, she says.

One of Masse’s most recent cosplays was done as a tribute and congratulations to her father who was recently hired at Riot Games, creators of the popular online multiplayer game League of Legends, she says. Masse decided to cosplay as her father’s favorite character from the game, Heimerdinger, she says.

Many cosplayers try to make costumes as close as they can to the characters design, however, it isn’t limited to replicating the exact design of characters people chose to cosplay as. Murphy does both, she says. On a case-by-case basis, Murphy decides whether she wants to emulate or put her own spin on a character’s design, she says.

The Replica Prop Forum, or therpf.com, is an outlet many cosplayers use as a resource when gathering reference material. It provides information such as photographs of characters and tutorials on creating costumes and props. It also acts as a public forum for people to share their creations within the community of cosplay.

Once reference photos and designs have been made, materials need to be collected to continue the process.

Masse and Murphy both scour through thrift shops, fabric stores and the Internet looking for the appropriate materials for their cosplays.

After everything is gathered it is time to begin taking measurements and constructing the costume.

When Masse first started cosplaying it was the creation process that made her love the art form, she said.

“I never thought I was creative because I don’t draw and I don’t paint,” she says. “I’m not good at those kinds of things but I really was able to feel like I am creative and I can express myself with cosplay.”

Cosplay can be time consuming. Depending on the complexity of a costume it can take as little as a few days to as long as a few months, Masse says.

Some portions of creation can be streamlined and made easier by commissioning professionals or friends to make or build things for them, Murphy says.

Upon completion of their costumes, the convention (con) is where they will be able to gather with other cosplayers and celebrate their interests.

THE CONVENTION

The convention floor is a stage when cosplaying and the investment of time spent on costumes pays off. It exemplifies how for some, cosplay goes beyond the scope of simply creating a costume and that there is a community that revolves around it.

With all of Masse’s closest friends being cosplayers, it’s a way for her to spend time both with friends she is normally around and friends that she has made while cosplaying at conventions, she says.

For cosplayer Parker Hollingsworth, cosplay opened a whole new world for them, they say.

Hollingsworth began about five years ago. They first started when they had interest in attending their first convention in 2009. Hollingsworth had never cosplayed before, however, their girlfriend convinced them to. Ever since then, Hollingsworth has cosplayed while attending conventions, they say.

“Since I’ve been doing it for so long, it feels weird not cosplaying at a con,” Hollingsworth says.

Initially, when Hollingsworth started cosplaying, they felt shy socially. Upon the realization that the other people around them had similar interests and were at conventions for similar purposes, however, it made it easier to become social, they say.

Cosplayers interact with each other, ask to take photos, compliment and discuss the making of costumes, they say.

Among memorable experiences cosplaying, Hollingsworth remembers a specific interaction. In a cosplay of Larxene from the video game Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, someone complimented them on a small detail of their whole costume, the detail being a number on a set of cards that they made as a prop for the character.

“It was a minute long interaction, but stuck with me for a few years,” Hollingsworth said.

For Murphy, Masse and Hollingsworth the gratification of making something by hand, the friendships they have made while cosplaying and the community they are a part of are what make it important to them, they say.

THE CYCLE

When Masse attended her very first convention cosplaying, she was hooked ever since, she says.

Looking towards the future, she plans on taking on more challenging cosplays, she says.

“I don’t see any plans of stopping in the near future at all,” Masse says.

It’s a continuous cycle: an idea, creation and convention. It’s a creative effort, leaving the creator feeling a sense of importance and fulfillment when they have completed their endeavors. It’s a community, full of people with similar interests and passions. It’s a place where people can feel accepted and proud. It’s cosplay.