No, I don't agree with you there, either. I dressed as the Dread Pirate Roberts because The Princess Bride is my favorite film. I dressed as Ultimate Spider-Man because he's my favorite comic book character. Not because I thought I could "pull off" the costumes well in other people's eyes. Believe me, even though there's plenty of praise that's come my way, I get a lot more "You're too skinny", "Why's he so thin?", "You ain't him, you're too little" "Eat a sandwich" comments when I'm out in public than you'd imagine--probably more often than the supportive comments. If I was doing this for the approval of others, I'd be gutted, because many-to-most people don't think I can pull off those characters super well. But the people who really love costumes and REALLY love the characters are really enthusiastic and excited--because it's the shared connection of loving a character and putting in hard work that matters, not the phenotype of the person who's suited up. That's what makes sharing these projects worthwhile.
AND I don't think my (or your) striving to look as much like a character as I can and succeeding in the eyes of some people negates that point at all. Folks should be welcome and encouraged to try to replicate any aspect of a character they desire to; where we need to tread carefully is the offhand implication that people who aren't like a character in certain ways aren't also welcomed and encouraged.
There's a lot of toxic aspects of the cosplay community at large, and just because something's been done before or often doesn't make it a good or healthy idea. The drawing of lines between "can pull off that costume" and "can't pull off that costume" doesn't create a supportive environment. It breeds the kind of gross 'value-based' discussions of costumers that results in the kind of negativity that's been leveled at people like
Chaka Cumberbatch over the years.
If a section of the forum like that existed, the answers should all be emphatic yes's anyway, so what purpose would it really serve? If someone wants to start a thread asking for costume suggestions, that's super and their own choice, but to dedicate a section of the forum to people
asking a la this thread if they are good enough to attempt a costume sends the wrong message about inclusiveness here. This should be a space where people are encouraged to make any prop or costume that they love.
