Costume Contests at Conventions

I'm tired of watching scantily clad cosplayers win based on that alone, rather than someone who builds a space marine armor set from scratch and doesn't even place in the top 3. That's where I feel these contests are total BS.
 
Wow maybe there should be a THIRD category "sexiest costume" :facepalm

Because how sexy a costume is obviously has nothing to do either with how screen-accurate it is, or how complex it was to make.

if it would be a solution to beating out other people who worked MUCH harder to actually MAKE their costumes, rather than being a walking piece of eye candy in a scantily clad outfit that has almost nothing else to besides showing off the majority of one's figure...

So much truth in this statement.

I almost wonder if some gamergate level stuff goes on sometimes with the people who win these with minimal effort put into them for the reasons I stated above. It just irks the rest of us who actually put our heart and souls into these costumes to bring them to life. If I wanted eye candy, I'd pick up a Playboy mag.
 
Not sure how on-topic this is, but at LA Anime Expo I experienced an interaction which showed that in some case a bought costume can be "better" than a self-made one.

A guy about my age came up and was very enthusiastic about my Chief Hopper cosplay. He asked to take a photo of me. Then he asked if he could take closeup photos of my Hawkins Police Chief badge, my HOPPER nameplate, and my Hawkins Police patch. He was exclaiming stuff like "wow you have the right badge! and the right patch!"

After thanking me for allowing the closeup photos he then asked "is it real? It looks real. The shirt and the pants look real" and I said yes the shirt and pants are real (made for Law Enforcement personnel) by Flying Cross.

"I thought so" he said, then whipped out his badge! He's a retired Sheriff. He complemented me on "getting everything right". He would know!

He was impressed that I had got the authentic things rather than "a costume".

It kinda made my day...​
 
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Not sure how on-topic this is, but at LA Anime Expo I experienced an interaction which showed that in some case a bought costume can be "better" than a self-made one.

A guy about my age came up and was very enthusiastic about my Chief Hopper cosplay. He asked to take a photo of me. Then he asked if he could take closeup photos of my Hawkins Police Chief badge, my HOPPER nameplate, and my Hawkins Police patch. He was exclaiming stuff like "wow you have the right badge! and the right patch!"

After thanking me for allowing the closeup photos he then asked "is it real? It looks real. The shirt and the pants look real" and I said yes the shirt and pants are real (made for Law Enforcement personnel) by Flying Cross.

"I thought so" he said, then whipped out his badge! He's a retired Sheriff. He complemented me on "getting everything right". He would know!

He was impressed that I had got the authentic things rather than "a costume".

It kinda made my day...​

That's a nice interaction you had there. So I learned a lot from my con - there's negative stigma with anything purchased as it comes to cosplay. When I went in for the pre-judge costume contest, as soon as they heard I bought one thing, they were in a hurry to rush me out the door and be done with me. They were still gushing about the princess cosplay before mine, even though it was my turn to be judged. It was rude and unprofessional.

Got zero awards or accolades with my cosplay during the contest as a result, even though I outdid some others who won in terms of technical ability/work. Especially paint application.

As such, I've decided two things: I will never enter a contest for this kind of thing again. And second of all, if I do something like this again, I'm gonna do it for me mostly and for pictures with fans of the IP/cosplay. That part was the most fun. I had swarms of pro photographers coming up to me the two days I did my Titanfall cosplay. That made me feel great because it was the first time I've ever felt validated for the hard work I put into my cosplay.
 
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there's negative stigma with anything purchased as it comes to cosplay. When I went in for the pre-judge costume contest, as soon as they heard I bought one thing, they were in a hurry to rush me out the door and be done with me.

I clicked the link to your Cooper cosplay and it's brilliant. Nobody should care if you bought some things.

A great example of the point I was making about bought things sometimes being more screen accurate than self-made things is Professor Shelley.

He's wearing WWI vintage military pouches and a standard store-bought hat. If you got out your heavy-duty sewing machine and some leather and made the pouches they wouldn't have quite the same look as the original 100-year-old pouches, which can be bought. And why try to make the hat when you can buy the exact one for a few dollars?

TxLGUYX.jpg
 
I clicked the link to your Cooper cosplay and it's brilliant. Nobody should care if you bought some things.

A great example of the point I was making about bought things sometimes being more screen accurate than self-made things is Professor Shelley.

He's wearing WWI vintage military pouches and a standard store-bought hat. If you got out your heavy-duty sewing machine and some leather and made the pouches they wouldn't have quite the same look as the original 100-year-old pouches, which can be bought. And why try to make the hat when you can buy the exact one for a few dollars?

https://i.imgur.com/TxLGUYX.jpg

That's the exact point I made with the judges. Why the heck would I stitch my own tactical gear? There's no way it would come out looking correct. You just can't-replicate machine made products. You are absolutely on point.
 
I have a 3 Cons I host across North Carolina and I'm also sometimes one of the judges at our shows, these are just one day shows so they are not huge. The costume contest is always one of the more popular events at our shows. I feel compelled, as someone from the other side of the judging table, to explain things a little. Your costume is without a doubt very screen accurate and as you said took quite a bit of research to get to that point. The costume contest however does not judge on how accurate your costume is, it is judged, at least at our shows, on how creative your costume is and creativity often times equals homemade. It is done this way to be fair for the vast majority of cosplayers. Remember in the contest you will have characters from many genres, Sci-fi, Horror, Movies, TV, Video Games, Anime, and Comics as well as some custom characters. The judges are not experts in all these different genres so could not judge how accurate a said costume is with any fairness. We judge by how creative a costume is be fair to everyone. We also don't want anyone to just be able to buy their way into winning so the more of the costume you've made then the more points you've received. The costume doesn't have to be 100% homemade to win but we like to see the vast majority being made with only the detail pieces being bought.
 
I have a 3 Cons I host across North Carolina and I'm also sometimes one of the judges at our shows, these are just one day shows so they are not huge. The costume contest is always one of the more popular events at our shows. I feel compelled, as someone from the other side of the judging table, to explain things a little. Your costume is without a doubt very screen accurate and as you said took quite a bit of research to get to that point. The costume contest however does not judge on how accurate your costume is, it is judged, at least at our shows, on how creative your costume is and creativity often times equals homemade. It is done this way to be fair for the vast majority of cosplayers. Remember in the contest you will have characters from many genres, Sci-fi, Horror, Movies, TV, Video Games, Anime, and Comics as well as some custom characters. The judges are not experts in all these different genres so could not judge how accurate a said costume is with any fairness. We judge by how creative a costume is be fair to everyone. We also don't want anyone to just be able to buy their way into winning so the more of the costume you've made then the more points you've received. The costume doesn't have to be 100% homemade to win but we like to see the vast majority being made with only the detail pieces being bought.

You have missed my point im trying to make. I assembled and built this costume over the course of 8 years and I am still doing it with upgrades. I have had to research to make sure each piece is what I wanted to buy(after buying said part multiple times), wait for a long ass time for each piece, talk to some of the artists to get exactly what I want in terms of finish and matching paint to other parts, take measurements and a ton of trips the dry cleaners for alterations and then upkeep of the costume is a job in itself. That was not easy, especially since I cant spend too much at one time. There were moments where I wanted to give up when I made a mistake. Like for example I had my second cape shortened with out the armor and boots and ended up with a really short cape in the front. I had to buy a whole new cape!

These judges dont have to know whats accurate but Im sure they can see a high quality costume that had some effort put into it.

Soo you judges are saying that this hard work does not hold a candle to homemade stuff, especially when my parts are Professionally made instead of homemade? Remember that I also had to assemble stuff to, not all of it was just bought and worn right out the box.
 
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I clicked the link to your Cooper cosplay and it's brilliant. Nobody should care if you bought some things.

A great example of the point I was making about bought things sometimes being more screen accurate than self-made things is Professor Shelley.

He's wearing WWI vintage military pouches and a standard store-bought hat. If you got out your heavy-duty sewing machine and some leather and made the pouches they wouldn't have quite the same look as the original 100-year-old pouches, which can be bought. And why try to make the hat when you can buy the exact one for a few dollars?

https://i.imgur.com/TxLGUYX.jpg

This is the point im trying to make. Thank you.

Why would I sculpt cast and paint my own helmet when someone has done the work already with accuracy and professional paint job done. Why would I learn the process(I tried painting a vader twice and I HATED the taping part, will never do it again.) when it was already done and they have had some source to the originals to work with on top of that.
 
...
I do high end costumes, not home made.

Whether or not it was your intention, your wording here makes it sound as though you believe the two to be mutually exclusive. A homemade costume, built and assembled from scratch, can be just as “high end” as one outsourced to other builders. I’ve seen countless costumes and props that look better than anything you can buy from online vendors; likewise, I’ve seen bought pieces that look nowhere near as good as the homemade equivalent. We don’t need to choose between owning a high end costume or owning a homemade costume; the two ideas can co-exist and this forum proves that on a daily basis. I think to suggest otherwise is wrongfully dismissive and completely against everything this forum stands for.

Picture this: two people enter a cosplay contest dressed as Darth Vader. The two cosplays are completely identical (or near enough that any differences or inaccuracies are invisible to the naked eye) but one is completely handmade and the other was “outsourced”. Naturally, the scratch built costume should win because even though they managed to achieve the same level of screen-accuracy as the other guy, the difference is that they did it themselves. Forgive my ignorance, but how much more research can somebody do when “outsourcing” a costume than to look at a list of vendors for each part and decide which one looks best? Scratch-builders, on the other hand, must dissect building techniques; calculate measurements; create templates; decide on the best materials to use; mold and cast parts - on top of any painting and finishing that may be required from a bought piece.
 
Whether or not it was your intention, your wording here makes it sound as though you believe the two to be mutually exclusive. A homemade costume, built and assembled from scratch, can be just as “high end” as one outsourced to other builders. I’ve seen countless costumes and props that look better than anything you can buy from online vendors; likewise, I’ve seen bought pieces that look nowhere near as good as the homemade equivalent. We don’t need to choose between owning a high end costume or owning a homemade costume; the two ideas can co-exist and this forum proves that on a daily basis. I think to suggest otherwise is wrongfully dismissive and completely against everything this forum stands for.

Picture this: two people enter a cosplay contest dressed as Darth Vader. The two cosplays are completely identical (or near enough that any differences or inaccuracies are invisible to the naked eye) but one is completely handmade and the other was “outsourced”. Naturally, the scratch built costume should win because even though they managed to achieve the same level of screen-accuracy as the other guy, the difference is that they did it themselves. Forgive my ignorance, but how much more research can somebody do when “outsourcing” a costume than to look at a list of vendors for each part and decide which one looks best? Scratch-builders, on the other hand, must dissect building techniques; calculate measurements; create templates; decide on the best materials to use; mold and cast parts - on top of any painting and finishing that may be required from a bought piece.

I completely understand what you mean by homemade vs professionally made.

Im not saying homemade cant be high end, im just trying to make the point that building or sourcing a costume is not as simple or as easy as it looks and requires a great deal of work that just seems to be ignored just because its not homemade.

I put a ton of work into my costume even though it is sourced. A lot of people here dont realize that sourcing is not just buying the part and then wearing. A high end build requires a lot of work and an accurate version of that build requires way more work. I made mistakes and had to rebuy a lot of the parts. I had to take measurements, go to dry cleaners for alterations, talk the the artists to get the specifics I want, do research on the originals for accuracy, and then rebuy the parts again because I discover details in the originals.
 
Two different categories that cannot nor should be compared or fused.
Vader45,you've abundantly made your point for all to see.May I suggest you try to have peace with what happened at the contest,try to move on with your life,whether you ever decide to enter any contest again or not,and most certainly realise that not everyone will agree on your view,no matter how many times you repeat it.This is (part of) life.
Just continue researching,collecting,or even build what you like and don't forget to enjoy life.
 
I have a 3 Cons I host across North Carolina and I'm also sometimes one of the judges at our shows, these are just one day shows so they are not huge. The costume contest is always one of the more popular events at our shows. I feel compelled, as someone from the other side of the judging table, to explain things a little. Your costume is without a doubt very screen accurate and as you said took quite a bit of research to get to that point. The costume contest however does not judge on how accurate your costume is, it is judged, at least at our shows, on how creative your costume is and creativity often times equals homemade. It is done this way to be fair for the vast majority of cosplayers. Remember in the contest you will have characters from many genres, Sci-fi, Horror, Movies, TV, Video Games, Anime, and Comics as well as some custom characters. The judges are not experts in all these different genres so could not judge how accurate a said costume is with any fairness. We judge by how creative a costume is be fair to everyone. We also don't want anyone to just be able to buy their way into winning so the more of the costume you've made then the more points you've received. The costume doesn't have to be 100% homemade to win but we like to see the vast majority being made with only the detail pieces being bought.

If you buy (anything) and are judged here, you are automatically DQ'd from any kind of awards. Everything has to be hand made 100%
 
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