Costume Contests at Conventions

Well it depends on the convention. SDCC nothing on your costume can be bought from a store unless its fabric or items that are needed to build the costume. The judges will look at everything and if its a kit, or any props or anything bought from a store your marked down. ITs hard cause your competing agiesnt three classes in some conventions. KIDS, NOVICE, INTERMEDIATE and MASTERS. If you are at a con like SDCC were they removed the classes it gets even harder because the judges put you in a class themselves and you wont know what class your in as they judge. Also alot of contests the judges will look at seamstress work more then armor work. Which can suck sometimes. But that happens.


The trend that I am seeing is more that the judges Give awards to the same people every year at some of the higher masquerades like SDCC. Or there is alot of politics involved. Need to know someone who knows the judges etc.
 
It just sickens me to even read that! How one sided these things are. Homemaking is not the end all of cosplay. I get it takes talent to home make(I know I bring Vader into this because he his my main costume) but how many screen accurate Vader's out there are 100% homemade? How many TK's vac form their own armor, all on top of assembling both costumes.
 
One thing I would object to is if you're turned down for altering something store-bought that you possibly couldn't produce yourself,for example the acrylic globe I have for my Mysterio costume.
If I use a Dremel to cut it to fit over my head,is it still a problem that I bought the thing in the first place? Seems a bit far fetched to me.
 
Last edited:
Honestly, costumes made by the person wearing them should win over costumes bought in costume contests every time, and I have costumes I've made and costumes I've bought. I don't look down on people that buy costumes or costume pieces. I have bought both, but when the contest is about a costume, time, effort and skill involved in making your own, rather than buying and assembling pieces, is far more impressive.

I think it depends... There are two main aspects of cosplay:

* Crafting
* Personifying the Character

Take this guy for example:
Login • Instagram

He didn't make any part of his Ace Ventura costume, but he does a heck of a job of personifying the character through facial expressions, poses and hairstyling. He's a dead ringer for the character. While he may not win a contest over people who spent countless hours designing and crafting props and armor, I still think that counts for something...
 
Last edited:
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.


I forget what the contest was but we had a debate about (can sexy just win for the sake of sexy) and one of the judges who was a very fit woman said " The costume maybe simple but the time spent in the Gym to look like a super hero is a huge effort as well"

one of the contestants we were judging was a Leonidas from 300 and his costume was pretty simple but dude was jacked and was very much a crowd favorite the two others was one girl with a very difficult gown she had sewn and the other was a very large foam build and when we asked (how long did you work on the costumes ) the two fabricators said something to the tune of about 3 months and Leo dude said about a solid week ...and the aforementioned judge then asked him well that's just the garment time- how much did you spend in the gym and he said "to prep for this 3 hours a day 6 days a week and intermittent fasting for the last 3 months to get my fat % down"

So really he had invested just as much time for his look (if not more)
 
I forget what the contest was but we had a debate about (can sexy just win for the sake of sexy) and one of the judges who was a very fit woman said " The costume maybe simple but the time spent in the Gym to look like a super hero is a huge effort as well"

one of the contestants we were judging was a Leonidas from 300 and his costume was pretty simple but dude was jacked and was very much a crowd favorite the two others was one girl with a very difficult gown she had sewn and the other was a very large foam build and when we asked (how long did you work on the costumes ) the two fabricators said something to the tune of about 3 months and Leo dude said about a solid week ...and the aforementioned judge then asked him well that's just the garment time- how much did you spend in the gym and he said "to prep for this 3 hours a day 6 days a week and intermittent fasting for the last 3 months to get my fat % down"

So really he had invested just as much time for his look (if not more)

Kind of validates what I'm saying, doesn't it? I'm guessing the sound of a pin drop could be heard after he put them on blast with that statement. There is an implicit bias in place at these events...and until they are called out, it will never change.
 
I have participated in lots of costume contests over the years (I was even honored with the chance to judge one last year). Since I make costumes for a living, having some awards under my belt really helps sell my services, since I can show people that I won X, Y or Z award at ___ con. Every con has different rules and awards for their costume contests: some are entirely workmanship - if you didn't make it with your own two hands you cannot participate (It's simple - if you are being judged on you sewing and someone else sewed it, or on your carving and molding and someone else carved and cast it for you, then you are not showing off your workmanship, you are showing off someone else's workmanship), some contests have awards that honor the not 100% handmade costumes with special awards for Audience reaction or judges choices.

In the end I think it's simply a matter of why are you doing it? Are you entering a costume contest to get praise for having a really nice or extremely authentic costume? or are you entering a contest to win some cash prize? Or are you entering to prove that your embroidery is better than someone else's embroidery?

If you are upset you didn't win and you think the rules are stupid, maybe just don't enter costume contests. There is no way to make costume contests that are 100% fair and can cater to everyone. When I was a judge I can assure you we spent SO much time arguing behind the scenes about who was the "best" and why. We all had our favorites and we all had our reasons for those choices, but there are only so many awards. If everyone got a participation trophy it would defeat the purpose.

It is obvious you spent a lot of time putting your Vader together and it looks so amazing everyone wants your photo, you don't need to win a costume contest to validate it. Cosplay is supposed to be fun! Have fun!
 
Look at it this way. Costume competitions are on a point scale 33% of the points are on research and design/drafting/planning. 33% on skill of manufacturing. 33% on originality.

Even if you made every part of your perfect Darth Vader by hand, you're still the 517th person to do Darth Vader. Where as the Ghost Rider earlier in this thread was fantastic, original, and hand made scoring high in all 3 categories.

Want to win a costume competition do it first, and make it. I won multiple SDCC best in shows by bring the first to do a costume, research it well, and make it myself.
 
That's what I would like to see on this forum as well : more diversity and originality.
Flip through the Marvel Character Handbook for example and pick something completely wacky that hasn't been done before.Bumping into such a W.I.P. thread by surprise would really make my day :popcorn
 
Last edited:
Different question - Same topic.

How much of a pain in the ***** is it to participate in a con costume contest? I am looking at the rules for ACE in Chicago and everything is TBA. I actually think I have a costume that could win...original, nostalgic, complex, scratch built, lights up:) It says that you must participate in all events. How much of a time commitment is it? Would I be better off just enjoying the con?
 
Different question - Same topic.

How much of a pain in the ***** is it to participate in a con costume contest? I am looking at the rules for ACE in Chicago and everything is TBA. I actually think I have a costume that could win...original, nostalgic, complex, scratch built, lights up:) It says that you must participate in all events. How much of a time commitment is it? Would I be better off just enjoying the con?

Dragon Con the stage part is about an hour long - but you are judged prior to that off stage not sure how ACE does it. I would estimate about 2 hours but really time flies cause you are standing around talking with other great costume builders while waiting to be judged - so in a way it's a great way to meet some other people... I know for us by the end of the day we had a whole list of friends we started following on instagram and that also started following us as well.
 
This thread is more than 5 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top