Bringing Fantasy To Life: Interview with AVALON COSPLAY

 Featured Image by G. Edwards Photography

Nerd Caliber: So how long have you been cosplaying? What made you want to start cosplaying?

Avalon Cosplay: I’ve been toying around with cosplaying since early 2009, but I only became fully… engulfed in the hobby since early 2011. As for made me get into cosplay, around when I started high school, I stumbled on the hobby completely by mistake through random Google searches. I saw that there were people that made costumes of their favorite anime characters, and that there were events completely centered around the hobby. I was a theater nerd and an artist, so it didn’t make sense to not get into it. By the time I started college in 2009, however, I had the freedom and a bit of money to try it out for the first time.

NC: What was your first costume, and what made you decide to be that character?

AC: The first character I ever cosplayed was Mihael Keehl (Mello) from Death Note, and that was just a closet cosplay that I wore during Character Day during spirit week at high school. I admit, I wanted to go for something easy, and I didn’t own any wigs yet. Not to mention, Death Note was my favorite anime at the time. Since I had a black vest, leather pants and gloves, and a bob haircut, Mello seemed perfect for me, plus I got to walk around all day at school with a bar of chocolate in my hand.

NC: So what’s your thought process when it comes to choosing characters to cosplay?

AC: I usually go for characters that are either a lot like me personality-wise, or a lot like the person I want to be. Most of the characters that I’ve done are feisty and obnoxious in their own ways, and don’t take anyone’s crap. Acting through those characters helps me bring out more confidence in myself, because normally, I lack a loud enough voice and a big enough presence for people to really take me seriously. Apart from that, I love characters that have either a bit of grit to them, or a really appealing color scheme. Rainbows are always a plus!

NC: Do you make all of your own costumes, or do you commission/buy them?

AC: To this day, I’ve never had anything commissioned. Anything that would cost too much in fabric, or that would be too complicated to make, I try to buy on eBay or Amazon, or search my closet for, and I paint it, cut it, or do whatever I can to it until it looks how it needs to be. However, anything that can’t be bought and altered, I make by hand. I’ve gotten fairly good with sewing over the past year, so I’ll be pushing myself to completely sew my outfits by hand as I get better with it.

NC: What is the most challenging costume you have done so far? What made it difficult?

AC: My most challenging costume was Rainbow Dash’s gala dress, from My Little Pony. Because Rainbow Dash is, of course, a pony, I had to translate the “dress” she wore into something a human could wear. So, I drew out my own design for the dress, and set out to make it. It took well over 40 hours to make the dress, which I made without any patterns, save for an old T-shirt that I used to trace material for the top of the dress. The train alone took about half the total time to cut, sew, line with more fabric, sew again, and attach an underside fabric to. I managed to finish the dress at 5AM the morning of the con day that I was supposed to premier it, and I was so happy with how it looked when

NC: So what do you for a living/are you a student?

AC: I graduated over the summer of 2013 with my Bachelors of Science in Digital Media, so for now, schooling is out of the way. While I look for a job to start my career, I’m currently waitressing at IHOP. Can’t say that I love it — if fact, I can’t stand it — but it pays for what I need until I can find something better. Fingers crossed!

NC: So have you ever competed in any cosplay competitions or cosplay events at a convention?

AC: I’ve only done one small competition, and that was at SpringFest of 2013. To be honest, competition just isn’t for me. Maybe if I think of an idea for a skit or something I’ll think of entering again, but until then, I just love the fun of running around in costume with my friends.

NC: How do you see the cosplay/convention scene evolving? Has it changed much since you started cosplaying?

AC: I feel like the community has changed in both positive and negative ways. On the positive side, I feel like people have tried even harder to create wearable art the likes of which has never been seen before, and it’s refreshing to see that the community has become larger. However, on the negative side, I don’t remember things being so critical and drama-filled when I first started, but of course, that could’ve been my interactions with the community then as opposed to now. Of course, now that social media is at an all-time high in activity, it’s easier for cosplayers to meet one another, or tear at each other’s reputations and talents.

NC: How would you personally like cosplay to be portrayed to the world?

AC: I feel like now that shows such as Heroes of Cosplay are out for a wider audience to get a look at to see what we do, we might be seen as too competitive, too dedicated to the wrong things, too lazy to pursue real future careers, etcetera. At the end of the day, we’re one of the most unique brands of artists out there in the world today. Just like any other social group out there in the world, not all of us are jerks, stuck-up about what other people do with their craft, or willing to waste all of our money. Yes, we’re the people the popular crowd picked on in high school. Yes, we’re the ones that chose reading books over playing sports at recess. And yes, we’re the ones that you see in the mall in large groups, all in our teens, twenties, and thirties, screaming out memes and annoying you while you’re trying to shop. But while all that’s true, we’ve taught ourselves to sew, make armor, and even work in metal and wood to create something that once could only be seen on a screen. We bring fantasy to life, and we’re having fun doing it.

NC: What’s one piece of advice/message you’d like to give to someone who’s new to cosplay/thinking about cosplaying for the first time?

AC: Take everything you hear with a huge grain of salt. Everyone gets criticized, no matter how good you are and no matter how long you’ve been at it. Never let what you hear from others keep you from doing what you love. I live by one quote, the words of a fierce drag queen who I look up to: “It’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s okay to fall down. Get up, look SICKENING, and make them eat it!”