I just need to dump this somewhere because I gotta laugh. I was in a competition for costuming and I got my feedback today! WOO! I was excited to learn what I could improve on! I got some good points on the last one that I took heed of and felt like I'd been helped out by it (except the part where they suggested I hand make fucking shoes like I'm rich and can afford a wooden mould of my foot lmfao - although someone else in this comp dropped £2k on a knitting machine sooo maybe this is a rich kids game!). This time...less helpful.
My favourite parts for improvement are 'There were raw edges on x props fabric.' I was confused by this as I was sure I didn't have raw hems anywhere, I don't do raw hems. But then I thought, huh, maybe I cheated on that one bit with the lace and just used lace to cover a raw unfinished edge? So I went and checked my prop. There is the fucking tiniest little rolled hem that I was SO proud of last year when I made it. I have looked at this prop, inspected it, handed it someone else to ask them if they can spot the raw edges and there's none. I even overlocked the seams. What it does have are the fucking NEATEST little rolled hems with the tiniest little straight stitches I am SO proud of still. Not sure if they've confused me with someone else on that but if they have that's yikes for a global comp to get the contestants confused!
My second fave was in the pros section they loved my fabric choices because the colours were super accurate and they do a secret very cool thing. Cons; they didn't care for my fabric choice because it made one of the seams look bulky. So...which one are we going with? This feels like 2 judges with two totally different opinions and one not liking that I didn't just use normal dress fabrics. Also not sure where the bulky seam is other than where I put in a little tailoring trick to make something stand upright which I had in my build book AND told them about and in the room the judge I spoke to said they were impressed by that tailoring detail.
Another con; on a sewing heavy project my stitching should be straight and not wandering because my fabric was gappy. I'm not sure where the wandering is because they didn't say, nor did they say where the gaps were, but I went and had a look to see if anything was obvious and all I can see is regular old straight stitches with some crisp af corners (I'll get to that one in a second lmfao). I really cannot see where my stitching is wonky, I can't see any gaps anywhere. They also said my boning channels were wonky and causing wrinkles and I can't see that either, they're all perfectly in line and the fabric has metal in it so it's SMOOTH, that shit ain't wrinkling lol. My stitch lines are in gold thread too so they stand out, you can see them and they're STRAIGHT. I did look at a photo though and when I bend it does wrinkle with movement so...idk maybe if they're being super picky? But I designed it so I could bend in the middle for comfort in sitting down and general flexibility, it also needs to go at a bit of a right angle for the shape of the corset to skirt poof ratio. Not sure if they wanted the boning to go further down to go aalll the way down the hips and over the butt to smooth the shape instead of it being angular but that's not really accurate for the character so I don't thiiiink that's what they mean? Unclear so can't really amend anything there and if that is what they meant, I am absolutely not doing that, lmao, that's uncomfy af and the wrong silhouette. I want to be able to bend when I sit.
Speaking of corners tho. Apparently my corners are bulky and I should look into using mitred corners on this one pointy section. The pointy section where I used mitred corners for it. LMFAO. They literally are mitred corners, that's how they look like that and they're pointy af! They are also in the build book as MITRED CORNERS. Was this feedback for me or am I looking at the wrong pointy bits, there's only one bit with pointy bits and they're mitred and it says that in the build book?! So again, questioning if they actually read mine? (I suspect their build book reading time was spent on one specific book because they were gushing wiiiildly over this specific build book which also happened to be their 'besties' build book that they'd all said they were dying to get their hands on for ages - I thought this was supposed to be like...blind judging? Hmm.)
Also they criticised some puckering on one of the base fabrics and this again makes me question if they actually read my build book because there was an entire page dedicated to this specific fabric being an absolute shitheel to work to with because it's not a dress fabric and how I'd made it 5 times and no matter what I did or technique I tried (machine stitch, hand stitch, glue, iron on glue tape, velcro), specific spots puckered. I pointed out that I sacrificed sewing for gluing that section because the colour was the only colour match fabric there was to achieve a very specific lighting effect (which btw they wouldn't allow me to show off which felt weird? A lot of people have asked me about it as well because obviously that aspect is mentioned and was mentioned on stage and everyone was like 'why didn't they put the lights on it?! IDk why, when they asked if I needed anything to show off the costume in the application form, I specifically asked and never heard anything and then on the day I was told they couldn't do that so I felt like I was restricted a little because if they'd told me in advance they wouldn't do that like I'd asked, I could have brought MY light to show off my cosplay). Anyway, it feels a bit like they missed that entire explanation and weren't listening in the judging room because I discussed this fabric issue with them so why are you giving it in feedback.
There was also something in the judging room that made me feel super disrespected and kinda sad and also made me realise I wasn't in with any kind of chance (a judge that seemed totally disinterested and looked bored by my existence started whisper-chattering in another judges ear behind their hand right in front of me while I was in the middle of talking to that judge in my 4 min talking time, it was very uncomfortable for me and reminded me of being at school when I'd talk to someone and their friend would do that hand up whisper in the ear and they'd giggle thing. That was when I knew I was back to being the weird kid at school and was not in the cool kids crowd. It really threw me off what I was saying because I didn't know if I was supposed to stop talking even though my timer was running or just keep talking even though they were having their own secret convo in front of my face.)
The weird thing is, there are about 4 spots that I personally have criticism for in my costume and I was prepped for those spots to have marked me down and maybe some tips for improvement on those. Not a single one of them was picked up on which has surprised me. Instead I apparently have raw edges I can't find and should have used the exact technique I did use? NGL it felt like weird feedback, especially compared to the other feedback from other comps that have been useful.
I also remember immediate feedback was that the winner had won because they were always in character but I'd been told it wasn't about being in character, it was a COSTUME competition not a performance. They also said makeup and prosthetics didn't count but went on about the winners makeup and prosthetics? And I had opted not to wear my prosthetic component due to a health issue and I assumed I'd not be marked down because we'd been told that didn't count. But it sounded like it did? Also my character has no hair but a complex headpiece and effectively they said you're marked down without a wig and when questioned for characters with headwear rather than wigs the reply was 'you should choose your character more carefully'. SORRY? WHAT? LOL. Surely to fuck we should be scoring on headwear as a singular thing? So a wig is the same as a complex headpiece when it comes to scoring, not 'oh you get less points for complex headwear that's a totally different skill'. Like sorry my character didn't have hair showing? being told to choose your character wisely is sketch as fuck. Especially when the judges favourite game character won, like..y'all aren't supposed to show your biases surely??
Also according to the scoring there were no points for acting but they talked about it so much it seemed like there was? Also not sure how I was supposed to be more in character other than upbeat and cheery for the character because I cannot do 'that' voice, i am also human and do no have magically extending bendy limbs or a tail. Wrong gender for a start and my voice doesn't do that and they said the winner was in character through the whole judging but that can't be right because that character doesn't speak? So...IDK am I being autistic and taking that too literally? Do we perform or not? Why are we performing for a costume comp that has no scoring for performance but the performance is all they could talk about after? I'm way too autistic for this kind of 'here is a rule but secretly it's not real and you should just know this even though nobody told you, we assumed you'd know it wasn't really a rule and do the thing we said you didn't need to' lmao.
One nice thing tho was that my embroidery was one of the judges fave things they saw on any of the costumes, that was a little added personal note which I thought was lovely. That judge was definitely the nicest in the room too and genuinely seemed engaged with me. Definitely got the feeling one judge specifically did not like my costume and that was also the judge that seemed to hold most sway in the room (that judges fave game also happened to be the cosplay that won and also one they'd apparently been following and seemed familiar with).
TBF tho the rest of the group (outside the winners) have also said they disagreed with several of their feedback points for the costume 'cons' section, so I really don't think it's just me at all. I think the judges went in knowing who they wanted to win (or two of them did anyway, I have reasons for believing this that I've learned post event that explain SO MUCH) and I think they had to 'find' criticisms on people outfits to reason out why they chose the winners because there were others that clearly should have placed above them. I still do not understand 2 of the placements or how a couple of the people I was utterly convinced were going to win weren't even placed, so this isn't about me in the slightest, I had no skin in this game, I was there accidentally lmfao (I thought I was entering a one-off showcase and it was a national qualifier oops!). So mostly I'm frustrated for the people I genuinely thought deserved better and honestly if their feedback was as confusing and unclear as mine I can see why they've said they disagreed. Also one said she didn't know if it was a language barrier thing or if she'd just totally misunderstood a rule so I really do not think I'm alone in having issues or suspicions.
I'll also add the judges placed their own home countries. That smells SUS TO ME. I genuinely (autistically) thought, they'd have non bias judges who are from outside the community so they had no leanings either way and didn't know the contestants. IDK like people who work in the costuming industry or theatre or something like that, I know a few comps that do this and it feels really unbiased! Anyone not on the cosplay circuit, that kind of thing. Not people from the communities of cosplayers entered into the competition and a couple who effectively have half the vote, and who very obviously knew some of those contestants VERY well and then those people just happened to place over people I (and others) thought should have won but were not familiar to the judges. Yeah.
Definitely learned it's a who you know popular kids game tho, which isn't a big surprise tbh. Also confirmed that is not a world I care enough about to want to do again by choice. Been there, done that, that shit is not for me. Some of the people I met were truly lovely and I really do hope I stay in contact, but my autistic ass over here felt like I was back in school watching the popular kids flit around and big each other up again while I awkwardly stand to the side and wonder why I'm here because it feels uncomfortable. It gave me the big time ick. I'm going to stick to cosplaying for myself and for fun and stay with my friends. I can't cope with the superficial arse kissing.
