While back, I was at DragonCon and met StrawDoll and Variable from Australia. I reached out to Variable earlier this year to hear her perspective of the American cosplay scene.
I’m Australian born and raised, but lived and worked in the States.
My first American convention was MegaCon, which felt similar to some of the bigger Australian cons. The larger American events, like NYCC, were a bit intimidating; I wasn’t used to conventions that big, that busy, or that long. Every now and then I’d think I recognised a cosplayer from home across the sea of people (and be ready to run over), only to discover a complete stranger who looked deceptively similar, wearing an equally similar costume.
Compared to many other countries, the Australian cosplay community is quite small and young, and usually very close knit. Everyone knows everyone, often including the convention staff or volunteers. I think that fosters a welcoming and supportive community, because even if someone isn’t your immediate friend, they’ll be a friend of your friends.
We don’t have many conventions, and they are often on a smaller scale, feeling more like a family reunion and a game of “Where’s Wally/Waldo” where everyone is Wally/Waldo, but I’ve heard we have a higher convention attendance per capita than the USA. We also don’t have hotel conventions, so it’s not as easy to change into and out of costumes, or wear elaborate costumes that may become uncomfortable. There isn’t the same adult culture around conventions, with many more children and families in attendance, usually ending at “family-friendly hours”, with going out for food and drinks with friends, or playing games becoming evening traditions, rather than underwear parties, raves, or burlesque. I found the catcalling and physical contact very confronting, and was shocked when cosplayers were often referred to by racial labels, such as “black Sailor Moon” instead of just “Sailor Moon”; I’d never really had those experiences in Australia before, they’re not as common and normalised here, so I was really taken aback by it at events I’d considered safeharbours for fellow nerds. But equally significant was the proactive response to it, with groups from around the country coming together to take a stand and address these issues head on, which I found really inspiring, and it’s great to see how these movements and their messages have blossomed.
The Australian community doesn’t have the same history or culture of cosplay celebrity, so we’re still very accustomed to cosplayers being our peers and fellow attendees rather than guests on stages and behind tables. While panels were commonplace, I hadn’t seen cosplayers at booths before, and the idea of cosplay prints was completely new to me - it was like a whole ‘nother world of cosplay I never knew existed.
I was also blown away by the access American cosplayers had to materials I’d either never even heard of, or only seen in industrial use. Australia’s a physically isolated nation, with no bordering neighbours, so many props and materials simply aren’t available, and it can be very expensive to ship those things from abroad. This encourages creativity and ingenuity, though, recycling and repurposing all sorts of weird and wonderful things to make costumes. Can’t find the pattern of fabric we need? We’ll make it. I’ve seen people using their old asthma puffers, hose brackets, and parts of dirt bikes as prop elements.
While every experience was new and different for me, and it could be a little scary being the lost foreigner at a big international event, it gifted me with amazing new friendships, and I had some truly incredible experiences. The most memorable included meeting the artists and writers of some of my favourite series, and getting a hug from the coolest, littlest Batman.
It’s been a testament to how cosplay can bring people together from absolute opposite sides of the Earth, and reinforced my love for this hobby and the people that make it the magical world it is. We have the most wonderful community of talented, inspiring nerds, and it’s growing bigger and better every day.
Support by shopping on Amazon https://amzn.to/2HkxqUn
