Cover photo is unrelated to the specific cosplay being discussed in this post, but I sure do like it and it's a beautiful cover photo
Photography and editing by Tatiana Dorokhova
This is the first in a series of posts that I want to write as I continue to receive questions about what craftsmanship judges are looking for, and the time seems right because I am doing major work on my website where looking back at older cosplays of mine has me in a reflective mood. When I entered my first compettion fourteen years ago, I had no clue what the judges were looking for and as a novice costumer that was okay but I also entered into a small competition at a time when culture surrounding competition was generally lower-stakes than it is now. I’ve experience nearly every type of competition structure in existence, I’ve been through six years of burnout in which I didn’t compete at all, I have been a judge, and I have had the space to look back and understand why something that I made did well or not. I hope that this series of posts will be entertaining for those who are interested in my journey as a cosplayer who is now a second place Crown Champion and informative for those who are looking to level-up their undertanding of the inner workings of cosplay competitions.
Character Name: Suu
Series: Clover by CLAMP
Competition/Year: Anime Boston 2014
Category: Master
Awards won: none
Accuracy
Always check the competition you’re entering to know what level of accuracy is expected. At the time I entered Suu, Anime Boston placed high importance on accuracy, and as you can see there are many discrepancies between my cosplay and the reference. I oversimplified the wings, I oversimplified the bouquet, and both of these should have been things that should have received more care to detail. The clockwork components are a major symbol of the Clover series and indeed to the character in general: by neglecting them I did not demonstrate understanding of the costume design and likely lost points for not inluding a level of detail that would be expected in Master division.
Creativity
A fun part of making this cosplay was designing the lower half, which isn’t shown in any of the reference images. I picked interesting textiles and interesting silhouettes especially for the draping of the overskirt. The costume lacked where my skills were lacking: anything that wasn’t fabric. Without the parts of the design that I chose not to make, or not fully make, there was limited opportunity to demonstrate creativity.
Photo by Lala Cosplay Photography
Skill
The fabric elements of this costume were pretty solid, and probably appropriate for Master division. The overkirt was beautifully draped and smocked and the light blue gradient that I dyed was well-executed.
However, by simplifying the clockwork design elements I lost an opportunity to demonstrate prop-making and problem-solving skills. I could have leveled up the costume by adding lights to the flowers, perhaps even rigging the wings so they could open and close. I remember not taking the time while making this costume to identify skills I needed to develop nor giving myself time to test much out. My wings were sewn to the back of my coat rather than attached with a proper harness mechanism. I didn’t even try making the delicate clockwork mechanisms. Overall, by oversimplifying the design and not thinking through the wing attachments I missed crucial opportunities to demonstrate skill and mastery to the judges in a way that would be expected in Master division.
Cleanliness
The cleanliness of this cosplay was Journeyman-level, not Master-level. It was good, but transitions and attachments and fastenings should hae been nicer and the lining was installed wrong for the garment to hang nicely. With pieces like the wings and bouquet, they were clean overall but only on a very. base level as they lacked detail from the design. The cut and style on my wig was not neat. Overall, the costume was not adequately polished and my demonstrated skills were promising but not fully-realized.
Photo by Lala Cosplay Photography
TL;DR
While I brough some creative elements into this costume by designing the lower half myself, and executed many of the pieces in a clean way, the costume lacked the finishing polish required to do well in Master division, and was entirely lacking entire design elements. I can tell you why this happened: it is because I made it in three months and did not take the time to truly learn the skills needed to execute the design properly, due to pressure to have something ready to present at Anime Boston. This was not a Master-level costume, but may have done well enough in Journeyman. Other cosplayers this year presented cleaner, more fully-realized costumes that earned the awards they were given.
Personal Conclusions
It has been interesting to revisit the first costume I ever entered in Master Division at a major competition, now that I have the skill and experience to know where I wasn’t quite making it. At that time in my life, I was doing three or four competitions per year and presenting something new at nearly each one, and I know that none of my costumes were getting the time and attention that they deserved. I was trying to develop current skills and learn new ones, in a skill division that has more entrants and fewer awards. This was a good costume for my skill level at the time and I am sad in retrospect that there was a combination of factors that made it a less-than-positive association in my mind for such a long time.
