So you crossplay?

[theatre_girl79]

After ACEN last weekend and knocking out another interview for Worlds United: From Gettysburg to Neo Tokyo to Vulcan, the book and documentary I am putting together on cosplay, something else came to my mind, the world of crossplay. How many Sailor Scouts do we see that are men? How many women cosplay Captain Jack Harkness? This raised more questions in my head and I would like to get some feedback from folks. I want to represent this fairly, and this questionnaire is just a start. I will probably use the statistics in the book, but only I will see who answered what to the poll, but if you wouldn't mind me contacting you more in depth, please leave a comment.

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Crossplay Cosplay as a character of opposite gender.


[Poll #1567121]

If you do not have an LJ account, drop me a line at carole926@gmail.com and I can send you this firm via email.

Comments

[robling-t.livejournal.com]

How many Sailor Scouts do we see that are men?

...That we want to see in a fuku. {ducking}

[knitchick1979.livejournal.com]

You haven't seen Sailor Bubba yet. Though I'd take him over the guy Jupiter I kept spotting at Acen this year *shudder*

[robling-t.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was the one I was trying to bleach off my mental eyeballs... {shudder}

[huskyfriends.livejournal.com]

Okay, all weekend and I NEVER saw this cosplayer. In fact, I only spotted a handful of Sailor Scouts this year. Although, I did see some really well done fancy crossplaying, like I think one was another Rose of Versailles cosplayers.

[tessceres.livejournal.com]

ahhh it hit enter halfway through >_

[huskyfriends.livejournal.com]

You can leave a comment with any more thoughts, or you can DM me.

You gave me your email before, yeah? ( I am actually being organized early on with this...)

[knitchick1979.livejournal.com]

Pssst.... I ran out of characters on that last question. Your form does not allow for long winded people like me! :-P

[huskyfriends.livejournal.com]

Yes, but you I can videotape **ahem** in person a lot easier.

[smallearthcat.livejournal.com]

If you'd like to talk to me more in depth, feel free to PM me.

[bessyboo.livejournal.com]

My answer to question 4, since the word limit wasn't NEARLY long enough:

There are four factors for me: looks, costume, personality, and my group.

I like to cosplay in a group, so the initial narrowing down basically involves us all deciding on a source material or theme, and then branching out from there. (EXAMPLE: "I'd really like to do both Jacobi!Master and Simm!Master for CONvergence this year." "Okay, hmm...OH, I could do a female Jack!" "That's perfect! I'm sure Alex will want to do Lucy. And I think Tess has already been working on a Dalek Dress." "Cool, I've been meaning to put together an Eleven outfit." "Great, is your dad tagging along again? We can put him in a TARDIS t-shirt!" etc.)

As for looks, I'm not a fan of wigs, so I prefer to do characters where I can just use my natural hair. I also prefer to do characters where I can put the costume on, and at least look reasonably like the actual character, so I try to stick at least within the ballpark of my facial features/body type/etc.

Then there's the character's actual costume--basically, "do I think it's cool/would I want to wear that", which I believe is a big part of EVERY cosplayer's decision making process. After all, what's the point of putting together a costume you don't like?

I also like to look at the character's personality. While I'm not going on stage to play the character in front of an audience (in less I'm doing a Masquerade/Costume Exhibition, of course!), I do like to at least get "in-character" a bit. If I think that for some reason I can't pull off the characterization, I might think twice about doing a cosplay of that character. (Another thing of note: since I mostly do gender-swapped cosplays, I feel that, like certain iconic pieces of a character's costume that you cannot change--Jack's greatcoat, for instance--a recognizable personality helps with identifying the character.)

So basically, my process is: narrow down with group, look at what characters within the group's fandom/theme I could reasonably play with my hair color/skin tone/body type/etc., and of those, look at which character's costumes and personalities appeal to me the most. Since thus far I've mostly done gender-swapped costumes, there's often an extra "do I think this character's costume could reasonably be made female in a believable, recognizable way, and would I have fun doing that" step that's kind of tied in with the costume/personality part.

Admittedly, while the costume/personality step is sort of combined, I'm usually drawn to one more than the other, depending on the character. For instance, Lulu of FFX has been on my "cosplays I'm planning to do" list FOREVER, mainly because I've been ridonkulously in love with her costume ever since I first saw it. Her personality is fine, but I was really drawn to her costume. Conversely, what really drew me to Jack was his personality, and the challenge of translating his costume & character to female. I mean, I love his costume too, of course, but what really hooked me was the character.

Okay, I'm going to end this essay before it reaches, like, epic proportions. XD Obviously I'm v. chatty about this, so feel free to message me for further discussion if you'd like :)

[huskyfriends.livejournal.com]

I will definitely be contacting you for more information. You bring an interesting perspective. If you want, you can DM your email. Mine is carole926@gmail.com.

[holliemke.livejournal.com]

I think it will be interesting to see the information you gather on cosplaying. I'm afraid I'm in the group of people who doesn't quite get it. I've seen great outfits and charisma where I knew exactly who the person was. I admire it but it isn't something that appeals to me as in would I personally do it.

I guess that would be the question, as an outside, that I'd ask. What is it about cosplaying that compels people/pleases them/excites them? Are they already natural actors?

(don't hurt me!) I really am curious and on the outside!

[wolverinegal.livejournal.com]

My roomate and I are gonna be wearing FemmeDoctor Cosplay to Anime Expo this year. She's going to be FemmeFive and I'm going to be FemmeFour. We will also be there as Italy and Bellarus as well as Modern Day FemmeSherlock and Femme Watson.

I crossplay as Italy from Axis Powers Hetalia and the Fourth Doctor. When I crossplay I just don't worry about my cleavage. To be perfectly honest my boobs are just too big to really do anything about.

I tend to Crossplay a lot because I honestly like the male characters better then the female characters. Also there are more male characters that I like that look like me. Most of my costumes are put together from thrift store trips and I don't really have money for wigs, so the biggest thing that I use to determine if I want to cosplay that character is if my hair will work.

Interestingly enough a lot of women I know (= go to an all girls college) Crossplay and they just sort of "ignore" the issue of looking like a man. Several other girls I know don't have to bind/whatever because they don't have that much cleavage.

[huskyfriends.livejournal.com]

Interesting thoughts. I would like to go into this more in depth if possible.

[wolverinegal.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

[crimson-bride.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy for you to PM me to discuss this further.