Helpful Hints from Ohayocon: A craftsmanship judge's view

This past weekend, I attended my first ever anime convention - Ohayocon in Columbus, Ohio. I certainly jumped into the deep end of the pool, volunteering and judging cosplay at the largest anime con in the state. The onslaught of costumed humanity was a bit overwhelming, but I adjusted and had fun just watching the people in the halls as I bustled back and forth.

My staff assignment was to watch over the cosplay gallery, a display of award-winning costumes or examples of superior craftsmanship. I also ran a repair service that became gradually more popular as the weekend progressed. Word got around and my glue gun was in great demand.

Judging craftsmanship was a daunting experience and I'd like to share my advice with you if you intend to compete in a cosplay competition.

1.  Read the rules. If reference pictures are required, bring them. At Ohayocon you instantly lose 1/3 of your points for showing up without references. (This does not apply to original design, although we like to see inspiration pictures & sketches.) Your chances of winning are almost non-existent without your references.
2.  On the subject of references, I prefer printed paper over a tablet and images on your cell phone are a pain. And stay away from fan art as references.
3.  Be prepared to talk about the construction of your costume - what kind of fabric, why did you choose that particular material, did you purchase anything ready made? The rule is 60% made by you, so it's no sin to admit you bought that perfect medallion online. It's worse to tell us you made it. Believe it or not, we can tell. If you had some help with your sewing, let us know rather than claiming you did it all yourself.
4.  Be prepared to be poked and prodded as we examine your costume closely. We will be feeling fabric, lifting hems, moving your wig to see the back of the costume.
5.  Trim all loose threads, clip your curves, press your seams open, make sure your zipper isn't puckered. Lack of attention in this area is another HUGE way to lose points. We do grade on a curve and have much higher expectations of Masters than we do of Novices.
6. Press your costume and make sure all "bits" are attached. Getting bunched up in the car is no excuse. Hotels have ironing boards and irons!
7. If you are struggling with props, it is better to buy them or leave them off than to come with a sloppy prop.
8. Pay attention to your wig/hair and makeup.
9. Wear appropriate undergarments. If your outfit needs a petticoat to have the right shape, wear it.
10. Get help with fitting your costume. Poor fit is another big reason for losing points. Make a trial run (muslin) to check and perfect fit.
11. Entering as a group reduces your chance of winning unless all costumes are at the same level of craftsmanship.
12. Never, never, never show up in a purchased costume! If you got it online or in a costume shop, chances are at least one of the judges will have seen that exact costume before. Claiming a bought costume as your own will get you an instant Zero!

The best moment of the contest was when we asked a Novice if she would move up to compete as a Journeyman and she agreed, shyly and a little reluctantly. The look on her face when she won Journeyman class was worth every moment of painful deliberation. Despite all the rough patches, I'm looking forward to next year.

Why These Sketches: Insight on designing for large, curvy women

I finished two concept sketches and gave them to my customer for discussion and approval. She also has to run them by the bride, so we will see what happens there. The bride's requirements are candy apple red with black trim and tea length. My customer hates shiny satin and wants sleeves.


 

Chiffon dress with handkerchief hem

The chiffon dress was the first concept I gave to my customer because one of her inspiration dresses had a handkerchief hem and she likes chiffon.Of course, there are some other considerations as well. She has a large bust and somewhat narrower waist and hips, so the slightly raised waistline accented by a contrast belt elongates the lower half of her body and draws attention downwards. The diagonal line across the bust is slimming and the sweetheart style neckline is flattering to her wide shoulders. I added the black ribbon passementerie trim at the shoulders to bring in more of the bride's accent color. The sleeves were inspired by the draped cowl sleeve in this blog post.



The dress below uses princess seams to elongate the body and draw the eye downwards. It's a little edgier and I think it fits my customer's personality a bit better.The flare at the bottom widens the hip to balance the figure and the mesh insets accentuate the flare of the skirt even more, giving a lot of motion to the dress. A V neck is flattering for larger women and especially for those with wide shoulders. The trim at the neckline adds to the V, increasing the effect of the slimming diagonal lines. That trim could be either black, to continue the line of the raglan sleeves, or red, to carry the main fabric upwards. I do plan to bead it lightly using tone on tone.

Charmeuse dress with black mesh godets



You might notice a difference between the two figures the dresses are drawn on. The top figure is more representative of my customer's real body shape. The bottom is a "fashion figure," plus-size but still tall and leggy. Lets face it - there are more of us shorter, rounder curvier women out there than there are tall skinny models. That's why I like to draw using more realistic body shapes. I have yet to draw the second dress on an apple-shaped body. Perhaps that will be the subject of my next post.





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What’s next? I’m in the process of designing a bridesmaids dress for a lovely, large, apple-shaped woman. It needs to be tea-length and candy-apple red with black trim. Those are the bride’s only requirements. And my customer loves the look of chiffon, an asymmetrical hemline and wants sleeves. The challenge - design something that meets those requirements, flatters her figure and doesn’t scream “bridesmaid.” i.e. No butt bows.
With wide shoulders, large bust and narrower hips, I need something that will minimize the shoulder width, show off the bust, and provide an illusion of a waistline and hips. Chiffon is pretty “floaty” and will help with visually enlarging her bottom half. But it will need to be controlled in the bodice so as not to add bulk.
So far, I have a sweetheart neckline trimmed in black - crepe-back satin, I think. A handkerchief skirt with several layers of red chiffon. A matching red charmeuse lining. And a lovely draped sleeve inspired by this blog entry from RhondaBuss. Still to come - exactly how to shape & drape the bodice.
Stay tuned - sketches are coming!