Well, I said I always wanted to try cosplaying and now I’ve done it. And man, I am exhausted.
The first annual Island Entertainment Expo (IEX) was held this weekend in Charlottetown. My sewing skills were very novice, at best, when I drew some rough sketches of what I wanted to do with my costume (steampunk/gender-swapped Sherlock Holmes) over a year ago when I heard PEI was getting its own fan convention.
I learned a lot about sewing after putting this costume together. I also learned that I am bad at prioritizing my major goals! I put my novel aside in favour of this costume, not realizing it would take nearly the time it did. But I’m still glad I did it.
The attendance for IEX was far beyond what I expected and the calibre of the costumes some other attendees donned were awe-inspiring. I took part in the cosplay parade (this involved getting up on stage in front of at least 500 people and introducing myself and my costume) and went to two guest talks (voice and motion capture actor Liam Mulvey; and the prop designer behind the iconic Darth Vader helmet, Brian Muir).
Cosplay was a major feature of the event, more than I think the organizers expected. Besides Sailor Moon and Aggretsuko, I’m not familiar with a lot of anime but DAMN. There were a lot of anime nerds at the con. Wow! They are ENTHUSIASTIC and I love them for it.
Every time someone complimented my outfit or asked me to pose for a photo, my heart swelled. It really meant a lot to me that my hours of pinning and stitching were appreciated. 🙂
Check out the links below to learn more about IEX.
Nice costume! 😊 you done good. Definitely looks like it would’ve taken a while to put together, I love the detail.