The world of cosplay has changed and has evolved into virtual events and meet-ups. But despite not being able to meet face to face hasn't stopped cosplayers from being creative geniuses in their own homes.
Meet Tamarah and Tiphani - Cosplaying sisters or rather, TWINS behind the amazing Pros and Cons Cosplay.
Tamarah and Tiphani are multi-award winning cosplayers who are also ground breakers and amazing leaders when it comes to educating people about cosplaying, becoming cosplay judges and educating people about POC (People of Color) cosplay.
This Saturday, August 1, 2020 - they are running a contest called Stop. Drop. Cosplay - A virtual cosplay contest open to all skill levels where one pics items around their house and create a cosplay that goes with the theme given during a time period.
Here's a bit more information regarding the virtual cosplay contest -
What was your inspiration behind the contest idea?
It started out through brainstorming panel ideas for Anime St. Louis' virtual con with the staff. We eventually came up with the idea of hosting a sort of speed-cosplay event to celebrate cosplay even if we couldn't all do it in person. It was such a great event, that we wanted to recreate it on a slightly larger scale. We also intentionally brought in an incredibly talented pool of PoC judges. They all do great things in the community, from charity, to education, outreach and craftsmanship...we're absolutely delighted they agreed to join us!
What is the Pros and Cons (see what I did there?! ;)) of doing a virtual cosplay contest?
Haha! It's a great way to engage with attendees and still have some fun even though we can't meet in person. I think in a lot of ways virtual cons have some accessiblity positives because you don't have to leave your house, and the audience is much larger. We're no longer bound by the confines of geography. The drawbacks of course are that you can't get up close and examine costumes. That makes craftsmanship judging tricky. But for contests like Stop. Drop. Cosplay. Craftsmanship isn't really critical. It's about creativity.
Do you think contestants should do something special to prepare for the contest?
Nothing particularly special but they might take inventory of all the random items in their stash so they can easily recall what they have at their disposal. It might be a good time to clean things out haha.
Are ready-made cosplay props and clothing allowed?
Ready made items are totally fine. The idea is to be creative about putting together a look that matches the theme. Original characters, mashups, and out of the box creations are encouraged!
How will you be selecting the winners?
Our panel of esteemed judges will look over all the entries once they've been posted in the discord, and will award the participants based on how creatively the participant matched the theme.
Lastly, why do you think people should join the contest?
The world has been particularly dark lately--there has been a lot of injustice toward marginalized groups and many people are separated from their support networks because of COVID-19. We hope this event will help folks have a little fun for a few hours connecting with each other in a light-hearted way, and win some fantastic prizes! Arda Wigs, Cosbond, Downen Creative Studios, Elope Inc., and Plaid Crafts were incredibly generous to donate prizes for the event, so the prize packs for each round are pretty hefty!
To join, simply RSVP to their event page and look out for the Discord channel to join in on the fun! Multiple categories will be announced every hour.
Aside from yours truly being one of the judges, here is the entire judge lineup:
You can follow the cosplay judges here:
Good luck, everyone! Hope to see you there.
