That's sad, you need to meet some awesome cosplayers. There are quite a few of us around, we just swim in other circles. And thank you so much! It's also good to see a costumer who doesn't skimp on ANY detail. That's an amazing quality you have.
This is my spam page really. I don't have anything up here. And I don't have much up yet, it all needs to be cropped and the lighting fixed and I'm sooo lazy when it comes to editing haha. I've been working on it, but I've got a con in a week and a half and several costumes to finish so that's been my main concern as of late.
I did just make an account on a new website though. You should check out some of the top rated cosplayers on it. There's some really nifty stuff out there.
My profile is: [link] (only thing I have up is a sort of recent cosplay, though)
You can get to the main page from there.
My real Devi is here too, but I don't have anything on that either (slacker =/): [link]
I found your Devi through your blog actually haha. I'll pop in and out to see what you're working on and let you know if I upload anything new. I will always appreciate concrit!

It was really amazing to get to talk to you. It was great to meet another person willing to bridge the gap between costuming and cosplay. Keep up the good work!

I'm not saying cosplayers aren't devoted, I'm just saying that just because someone wears a costume they made doesn't make them a cosplayer. It's possible to be a cosplayer without making your own costumes, which is why I don't think it's correct to use "costumer" and "cosplayer" interchangably. Also, any random person who choses to don a costume on Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Day of the Dead, Santa Claus, haven't been called cosplayers either. To me, (as well as many members of the costuming community I've discussed this with), cosplay is Anime costuming or roleplay activities. When I get into a costume, it's like Halloween (on crack), and my interest is making a good character picture, but not getting into character.

I think the main reason having the word 'cosplay' forced on me bothers me is because, while I know there are a number of people who call themselves cosplayers who are in fact, dedicated costumers, most of them came into the hobby when this term had become rampant so they consider themselves cosplayers instead of costumers, which is what they are. There is a large percentage of the cosplay community though, that aren't dedicated to accurate costume construction, and cobble together what they can for their larping and whatnot (because apparently, being in costume is starting to become popular), which is why I think calling costumers 'cosplay' really detracts from the amount of work we do. The word itself I just feel isn't very respectful for an artform. I've had a few people question me about this, and while a few got bent out of shape, a few who've been interested in hearing the reason say they now consider themselves costumers instead of costumers. I guess a large part of it depends on whether one got into costuming before or after this word became popular

I hope you can understand where I'm coming from, and it's refreshing to have an even-tempered discussion! Really, I just want others to respect the fact that I'm a costumer and to call me so, but I've had a few people get pissy and try and force me to accept their title

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~Verdaera
rebelshaven.blogspot.com
alice-kingsley.livejournal.com
Costumer