Too easy cosplays?

Hello everyone, welcome back (who knows if anyone will ever read my blog :°D)! Today I would like to write some reflections following a success, more or less unexpected, that my latest Lara Croft cosplay has received among the cosplay and video game community groups and pages in my country.

I am happy for all the appreciation and kindness that people have shown because over time I have often dealt with the dark side of the online community, and I have been the target of insults and more or less serious offenses.

These are situations that over time dig wounds and carry a certain weight, distancing you from the communities you once loved, especially if you are a inherently sensitive, introverted, and unsociable person.

This preamble just to tell you that every time I publish my cosplay photos, I also expect negative comments and try to gather strength to face them, and although fortunately today it is rarer for it to happen, there is always someone among many who comes just to spoil the party.

Nothing serious has happened, let's be clear! But one comment made me reflect.

Regarding this latest cosplay, someone wrote to me:

"It's not like it's a very difficult cosplay, you know."

At the moment, I thought of ignoring the provocation of a complete stranger. However, it somewhat intrigued me, because deep down I would like to understand what has changed in cosplay compared to its early years: why today you can no longer afford to have simple fun, even finding convenient shortcuts? Why do you necessarily have to prove something? But above all, since when in the cosplay world are "easy" costumes automatically synonymous with incompetence? Should we file a complaint to the designers, or give up cosplaying a character we like just because it doesn't sufficiently highlight our craftsmanship? Why people always nitpick everything?

I replied that it is not necessary to choose something complicated to make a good cosplay, and that even behind an apparently easy job there can be hard work. His response, quite pathetic I would say, confirmed the fact that he intervened exclusively to belittle and doubt my work:

"Hard work in this case? Bah!"

I admit it struck me a little, and not in a positive way, because there is nothing constructive in wanting to gratuitously demolish others. Making a cosplay is something that can go well beyond just the costume and accessories: even going to the gym for 5 months to arrive at the fair in perfect physical shape for the character, is hard work. I know it's a classic, the person who comes to tell you "come on, I could do it in a snap of my fingers!"

Being objective, Lara Croft's costume doesn't actually seem very complex, especially if you have the means to buy some things and make your work easier. Perhaps, however, what escapes those who make superficial judgments is that not everyone has the same skills. If you don't know how to sew, it becomes difficult to sew by hand or learn to use a sewing machine. If you're not a craftsman, it becomes difficult to choose the right materials from many possible solutions, to know how to treat these materials without making a mess, to varnish them in the right way without them cracking at the points where they bend due by body movements. Pitfalls can also hide behind a simple and banal foam piece, and how many of us have found ourselves reviewing a project or having to modify a small part because in the end that type of glue wasn’t suitable or some support was needed?

I acknowledge my limitations, both manual and economic, that's why I always try as much as possible to find a way to bypass the complexity of a thing, which I don't think is something so negative (unless you cosplay just to feel better than others, or have the need to create a professional costume for work or competitions).

To the phenomena, I can only say try it yourselves. Try making a backpack like hers, all in leather, sewing it by hand, with supports and well lined, complete with a front pocket and two side pockets. Can you make it in two days, without anyone's help? Good for you. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm not capable of it, so I made it with a cardboard support and covered it with fabric. A simple way, which in the end was not so simple because, as I said, I don't know how to sew, and I had to try again several times or find a way to do it differently when I couldn't with the needle. I didn't want to commission it, it would have been easy, I wanted to try to do it with my hands, and precisely because of the lack of technique with which, if I had known, it would have been easier, it became hard work for me (note: my backpack does not have side pockets because at the time I couldn't find clear images on the web, and in the game it just looked like a cubic object. Research is also part of the process of making a cosplay).

My mother helped me a lot in all my cosplays, she having the tailoring skills that I lack, and she had to bear a lot with me, spending hours sewing. She struggled to use her hands because of arthritis, and today she is no longer able to help me as she used to, because cancer is an evil that drains you of every energy...

People, before speaking and thinking they can judge the work behind a cosplay (or any other work), should stop to reflect: we don't know who is behind the screen, we don't know the effort it took and the sacrifices that may have been required.

Years ago, when I made the Petrine cosplay from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (along with my sister who cosplayed Titania), I remember being very disappointed by some people's comments. I didn't know the common materials used to make armor in cosplay. I didn't have a workshop (I still don't today). We worked on those armors in our little bedroom, on beds that filled the entire small room, without even a desk or the necessary space, with wire mesh and tape. The final effect was not smooth at all despite the effort and infinite time we spent, but it was still a rewarding job of which we were very proud. So when I read someone on the web write to Titania "what a crappy armor, it looks like it's made of pigeon shit," my sister was very upset. I don't know how so many rude people can coexist and feel happy about themselves, because if I were them I wouldn't even be able to look at myself in the mirror out of shame.

That said, when a costume is particularly easy to make, it becomes even more difficult to achieve a perfect final result, because attention to details become more important to the eye. It's not trivial: take, for example, my Alexandra Roivas cosplay from Eternal Darkness. Jeans, black t-shirt, blonde hair tied in a ponytail. Anyone could mistake me for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" if they saw me like that.

For this reason, I focused more on other aspects that helped contribute to the right final look, from accessories like the sword and the Tome of Darkness (which required quite a bit of work, and I could bite someone if they dared to say it wasn't difficult) to interpretation, from research to the right scenarios that recalled those of the game to collaboration with other cosplayers for a montage inspired by a particular scene.

Simplicity is as difficult as it gets, because the lights will all be focused on the slightest flaw.

But, you know what? All things considered, I say just forget about it and have fun!

I believe I achieved an excellent result, consistent and faithful, with my interpretation of Lara. I worried about some details that many missed, but that some attentive eyes were able to distinguish: Finding a way to tie the laces of the boots so that the stitches appeared straight - instead of crossed, like in the game.

The white laces like in the game in Tomb Raider II and III instead of the red ones she has in the first.

The makeup, I ripped off my eyebrows to draw them arched like hers, ahah! :D

The choice of colors identical to those of this Lara statue, and the inspired pose.

The braid, which is not at all a hair braid in CG images and model of the remastered, but rather a low ponytail held in several places with different elastics, a fake braid in practice.

Not all results as I would have liked, for one reason or another, but I certainly put in a lot of effort.

Just the editing of the photos cost me almost two months of work, so how could it not have been difficult?

Don't ever expect apologies, or for a person to admit to misjudging you, people who live to belittle others won't do that.

But their shutting up and being silent in the end is definitely an acceptable response when you assert yourselves.

I hope the rest of the people who have never done a cosplay in their life, understand how wrong it is to judge others and their efforts without knowing what they have been through.

If you feel like it, you can share your misadventures in the comments, or that time when you felt unjustly belittled.

Supporting each other is important, and we should create a stronger network of bonds that can repel anyone who wants to denigrate us! :-)

Big hugs!

Jen/SHADOW Cosplay