By Ed Avis
Cosplay has been touted as an important new market for costume businesses in recent years, and we’ve promoted it in Costumer magazine, the NCA website, and through webinars. But personally I had never seen much cosplay up close. So when NCA Board Member Courtland Hickey, owner of Chicago Costume, invited me to C2E2 Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo in mid-April, I accepted.
My impressions? Some things were exactly as I expected, and others were rather unexpected.
This Was Expected
Ed Avis and Courtland Hickey
I didn’t wear a costume, and I was a little nervous going to the event thinking that I would be among the few uncostumed attendees. That turned out not to be the case – a lot of people were not wearing costumes, especially when I got there, which was before the general public was let in.
However, once the doors opened to the public, people in all sorts of costumes arrived. They ranged from well-known comic book characters – Batman, for example – to more obscure outfits. Well, they were obscure to me, at least. One young man dressed in a red and white sailor costume was pushing a giant model of a battleship on a wheeled platform. I had no clue who he was, but the next day there was a photo of him in the Chicago Sun-Times and the caption informed that he was portraying Captain Kodai from Space Battleship Yamato.
What I loved to see, and this was expected, was how comfortable all of these individuals felt in this place with their costumes. I’m guessing the guy in the Captain Kodai outfit did not normally wear that out in public, but here he fit in perfectly. Not only were all the costumed attendees seemingly comfortable, they were celebrated! People were taking pictures of each other all over the place, and photographers were roaming about taking photos of the most interesting attendees. The overall vibe of the event was “Do Your Own Thing and Show it Off!”
Another impressive aspect that I knew would exist was the immense amount of creativity evident among the attendees and exhibitors. The skill level of many of them – in costume design, sewing, make-up, decorating, etc. – was top level. Some of the attendees could have easily been professionals in their respective area, and some probably were.
The commerce also was expected. Courtland himself had a large exhibit space filled with interesting stuff that attendees bought – swords, helmets, weapons, etc. He told me he regularly sells at such events and that they are worthwhile for him. He had a lot of company – there were booths selling everything from fancy dice to elaborate weaponry to figurines to…of course…comic books and movie memorabilia.
Which leads to me the unexpected….
This Was Not Expected
I knew creativity plays a major role in cosplay, but I assumed this creativity would be confined to costuming and makeup. That’s not the case!
A giant section of the exhibit hall was set aside for artists to display their paintings, drawings and other artwork. What they depicted fit the mood – it was mostly comic book characters and scenes, as well as abstract art and futuristic images.
The art section (they called it Artist Alley) was crowded…in some cases lines of people waiting to meet a particular artist snaked down the aisles. I loved seeing that – art does not get enough respect, in my opinion, so I was heartened to see so many people enthused about seeing and buying art.
Another unexpected element of the event was the number of book vendors. As with the art, the books generally fit the theme – fantasy, horror, movies, etc. There were dozens of publishers and booksellers offering their goods to a receptive audience. In many cases authors were also on-hand to sign the books as they were being sold.
I have no idea how much artwork or books was sold, but judging by the number of exhibitors in those areas, I’m assuming they find such events worth the investment. It was truly encouraging to me to see so many creative people successfully vending their wares.
So thank you, Courtland, for inviting me to this event. It was eye-opening and fun, and my respect for cosplay and its accompanying commerce has grown because of it.