A few years ago I was lucky enough to meet one of my best friends. Jessi is thoughtful and kind and hilarious. She’s also an incredibly talented seamstress, artist, and all around creator of beautiful things.
Jessi introduced me to cosplay (short for costume play), which was vastly different than I imagined. Cosplayers create costumes based on characters from books, movies, video games, or just their imaginations, and wear these costumes to conventions. This is not too far off from being on stage (I was a theater kid growing up), so I thought it would be fun to give it a try.
I was really nervous as we were leaving for my first ever cosplay event. I had dressed as Tina, a character from my favorite TV show Bob’s Burgers, and I felt like my costume wasn’t good enough and I was definitely too awkward in it.
I am happy to report that I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only were people super excited to see Tina, they were also very supportive. “It’s your first cosplay? You look great!!” was a constant refrain. Turns out, it doesn’t matter if your costume is simple or complicated- people just enjoy seeing other people having fun.
The cosplay community has shown me that self-expression is an important part of getting to know yourself better. The cosplayers I have met have been amazingly talented, dedicated, and hardworking people. I have enjoyed each event we’ve been to more than the last, and I look forward to getting the hang of things a little better with more practice.
Don’t be afraid to be yourself- even if being yourself means dressing up as someone else!
Check out more of Jessi's handmade costumes at https://www.seraphcosplay.com/
I love this story from my beautiful daughter! Isn't she just the cutest in her costumes?! Her sweet friend Jessi is so talented and lovely and kind and you really should click on the link at the end of this story and see what she does! Talented is not a big enough word! 👍🏻