#cosplay craftsmanship contest

[telekineticmaniac]

Do you have WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN a Cosplay Craftsmanship Contest??

I can’t describe in detail the exact terms of every cosplay contest in the world… but I can overanalyze the flip outta contests, their categories, and their judging criteria in a general sense — and I got the research to back it all up! So on those terms, let's dive in, and find out if you have what it takes to win!

[silvermoon424]

Not me watching Sarah Spaceman videos and getting HEAVILY invested in cosplay drama (a hobby I do not partake in) at cons I have never been to and will likely never go to.

Me filling out an excel spreadsheet at work while listening to a video about cosplay contests, something I didn’t know existed until an hour ago: How could this judge score based on makeup when it’s about CRAFTSMANSHIP???

[zombiesama]

Y'all I went to my first ever con and I ended up winning the cosplay contest for the novice division 😭

terrible picture but yeah!! Hopefully the Save Point pics will be uploaded soon-ish but for now this is what I've got :3

if you ask really niceys I might post my award winning performance (the private craftsmanship judging went so well too!!)

also my lil trophy and certificate! My trophy has a truck bc the con was Isekai themed!

[crowsbeak-cos]

Cosplans for 2025 <3

I am only listing the MOST LIKELY TO HAPPEN cosplays- also there is bound to be some changes- if you cosplay you know the struggle.

Sebastian Michaelis - Public School Arc

Most of y'all already know about this one and it's been getting semi regular posts here on the hellsite, but Sebastian is absolutely getting done in the year of our Lord 2025!! He's hopefully going to be a competition piece for the Connecticon XXII craftsmanship contest, so he's getting a lot of detailed work done to show off my abilities (or. lack thereof). I won't go super into detail about my plans with it (since I am posting pretty regularly about him), so if you want to see the updates on that absolutely go check those posts out.

Verosika Mayday

Okay just HEAR ME OUT I KNOW THE WIG IS GOING TO BE INSANE BUT HEAR ME OUT-

I think she's just. Neat. And totally not any other reason. I do think I'll probably do this outfit (cause it serves) and I'll maybe do a performance with her? I'm thinking perhaps. Guess by Charli XCX and Billie Eillish... only if I can figure out a way to cut it into a pg-13 audio though, which is not a skill I have yet. I'll figure that part out AFTER I figure out the mess that is the wig - it'll definitely be a PVC pipe ponytail wig, but beyond that. I have no idea. I do think I'll need an airbrush for this wig as well - and I'll need one for the makeup as well. Bodypaint will be the death of me...

Sailor Neptune

I'm doing this so I can be gay with my girlfriend. That's all you get.

Demolition Lovers

Also being done so I can be gay with my girlfriend BUT PRIMARILY BECAUSE American Rock Band My Chemical Romance is going on tour in 2025 and I have tickets and I'm INCREDIBLY EXCITED! YES I know they're doing black parade I'm going to figure out some black parade related cosplays as well BUT FOR NOW. Demo Lovers...

I have a secondhand wedding dress that I will be altering and absolutely COATING in fake blood, and my lovely gf (etta_cosplay on instagram) will be shoved into the nearest cheap suit and will also be completely coated in fake blood. I also already have a location set, a church near me (the same one I got my biblically accurate angel photos taken at!) will be perfect for it. Ideally we'll be able to do that shoot sometime this winter - maybe I can get stuff set for Valentine's Day (Hi babe I know you're reading this FEBRUARY PLS I'LL DO YOUR MAKEUP FOR YOU).

[rockcosplay]

Join Nerds of Marquette for a magical afternoon of imagination and artistry during Art Week! This year, our Cosplay Picnic invites you to step into the shoes of your favorite characters and tell their stories through your craftsmanship. Whether you're embodying a hero, a villain, or a fantastical creature, we want to see how you bring their narrative to life!

Strike a pose for professional photographer, Shelby Faye, who will be on hand to capture your incredible creations. Challenge your friends to an epic cornhole or badminton showdown. And don't forget to enter the Cosplay Contest, where your dedication to "telling stories" through costume could win you fantastic prizes! All ages and skill levels are welcome. Pack your picnic basket, don your most creative cosplay, and let's make some unforgettable memories!

[pins-snip]

Cool cosplays we saw around Momocon on Friday!!

Friends who won at the craftsmanship contest!

Sunny (left) who won BiS Journeyman! And Bec (right) who won Best Fabrication Journeyman!

Heartstopper Caitlyn is Rosemary who hand finished most of her costume to get it to lay right and the DEDICATION for that 🤌🏻

We met Doodle after the contest! Her Aldrich tail uses office chair bases and I think that's neat

We love a maid uniform alternate version and SugarPuns delivered with her Waluigi

We met up with our favorite actual magical girl, Crissy for a cool kids mask at cons photo ✨

If you bottled kindness it would definitely be AllieCat shaped!! She was so sweet and I'm thankful we unintentionally matched because it meant we ended up talking to her for a few hours over the weekend and I'm happy to call her a friend now!! A silly lil edit because why not 🤌🏻

The dungeon meshi cosplay scene was SO GOOD this year. We ended up just camping out near the entrance of the dealers hall portion of the exhibit hall and saw all these cool cats!!

We kept seeing Helldivers 2 cosplayers on Friday and Saturday and we were crossing our fingers for Sunday and the luck held out!!!

I wanted to get better about taking people's pictures again (and actually posting them lol) and I think I did a better job this year! Definitely easier with Mario Bros cosplays compared to plagues!

If you know someone's at please let me know and I'll edit with the tag :)

[spaceselkie]

My Beatrice cosplay has been accepted into the Momocon Craftsmanship contest!

A suitable offering has been left at the portrait for luck.

[ladycels]

It's almost time for @METROCON **Official** I can't wait to see folks, and I've finally got a schedule to share with you all.

Opening Ceremonies ~ Main Events ~ 11:00AM

Cosplay Performance Showcase ~ Main Events ~ 1:00PM

Cosplay Embellishments Panel ~ Guest Track Ballroom A ~ 3:00PM

Booth Time ~ Booth C01 ~ 4:00 -6:00PM

Booth Time ~ Booth C01 ~ 2:30 - 3:30PM

Cosplay Craftsmanship Contest ~ Main Events ~ 4:30PM

Booth Time ~ Booth C01 ~ 6:00 - 7:00PM

Craft Competition Feedback ~Room 103-104 ~ 9:00PM

Booth Time ~ Booth C01 ~ 1:30 - 3:30PM

Closing Ceremonies ~ Main Events ~5:30PM

Can't wait to see everyone!!

[telekineticmaniac]

Just gonna reblog this in the wake of NYCC's Cosplay Central Crown Championships because oof there have been some less-than-pleasant reactions and I'd really like to see some informed change in this community. Remember folks, there is a lot to accidentally miss as an onlooker to a cosplay craftsmanship contest, and assumptions and accusations can have some serious consequences.

"Armor vs Sewing" is a long-debated cosplay topic. While it's a core belief of mine that neither is inherently better than the other, let's explore why and if that actually true — LET'S DO A DEEP DIVE ON ARMOR AND SEWING IN REGARDS TO COSPLAY CONTESTS.

[yupuffin]

Not to overhype it too much but I think my Rover cosplay is going to end up the best cosplay I've made so far.

Funny how that works -- as soon as I stop trying to make costumes specifically to impress judges and do well in cosplay contests, and start trying to make them in ways that work for me individually, that's how I get good craftsmanship 😂

[otakon]

Get ready for that cosplay con crunch because it's almost Hall Costume Contest time!!

Please welcome one of our amazing judges for this year: ChikiCosplay!

Chiki Cosplay developed her sewing expertise under the tutelage of head costume designers for operas and professional theatres. She has won a multitude of awards, including several best in show for construction and masquerade skits. Her work can be found featured in the book: 1000 Incredible Costume & Cosplay Ideas: A Showcase of Creative Characters from Anime, Manga, Video Games, Movies, Comics and More as well as publications like Cosplay Realm Magazine and Craft Center Magazine. She has been a craftsmanship judge at Animazement, Katsucon, Otakon, TsubasaCon and more as well as a former cosplay guest at GalaxyCon Raleigh, ConVivial, Miryokucon and RavenCon. She is the current cosplay director for NekoCon and Ibashocon. When not working at conventions, she focuses on her photography career, escapes home to the Appalachian mountains as much as possible, and spends too much money on Fallout collectibles.

Stay tuned for more Hall Costume Contest announcements coming later this week!

You don't want to miss this!

[glitterabomination]

I can’t believe it’s been a year since BG3 came out.

First play through I was a Mephistopheles Tiefling druid. Or was weird being shunned for being a Tiefling but praised for being a druid in the grove.

My Tav looked damn near identical to Alfira, with slightly different horns and blue hair. My husband looked up and asked when I got that crazy jester outfit. 😆

I instantly loved Alfira though. How could I not? She’s so cute! I started working on the cosplay that November and wore it to FanExpo in Philly in May.

So many people thought I was Mollymauk Tealeaf that I’m considering doing that next. 😅

Won best journeyman at my first craftsmanship contest. It was also my first win ever, but they boosted me from novice to journeyman.

[arakihorrorzine]

Eddie's a rather tender subject - but these aren't.

On this post, we will answer your questions, comments, and concerns from the interest check! We will add to this post as others come in.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to send them our way via our ask box, the interest check, or our CuriousCat!

Not only are queer themes allowed, but they're encouraged! This is a Rocky Horror-themed JJBA zine, after all.

This zine is fully LGBTQ+ inclusive (in terms of content and contributors), and you are welcome to explore headcanons or themes related to sexuality, gender, and identity.

We understand the concern, and we agree - that is why we are insisting that all contributors be 18+ by the time zine creation begins (applicants for the potential NSFW zine must already be 18+). This will extend to all individuals shown in cosplay photos.

For applications, your submission will look pretty similar to the writers and artists. You'll need to fill out the form and submit a small portfolio of your work with three featured images. You will not be required to have have cosplayed JJBA or RHPS before, though we would love to see that in a portfolio. What we want to see are pictures that showcase you being confident, creative, and fun! This IS NOT a popularity or craftsmanship contest, so feel free to submit images that incorporate your personal identities, head canons, and take creative liberties.

For submissions to the zine, it us our top priority to maintain your safety while providing you as much freedom and flexibility as possible. Zine submissions should consist of one or two high-quality cosplay photos, or a collage intended to fit on 1-2 pages. Our mod team has envisioned submissions mostly consisting of Jojo's characters combined with the aesthetics and themes of Rocky Horror (e.g. burlesque fashion, integration of a Rocky Horror character, or the utilizing the unique gothic/camp/carnival aesthetics present within the film in some way). But we are flexible and open to different ideas and interpretations!

While we would love to see submissions from cosplay groups, solo submissions work as well! You are not required to work with a photographer, as long as your images are high quality and follow the submission rules.

[touhoufest]

YOYOYOYO, THE ANNUAL TOUHOUFEST COSPLAY CONTEST IS NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS!!!

We're baaaaaaaaack!! Again. As per usual. Hooray!

TouhouFest 2025 is proud to open signups for our Cosplay Contest, where you can rock the stage in your favorite touhou cosplay!! You can sign up for one of three categories-- Craftsmanship, Performance, and Exhibition. But only one!!

Signups will be held on our official website's application page! The portal closes MAY 31st 2025, so GO SIGN UP TODAY!!!!

We'll see you all soon at TouhouFest 2025, which just so happens to take place on June 14-15 at Torrance California! Not sure if I've made that clear yet.

[mrbob0822]

Robert Moonbrow, Cleric of Pelor | Sole Survivor & Dogmeat

Photography by David Ngo at C2E2 2024

- - - - - - - - - -

Hello, Tumblr!

It's...certainly been quite a while, hasn't it? OOF. I really apologize for the unintended hiatus.

I was at C2E2 in Chicago a couple of weeks ago with some updated costumes, and figured I'd share!

Friday and Sunday I wore my Sole Survivor costume from Fallout 4, with plenty of extra weathering and proper strapping since I slapped it together prior to Halloween last year. I made the Dogmeat Heavy Dog Armor for my actual German Shepherd(Caboose), but since he's not a service animal(please don't bring your pets to conventions), I wound up purchasing a close-to-life-sized plush version that the costume *mostly* fit on. The number of people who did double-takes and "thought it was a real dog" was staggering, so I guess I did something right. Also, Sunday of C2E2 is always touted as family day, so the number of kids that came up asking to pet my dog was adorable.

On Saturday, I wore my D&D costume: a half-elven cleric of Pelor of my own design. I adore Dungeons & Dragons, and as an homage to nearly playing with the same group(multiple campaigns) since 2002, I made my first character Robert Moonbrow. I debuted this back in 2022, which revealed some issues with my design, so those fixes were made(mostly reinforcing the straps to prevent stretching and to reinforce the area around the rivets since all of the armor is EVA foam) as well as a heater shield I never got around to finishing, which turned out great, with the exception of being able to see the wrist straps through the foam on the front. On a whim, I decided to enter the Crown Championships of Cosplay this year, ReedPop's costume contest. I had zero expectations of anything, since people have no attachment to original characters other than the person making it, but I worked insanely hard on this thing, dumping probably close to 1,000 hours into the costume overall, and pushed the boundaries of my skillset to make something I was truly proud of out of a love for the fun my friends and I had with our time together. I didn't win anything, but it was genuinely great just to be in the same competition as the others who entered with their insane craftsmanship and attention to detail, and I do mean that, sincerely. We had a great time talking shop backstage during the competition and admiring one another's costumes.

Will I ever compete again? Probably not. It kind of eats up the entire day, and it takes me forever to make a costume in general, much less one to compete with. If I ever did, I might consider revamping my Grey Warden Alistair costume or something, but it's an extremely low priority. At the end of the day, cosplay is just a fun hobby for me, and adding extra stress with competition prep and anxiety kinda sucks some of the fun out of it, even though it was a fun and new(at least at this level) experience this time.

This is the only convention I'll be attending this year, much as I absolutely miss all of my friends at Dragon Con and would love to attend. I haven't been there since...2018? Oof. My friend Darryn said he'll be there in 2025, so I made the promise to him that I'll be there, which means I'll be bringing Alistair, since we became friends by cosplaying the character. I would also love to bring my D&D costume, but it's not exactly a cool and comfortable costume, so I'm going to try to test out its comfortability in the heat by wearing it to the Bristol Renaissance Faire on the Wisconsin/Illinois border at the end of July this summer(Saturday, July 27th is the plan). If you're in the area and want to see it in person or say goodbye to me as I potentially die of heatstroke(kidding!(hopefully...)), feel free! Fingers crossed the weather holds out that day for a solid test.

Anyway, time for me to shut up! Enjoy some additional shots from C2E2 2024:

[888xiicos]

EvilleCon 2025 Recap

This weekend could not have been any more insane.

More thoughts below the cut, but this was truly such an incredible weekend.

Me and my partner had work on Friday and couldn't attend the first day, but made it for Saturday and Sunday. We entered the Cosplay Masquerade in the Novice Craftsmanship category and even arrived late for prejudging because we couldn't find the Con entrance. We left that day with the Best in Show award and certificate. I'm still processing how we managed to win such an award. We're on the far right in the photo below.

Our Cozmez cosplays have been a labor of love, grief and healing that took about 14-15 months to complete due to the passing of four of my family members and multiple illnesses throughout the creation process of these cosplays. We tried to compete three times in these cosplays before EvilleCon, but had to withdraw due to a new emergency happening the week before every single con we applied to the contest for causing me to repeatedly pause working on these builds.

Each time we had to withdraw from a competition due to not finishing our cosplays plunged me deeper and deeper into an awful mental space that was already in tatters due to the traumatizing year I had.

Within twenty-four hours of the EvilleCon Cosplay Masquerade, we had four moments where we thought we weren't going to be able to compete.

Since we don't live together, I wasn't able to test fit my Partner's pants, the waistband did not fit them at 11pm the night before the con. I stayed awake until 5am that morning making the repairs. We got out of bed to get ready at 6am.

My partner had left our printed build book at their work desk, which we had to pick up before our pre-judging slot.

We arrived at the prejudging booth late because we couldn't find the door, and without our shoes on because we were afraid to scuff the paint on the way in.

When it was time to line up in the room the Cosplay Masquerade was held in, we didn't have the orange stickers on our badges that served as our proof of being a contestant. The kind staff at the cosplay booth couldn't find our names.

Despite all of that, we were able to walk across the stage and then step onto it a second time to receive the highest honor of the night.

I can't think of a better reward for making it through to the end of this build despite all the set backs that occurred, the frustration I felt, the blood, sweat and tears that were spilled in the process. It feels like it was all worth it and my efforts were seen and appreciated. I feel like I was given the closure I so desperately needed for everything I went through when the only thing holding me together was this build.

I can't believe this was given to me.

The entire time the judges were hyping up the best in show winner, me and my partner were discussing how we needed to approach this group for tips on how WE could improve for next time. And then our cosplay names were called? And I started sobbing, my partner screamed at the top of their lungs. I was crying the entire time I was on stage.

The judges for this competition were some of the sweetest and most excited I have seen in a while. I am so thankful for their feedback, their compliments, their encouragement and support.

We were told that our build book was one of the best they had ever seen. It told them everything they needed to know about our characters, answered every question they had about our process, and even provided a digital download link in the form of a QR code I added just in case. They told me they were going to steal that idea from me for their own build books. I can't think of a higher compliment.

Thank you so much to SorasStyle, Cosplay_Cam, RivalSkies, and ScissorWizardCos for this opportunity and all of your hard work and passion.

Thank you EvilleCon for the opportunity and the award. I couldn't stop crying for the rest of that night. I'm so honored and thankful.

Got to walk around on Sunday with my build book in tow in my new lolita coord I've been dying to wear for months. Ended the day filled with so much love and so many little girls begging for a picture with me in this coord. I haven't been this happy in so long. I'm so thankful and feel rejuvenated.

I'll have more photos of the finished cosplays coming soon! I'll also be sharing our build book and a couple tutorial write up posts about the process, so please stay tuned for them!