While most people only dress up as a character on Halloween, cosplayers are a more unique bunch. Throughout the year, they handmake costumes and then go to various conventions or take photos and post them on social media. Once a specialty hobby, cosplay has spread, and some people are fortunate enough to make their living as a cosplayer. If you want to try cosplay as a plus-size woman, you may have your reservations. How do you get over your apprehension and embrace cosplay?
Here are 8 reasons plus-size cosplay is here to stay:
- There’s no wrong way to portray a character
- Plus-size cosplay is popular
- Your curves look amazing in many costumes
- Develop your confidence
- Try new styles
- Learn to appreciate yourself more
- Feel like a mini celebrity
- Lots of fun characters to cosplay
If you’re still feeling a little reluctant to jump on the cosplaying bandwagon, we strongly encourage you to keep reading. We’ll elaborate much more on the 8 reasons above to give plus-size cosplay a chance. You won’t want to miss it!
8 Reasons Plus-Size Cosplay Should Be Your Next Hobby
There’s No Wrong Way to Portray a Character
As cosplay has grown from a cult hobby to a widespread phenomenon, so too have the rules been relaxed about how to cosplay a character. More and more, you’ll see people of color cosplaying traditionally Caucasian characters and men dressing as female characters and vice-versa.
Punished Props Academy posted a great video on the topic on YouTube. The video is appropriately titled Anybody Can (And Should) Cosplay Any Character for Any Reason.
That’s the general attitude people have about cosplay these days. They’ll overlook your size, gender, the color of your skin, or whether you’re wearing glasses and focus more on the accuracy of the costume. Even that doesn’t have to be 100 percent perfect.
Cosplaying is about having fun and expressing yourself. There’s not a single person who should feel like they can’t do that for any reason. If you enter the cosplay community, you’ll quickly find that people are very supportive. Just take a look at this Reddit thread, which shows the prevailing attitude on those who are curvy or plus-size and want to cosplay.
So yes, if your favorite character is traditionally slimmer (because really, how many iconic characters do we even have that are bigger?) and you worry that all anyone will focus on is your weight, they won’t. If you make an awesome cosplay and put your best into it, people will take in the whole package.
Plus Size Cosplayers Are Incredibly Prevalent
If you prefer to follow by example, the good news is that the world of cosplayers is far from populated by slimmer women. Here is a list of ladies to follow on social media to remind yourself that anyone at any size can cosplay!
- Morgan Le Gay: Known for her Beetlejuice and Iron Man cosplays, Morgan Le Gay doesn’t let her size stop her from wearing form-fitting outfits, crop tops, and other extravagant looks. She’s an inspiration to us all.
- Cin Von Quinzel: Calling herself the new face of cosplay, Cin Von Quinzel has cosplayed as everyone from Sonic the Hedgehog to Tifa from Final Fantasy, Spider-Man’s Mary Jane, and Samus Aran. She proudly shows off her curves and proves that you can too.
- Myseematch: Jasmine Grimes is Myseematch, an Instagram-verified account that features her impressive cosplay work and lots of non-cosplay pics to get you inspired and feeling confident.
- West Wylde Cosplayer: The account behind West Wylde Cosplayer not only proves that women of any size can cosplay, but women of any age too! West Wylde is 50+ years old, but you’d never know it with her vivacious attitude.
- kaptain.76: The 20-something cosplayer known as kaptain.76 posts her projects all the time, including cosplays like Princess Peach from Super Mario, Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and so many more. Her work is super creative and her makeup is always on point!
- Mirabella Took Cosplay: From Poison Ivy to Daenerys Targaryen, Rapunzel, Hawkgirl, and so many other iconic cosplays, Mirabella Took Cosplay says she wants to “make a difference and bring joy into this world through cosplay.” We’d say mission accomplished.
- Lanthea Cosplay: Hailing from Canada, Lanthea Cosplay has posted her take on Harley Quinn, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and Poison Ivy, not to mention her costumes in suits of armor and Viking gear are super impressive.
- SurelyShirleyCosplay: Shirley at SurelyShirleyCosplay is a body-positive cosplayer who has shown the thicker side of characters like Mt. Lady, Harley Quinn, and the Super Mario-inspired character Bowsette. You’ll love her work!
- Metric Mori: The cosplayer known as Metric Mori doesn’t shy away from cosplaying characters from anime and video games. Her homemade costumes will inspire you to try making something of your own.
- TaLynn Kel: TaLynn Kel says she’s “breaking normal by living my fat, Black, geek life,” which is absolutely awesome. Whether she’s cosplaying or not, she’s a great account to follow on social media.
Many Costumes Accentuate Your Curves
If the above plus-size ladies cosplaying all their favorite characters didn’t show you, so many character costumes benefit from having some curviness thrown into the mix.
For instance, let’s look at the most popular characters to cosplay. Harley Quinn undoubtedly tops the list. Whether you go with her classic jester bodysuit or her Suicide Squad look, your shapely body will look great. Check out the potential this look has.
Velma from Scooby-Doo is another one that you see a lot at conventions. Curvy Velma rocks!
Jessica Rabbit’s curves may seem larger than life, but when you have a figure like hers. You might as well show it off. That legendary red dress is very flattering. Plus size cosplayers pay major homage to the iconic character.
Those are just a few examples of many of how you can make your cosplay look much more appealing. You’ll certainly put a different spin on the character classics, and that’s always appreciated.
You Can Build Confidence
Cosplaying, besides just being fun, can also strengthen your confidence in interesting ways. As you pour hours and hours of your spare time into sewing or building a costume or even tracking down parts you need on shops online, you begin developing a sense of pride in your work.
As the costume is complete, you’ll appreciate your newfound skill. Then, once you try everything on and see the character come to life right in front of your eyes, it’s truly a special feeling that can’t be replicated.
If you’re still not feeling confident by the time convention day arrives, strutting your stuff in your costume and seeing how much everyone appreciates it will certainly boost your self-esteem. You’ll find that you can instantly connect with people who you might otherwise not easily be able to talk to, and all over a costume.
Once you develop your confidence through cosplay, you’ll feel inspired to make bolder choices and try more unique characters. For instance, you could finally shimmy into a skin-tight bodysuit when you usually shied away from one. Doing that in front of people all day at a con and getting a good reaction is a natural confidence booster.
You Get a Chance to Try New Styles You Might Not Normally Wear
Another great reason to get into cosplay as a plus-size woman is the wealth of styles you get to wear as you expand your cosplaying repertoire. For instance, going back to Harley Quinn, you might not normally wear tiny shorts, but that’s what her Suicide Squad outfit calls for. When you finally wear the costume for your big convention, you realize that hey, you look really good in short shorts!
You might usually go conservative with your cleavage, but a costume that has more cleavage helps you notice that you’re pretty blessed in this area and shouldn’t hide that all the time.
Using the example from the last section, you could even find that you can indeed rock a bodysuit.
Discovering these things is great for more than just cosplay. Now you won’t be afraid to wear crop tops, short shorts, and even bodysuits in your day-to-day life. You never would have tried garments like these had it not been for cosplaying, which is pretty cool!
You Can Appreciate Who You Are More After Being Someone Else for a Day
What’s the main appeal of dressing up in a costume for Halloween? For the night, you get a chance to be someone else. Cosplaying lets you transform into your favorite characters too. If you go to a convention in your costume, then you have a unique chance for the whole day to practice being that character.
Whether you’re the character in outfit alone or voice and mannerisms is up to you and how far you want to take things. Some cosplayers go into full character mode and others don’t. Either way, dressing up in a style that’s unusual for you will give you a break from being yourself for the day.
This may sound like a bad thing, but it’s really not! Cosplaying later offers you a chance to think about all the things you appreciate about yourself. For instance, maybe your character wears killer heels and you’re glad you don’t have to do that every day, or you appreciate your comfier style compared to your character’s usual outfit.
Whatever it is, once you’re someone else for the day through cosplay, getting the chance to get back to yourself again when the day has ended will be that much sweeter.
Going to a Convention Can Make You Feel Like a Mini Celebrity
The big gaming and comic conventions are high-level events that attract thousands and thousands of attendees. When someone comes through with an awesome cosplay, such as yourself, people are going to notice. All day, strangers will run up to you and ask if they can take a picture of you or with you. You might notice that these pictures end up on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
It’s an experience akin to being a celebrity at a movie premiere. Lots of people want a bit of your time and to take a photo with you. Most will be very complimentary of your cosplay as well, which will just make you swell with pride.
This kind of thing can go on all day, and it’s something that only happens at conventions when you cosplay. An experience like this might be the closest some people get to celebrity, so it’s a special opportunity to be exalted and revered no matter your size!
Whether You Want to Go Bold or Conservative, You Can Cosplay to Your Comfort Level
Sometimes it seems like only the skimpiest cosplays get the most attention, but that’s simply not true. Go to a few conventions and see who attracts the crowds. It will be people in high-tech costumes or someone who looks like they walked right off the set of your favorite movie or television show.
People above all appreciate a well-done, put-together costume that looks just like their favorite character. Thus, if it’s not really in your style to dress in next to nothing, don’t feel like you have to cosplay that way. Lots of costumes are more conservative but still epic, like Lara Croft or Batgirl.
Conclusion
Cosplay isn’t about size, so even if you’re a plus-size woman, there’s no need to be shy. You too can do justice to your favorite character by dressing up as them for a day and attending a convention. You’ll see lots of other great cosplays, get pictures taken, and build your confidence through the whole experience! What’s not to love? If you’re into costumes in general, check out this article.
