Christy Mihaly - Getting Paid to Make Cosplay Costumes and Props

Cosplayers develop valuable skills by working with CAD and 3D printers to transform plastic granules like these into cosplay props and other complex objects.

NEW MATERIALS

With the invention and development of new materials, cosplayers have been able to fabricate a previously unimaginable range of costumes and props. Cosplayers work with high-tech materials such as resins, thermoplastics, silicone, and various types of foam. This experience puts cosplayers on the cutting edge of materials science. Perhaps cosplayers will develop the technology to easily produce custom-woven fabrics. Perhaps theyll come up with new ways to build armor or wigs or custom cosmetics. Whatever it is, expect cosplayers to be at the frontiers of materials science in the future.

3D DESIGN AND FABRICATION

As CAD and other computer models are used more widely, cosplayers will design and create more complex costumes and props, and theyll be able to share their models easily with others. The ease of finding construction materials and supplies on the internet will continue to make more cosplay creations accessible to more cosplayers. As the price of 3D printers declines and the quality of 3D-printed objects improves, 3D printing will be more attractive to growing numbers of cosplayers. The cosplay props and costumes of the future will be impressive, indeed.

THE FRONTIERS OF FABRIC

Technology has already made it possible for cosplayersor anyoneto make custom-designed fabric. All it takes is drawing or painting a design, uploading it to a fabric-printing service, and ordering the fabric you want. An even more impressive technology is e-textiles, or smart garments. Clothes with electronics and small computers embedded within the fabric can light up or change color. More functionally, e-textiles have the potential to heat and cool the wearer, and researchers are exploring other ways to utilize e-textiles for practical purposes. Technical challenges include waterproofing the electronics and making them less rigid. Expect to see new applications for e-textiles, in cosplay and beyond.

FUTURE FASHION

Clothing makers may respond to the spread of cosplay by designing and selling more everyday cosplay-type fashions. Ready-to-wear leggings with comic book designs and shirts and dresses paying tribute to superheroes and sci-fi characters have become popular for cosplayers and others. Future fashion designers may push these boundaries further, creating more cosplay-oriented clothing for forward-thinking fashionistas. In fact, that future is already emerging. You or your friends may already be wearing replicas of Hermione Grangers Time-Turner or cool Rebel Alliance jackets.

The Maker Movement

Cosplayers are part of a major global movement: the maker movement. In makerspaces near and far, cosplayers are among those converging to create things. In the maker movement, inventors, designers, and all kinds of do-ityourselfers have begun designing and making their own creations. The movement brings together techies and technology like 3D printing, alongside nontechies practicing more traditional crafts. From sewing cotton cloth to lasercutting metal sheets, makers are producing what they want, rather than consuming products made elsewhere. Many makers emphasize reusing or recycling materials that would otherwise be discarded.

As the movement has expanded, gatherings such as Maker Faires have flourished. At a Maker Faire, as many as one hundred thousand or more makers can gather to share information about new maker products, techniques, and technology. Hundreds of Mini Maker Faires have taken place around the world, and this trend seems to be continuing.

Like the maker movement, cosplayers are shaping the future. Making things, whether cosplay or noncosplay, fosters creativity and the ability to solve real-world problems. If you understand how things work, and youve got hands-on experience making things, youre on your way to being an innovator and a problem solver. You can use those skills to enjoy a creative hobby, meet new people, or start a major e-business. Or why not all three?

COSPLAY AND CULTURAL CHANGES

Cosplayers are on the forefront of not only technological developments, but of important social changes, too. Cosplay has a tradition of welcoming everyone.

As new people take up cosplay, theyre being increasingly vocal about supporting diversity and inclusion within the cosplay community and beyond.

BUSTING GENDER NORMS

Gender doesnt limit your options when selecting a cosplay. For DC Comics fans, a girl can make herself into a female Joker, or a boy can be a male Wonder Woman. Or, a boy can be Rey from Star Wars; a girl can be Luke Skywalker. The latter type of gender-bending costume is called cross-play.

Similarly, dont let gender norms trip you up when youre constructing your costume or props. Do you know a girl who thinks she cant use a saw or a boy who thinks he cant sew? These are skills anyone can learn. Remember, Spider-Man sews! Marvel Comics episodes show Peter Parker creating his own Spider-Man costume. Then, after ripping it while combatting crime, he gets out his needle and thread to repair it.

Gender need not limit a cosplayers choices. This cosplayer portrays a female Riddler from DC Comics, at the 2015 New York Comic Con.

Like other forms of making, sewing is empowering. Todd Burleson, the resource center director of an Illinois elementary school, teaches sewing in his schools makerspace. I love sewing, he says. To me its just another way of creating. I look at it like woodworking. Sewing and woodworking each have unique ways of joining the layers together. The beauty and artistry is in the details. As a man, I love seeing the faces on fellow librarians, teachers and parents when I say I teach sewing in school. Its fun to challenge the stereotype that men dont know how to sew.