In this cool chat, Milly opens up about her cosplay journey, kicking off with an impromptu decision to cosplay Peggy Carter, which led to meaningful connections in the community. She discusses relating to her characters, tackling sewing challenges with her mom’s help, and navigating the tricky waters of social media in cosplay. Looking forward, she’s excited about stretching her creativity with unique, non-canon projects and cool collabs. This chat’s a great read for anyone into cosplay or character transformations!
OG Nerd: What initially sparked your interest in cosplay and how did you start your journey in this art form?
Milly: I was going to Comic Con in 2019 and was suddenly overcome with the need to cosplay Peggy Carter. We’d just gotten Avengers: Endgame and I’d finally seen my best girl on screen again, and it just kind of happened!
OG Nerd: Which character was your first cosplay, and what did you learn from that experience?
Milly: Peggy made me a lot of the friends I have now. She used to be what I was known for and is absolutely the reason I have connections in the community. I learned a lot about who I am through the lens of Peggy, and her resolve and strength is still something I try to keep forefront of my mind even though I don’t cosplay her anymore.
OG Nerd: How do you approach the process of transforming into a character, both mentally and physically?
Milly: That’s a funny one, I started cosplaying with a character I WANTED to be, and now I cosplay characters I relate to in some ways so it’s easier for me to get into character. I love the process of changing my face with makeup or accentuating my existing features to bring other characters to life! Mentally, cosplay is actually really hard work. You’re posing and trying to BE this person who you aren’t, which is why I try to choose characters I have something in common with.
OG Nerd: What has been the most unexpected or surprising aspect of your cosplay journey?
Milly: For a long time, cosplay was something I did. It’s now much more who I am (which has both negative and positive connotations). That said, I have met my absolute favourite people through cosplay, AND met creators and cosplayers I look up to. I get to call some of my heroes my friends now.
OG Nerd: Can you share a story of a particular challenge you faced in cosplay and how you overcame it?
Milly: I actually hate sewing. I hate it SO much so I spend time altering clothes rather than making them from scratch normally. I don’t do competitions because there’s too much pressure, but when I decided I wanted to do Donna from Resident Evil Village it was ALL sewing. I put it off over and over because I didn’t want to sew, and when I finally started, it became a collaborative effort with my mum because I desperately needed her guidance and experience and it’s one of my favourite cosplays to date for that reason.
OG Nerd: How do you stay up-to-date with new trends and techniques in cosplay?
Milly: Honestly, I don’t. I like what I like and the pressure to create new things from every new media is expensive and unhealthy. I don’t always avoid it, but I prefer just thinking “I like this!” and cosplaying it in my own time.
OG Nerd: What’s your approach to creating a cosplay on a budget? Any tips for resourceful crafting?
Milly: I’m not good at sensibly budgeting for cosplay, in all honesty. But my best tip is to op shop/thrift and alter where you can rather than making from scratch! You’ll save money on materials and time.
OG Nerd: How do you see the role of social media influencing your cosplay and the community as a whole?
Milly: Social media sucks. It’s SO easy to fall prey to the algorithm and the numbers, and I’m terrible when it comes to wishing I had more engagement when I’ve worked hard on something. Social media has made cosplay across all platforms a competition instead of play and I’m absolutely not innocent in that.
OG Nerd: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone attending their first cosplay event?
Milly: Talk to people! Say hi, and grab social media handles. Try to engender genuine and kind conversation, it’ll get you a long way. If you’re shy, and a lot of us are, then make sure that if you’re attending in cosplay you have a person with you that you trust and that you have enough food and water to fuel you. Us cranky old cosplayers are cranky because we forgot to eat during con crunch and are existing on energy drinks and spite. Don’t do what we do!
OG Nerd: Looking ahead, what new directions or projects are you excited to explore in cosplay?
Milly: I had a lot more opportunities to make things that required costumes but weren’t canonized characters last year and it was so much fun. I’m really looking forward to stretching my creativity in that direction and collaborating with incredible creatives to make art that is in some ways cosplay and in others definitely not.
